Entertaining Visitors

 We always take our guests to the Locks.  We have been fortunate this summer to watch many boats there.

 The Soo Locks Visitors Center has great displays about the Locks, the Great Lakes and shipping in general.

 Rotary Park is a double bonus because we can get lunch at Clyde's Drive-in and take it to a picnic table and enjoy the boats.

We have been entertaining several groups of guests at our cabin on the St. Marys River this past week.  It is always an easy job because the St. Marys River, the Locks, and the freighters do all the work for us.  We just take them around town and show them the sights.

Last week, my friend said, "There's a big boat."  She was referring to the Canadian Olympic.  Her husband explained to her that the boat was not a 1,000 footer so it wasn't a big one.  She replied, "They're all big ones!"  And she is right.

August Brings A Cool Down

I've written about the strike that hit American Steamship Company but I'm happy to report that the two parties found a way to return everyone to work while still working on resolution.  So we're back in business.

Business in August means savoring the last weeks of summer.  For me that means gardening, hosting lots of company and boat watching.

Boat watching has been great this week.  Lots of traffic but no surprises.  Yesterday we saw the Manitoba.  That was the first time I have observed the Manitoba this year.

The goal of my gardening has been to have flower beds that resist weeds.  Every year when we arrive, the weeds have had a head start in our gardens and I spend the first weeks weeding.  So I'm trying several approaches.

My weeding theories:

My sweet pea bed:  I haven't been weeding it very much

One of my sea walls beds:  I put down landscape fabric and covered it with river pebbles

 My hosta bed grows so thick that very few weeds even try to grow.

 A couple of beds must be weeded by traditional methods.

 I'm trying to establish some perennials that will come up in the spring before we arrive at the cabin and choke out the weeds.

Do you notice the Kaye E. Barker in the background?

My husband tried a new method-drive over the flower bed with the truck.  Yes, that was an effective means of weed control.

Any suggestions, dear reader, to help me?  Remember, we usually don't arrive here until the beginning of June and most weeds are choking out my flower beds by then. 

Edwin H. Gott Salutes the Calloway

We have been undertaking a huge project at our house of moving a small metal barn to farther back on our property.  It sat right where we want to put a new garage.  We have been talking about this move for 13 years and we (my husband) and our neighbor tackled the job this week.

While on break at noon, we were treated to a nice show with the Edwin H. Gott and the Cason J. Calloway.  They passed in the river.  The Gott sounded one long and 2 short.  The Calloway didn't return the salute which surprised me.  But we enjoyed the meetings of these two ships.

And we finished the move today.

Land of the Midnight Sun

 We have our morning coffee looking out on the river.  This morning we were treated to a visit from 2 pair of sandhill cranes.  They came right up into our yard and seemed to be feasting on the abundance of insects in the grass.  They were very quiet and could have come and gone unnoticed.  In the above picture, you can just see them scooting over to the neighbor's yard after they had finished up at our place.

The next three pictures show the St. Marys River this evening.  They were taken about 9 PM.  I call this area the Land of the Midnight Sun because the days are much longer here than our place near Grand Rapids.  The Soo has about 20 more minutes of daylight in the morning and in the evening because we are closer to the Arctic Circle.   When we first arrive here in June, the first sign of the sun peeking over Sugar Island occurs shortly after 4 AM.  But now the night has lengthened and this morning it was about 5 AM before the gray was breaking over Sugar Island.

Boat traffic has been moderately heavy today.  I''m just watching the Manitowoc heading up and passed the Kaministiqua who was heading down.  Both are a light gray color and they saluted each other with 1 long and 2 short.  They both sail for divisions of Upper Lakes Towing Ltd. 

Other boats sighted today include:

Great Republic                       John D. Leitch       Indiana Harbor
Captain Henry Jackman         Algoway         Stewart J. Cort
Edwin H. Gott    Algosteel       Kaye E. Barker
Burns Harbor      Joyce L. Van Enkevort

Picture Perfect Day

 Federal Weser-I just got a glance as she headed down the river.

 My boat watching equipment

 Looking north at the St. Marys River

 Looking east at Sugar Island

Our wonderful cabin on the St. Marys River near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Saturday, July 30, has proven to be a picture perfect day here on the St. Marys River.  The humidity is low with a dew point in the mid-50's.  There is a breeze coming off the river that has kept the temperature down.  It is in the high 80's but feels great.  Seating in the front yard is so relaxing.  With a cup of iced tea, we are storing warm memories for the cold winter.

We had a moderate day of boat traffic today.  Weekends on the St. Marys River are always quiet.  And it was quiet with commercial traffic as well. Here are the boats I've observed today.

Hon. James L. Oberstar-she was heading down at 4 am and was a beautiful sight all lit up.  I've heard her called J Lo by Cathy from DeTour.  Very funny!
John G. Munson-heading up
Algowood-down
Kaye E. Barker-up
Alizzan-up-a small boat possibly a pleasure craft.  With the new AIS, I can see those too
Algocape-down
Mesabi Miner-I observed the top of the bridge from 7 Mile Road and Ridge Road-a full two miles from the river.  A pretty sight to see it moving silently through the trees
American Mariner-up
Federal Weser-down

July 28 is busy day on the St. Marys River

Bad news-I was laid low yesterday by some kind of stomach bug.

Good news-I was able to watch boats all day long and into the night.  It was a busy day for freighters.   Here's what I saw with the approximate times they passed our cabin.


Algosar           Up              7 AM
Mesabi Miner       Down     7:15 AM
Lee A. Tregurtha    Down                                    
Victory & James L. Kuper  Down
Canadian Enterprise   Up
Edwin H. Gott             Up
Anglian Lady             Up
Great Republic          Down
Algoway                   Up 
Algoma Discovery    Up
Frontenac      Down       5 PM
Saginaw   Up    5 PM
Steward J. Cort     Up    9 PM
American Century   Down 11 PM
Arthur M. Anderson  Down    4 AM


What a great day for boat watching.  The weather was in the low 80's but very muggy.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to assist on the project for the day which was removing tree tops that had blown over in the freak wind storm from May.  We have removed the 6 trees that were blown down but there were two trees that had broken off at the top and they were balancing precariously across the driveway.  My husband and our neighbor completed the project.

Herbert C. Jackson in the Fog

 When we woke this morning, we were treated to having a boat closer than normal.  The Herbert C. Jackson was anchored in the anchorage area because of the dense fog.  I don't know how long she had been there but we enjoyed a closer look than normal.  One of my friends suggested that I invite the captain in for coffee.  We were drinking our morning coffee and I think that maybe he was too.  So I can say I had coffee with the captain this morning!



When a ship is anchored, they always face into the current.  When the fog had lifted the Jackson had to turn around because they were actually headed downbound.  We were treated to watch them raise the anchor and turn around.  The St. Marys River doesn't appear that wide but there is plenty of room for the maneuvers.

Here's the pictures of the process.

 Now she is underway and heading for her next stop.