Great lake boats, a good video

[masseyrider]

Floating bath tubs!

I grew up east of Rochester NY, and about 5 miles from Lake Ontario. The lake is wide enough there that one can't see the other side, so more like the ocean than a lake.

We would watch the Lakers heading back and forth to the St. Lawrence, but they were out far enough to only make out silhouettes, and not the details.

This thread has some outstanding photography that shows what we were missing...

I live right on the edge of the Welland Canal.
You aren't missing much.
Mostly old iron chugging along with the occasional salty. Every once in a while you get one that's smoking and stinks up the area.
Pain in the rump when the bridges are up and you're in a rush to get somewhere.
Like the saying goes, "Good from far, far from good."

 

[BackRoad]

As a kid, pretty sure it was the Welland that we went to and watched boats traverse the locks.

My grandfather was into viewing big engineering projects, so coal powerplants, locks, old forts, even nuclear powerplant sites were all targets for a road trip.

 

[ArlyA]

A beautiful morning here in Duluth MN as the Edwin H. Gott made its departure. The thousand-footer made a brief stop, likely for maintenance, as there was no cargo loaded or unloaded. Now, the most powerful ship on the Great Lakes is en route to Two Harbors. April 16th.

 

[ArlyA]

Sabin lock construction 1918 Soo MI. A photographer captured this view of the north side of the Sabin Lock mon-olith #OTD in 1918 while crews back filled the construction site around it. Other than during construction, most of a lock’s structure is underground. This view illustrates how the lock walls flare out at the base to withstand the water pressure within.

 

[ArlyA]

Ice in the upstream approach to the Soo Locks continues to be a problem for ships and Corps of Engineers staff.

The James R. Barker began its approach into the Soo Locks' Poe Lock at 6:59 a.m. and after several attempts to make the approach did not work due to sticky ice conditions, the Corps of Engineers tug Cheraw came to help manage the ice and get it flowing away from the Barker.
The Cheraw made several passes to break up the sticky ice and push it into both the MacArthur and Poe lock chambers to pass it downstream.

The Barker was able to successfully transit the lock at 3 p.m. "Keeping the locks open for vessels like this freighter is an important aspect of our mission in the Soo," said Corps of Engineers Detroit District Commander Lt. Col. Wallace Bandeff. "We are excited to receive two new ice-rated tugs later this year to more efficiently manage ice in and near the Soo Locks for future instances like this."

The new tugs will have specialized scraping bars integrated into the bow to help remove ice packed and frozen to the lock walls, as well as a bow tunnel thruster paired with twin 800 horsepower wheels for maximum maneuverability in the tight lock chamber areas. These items will increase ice management capabilities, reducing costly delays currently experienced by our industry stakeholders.

 

[ArlyA]

You guys might find these images of the Kamloops wreck off Isle Royale which sank in 1927. Crew made it to the Isle, and all died there of exposure. The lake is tough on freighter crews. The tubes are tooth paste and the machinery they carried looks to be field disks.