Thursday, July 16, 2009

Tree Causes Some Excitement

In the early morning we heard about a tree that was floating near the shipping channel out front of our house. Several ships passed by which seemed to be looking for the tree. The Lake Guardian, an US Environmental Protection Agency vessel, the Katmai Bay, a US Coast Guard vessel and the Kiyi, a research vessel from the Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor all were in the area. I never heard that the tree was recovered.

Also downbound today was:
Charles M. Beeghly
Adam E. Cornelius

Upbound:
Walter J. McCarthy Jr.
Canadian Prospector
Burns Harbor

It was cool here all day and began raining around 6 PM. This week has been below normal temps and the forecast for the next few days seems to be more of the same. Great weather for working outdoors. Tom got by garden rototilled tonight and it is doing well.

6 comments:

Bill K. said...

This is probably the same tree that was reported in the water on July 4th behind the power house. No one ever found it. Water logged trees set below the water surface and are hard to spot.

Tell Tom that soggy ground is hard to till. He needs to rest for a few days. The weather is suppose to be back to normal around the first of the week. Then back to rain and thunderstorms.

Anonymous said...

I wondered why finding the tree would be so important, but after reading what Bill K wrote, I'm guessing it isn't a concern for the freighters but for smaller boats???

Soo Boat Watcher said...

Tom did get the garden rototilled while I was at work. I work at EUP Learning Center on Ashmun about 7 hours a week. I was pleasantly surprised when I got home. My garden is doing well but with this cool weather is may be Oct. before I get beans and January before any tomatoes are ready. :)

Thanks for the info about the floating tree. I wondered why all the concern but that explains it.

Linda said...

A floating log?? One year when we were on Neebish Island (downbound side), a picnic table was floating down the river!! My husband and son towed it to shore, and called the DNR. they told us there had been a reported "wild" party at the Soo and the party goers were throwing all kinds of things in the river.

Soo Boat Watcher said...

Linda, A floating tree is not nearly as exciting as a floating picnic table. What kind of party is it when you're throwing the furniture into the water? Thanks for sharing a funny story.

Bill K. said...

People do not realize what kind of damage that items floating in the River can do to small boats and large boats. If a tree was to get caught up in the props of a large boat it could cause major problems. It could also break a rudder. As an example say a rudder broke and the ship could not steer. It could run aground on the river bank and the back end could swing out and block the river. Water pressure would build along the side of the boat, just like a dam, causing flooding along the shore. Lots of problems from Trees, Logs, and other things. Your husband and son did the right thing pulling that table out.