The US Coast Guard vessel, Buckthorn, is hard at work today in the St. Marys River. It looks like she is taking care of buoy maintenance but that's just an observation.
This is an addition after I had time to sit in the front yard and watch closely what was going on aboard the Buckthorn. It appeared to be disaster training. For a while they were throwing life rings out from the boat. "Man overboard". Later they were having a fire drill. A light was flashing and I could hear a loud voice calling, "fire, fire". Very interesting. They were out there a couple of hours.
The river is quiet today but there has been a fair amount of shipping traffic. The John G. Munson just went up. Earlier today, I saw the Indiana Harbor and the H. Lee White going up also.
The Joseph L. Block was down bound this morning and she is a good looking boat.
We arrived home yesterday from a quick trip downstate just in time to see the Beeghly headed down and the Federal Hudson heading to the Soo.
Today is a picture-perfect day on the river. Low wind and humidity with temps in the low 70's. No clouds in the sky makes for a very blue river.
I received a nice note from a reader who has memories of boat watching that I want to share with you. So many people have great memories of time spend on the St. Marys River as a child. Please share with us if your would.
My grandparents bought a cabin on the west side of Sugar Island (facing Lake Nicolet) in the early 90's. My family would come up every summer for a week or so. My two brothers and I had a blast every year watching the boats and enjoying all the water activities that the Sugar Island/Sault Ste Marie area had to offer. My Grandpa worked on the freighters from the age of 16 and was able to name them all on sight and would often get a salute from the some of the captains. Sadly, my Grandmother passed away in 2001 and that, along with the demands of growing up and work life meant that we stopped our yearly trips. Just last weekend, though, my brother and I were able to make it up to the Sault for the first time in 6 years and it was great to be there again. Thanks so much for your great blog. I'm sure all of your family members will have great lifelong memories of the Soo.
Thanks for sharing your memories and glad you enjoyed a recent trip here too.
4 comments:
I love this blog. The sights and sounds remind me of my younger days traveling to Nebbish Island with my Grand Parents and mom for two weeks every summer. Some of my best memories are from then. I especially love to watch the boats go by. I would race down to the end of the dock when I heard the sault as they made bend at Little Nebbish and watch until they made the bend at Hen and Chicken.I grew up fishing the river and even had my first summer crush, it was way better than going to camp. I haven't been for a few years but plan to make the trip next summer, until then keep the post coming so I can keep it fresh in my minds eye.
If I had your location, I would NOT be looking forward to the close of the season! What a wonderful way to spend the summer! Heck, I'd be happy with a day!!
Thanks Cathy. You're right. I'm not looking forward to leaving.
I loved the pic of your 5th wheel and truck. I can see you are excited for this new phase in your life. If we could sell our house downstate, we would be getting a 5th wheel too but no luck yet.
I am not ready for you to close up and go back down state. Summer has just flown by. I will miss your reports on the shipping season.
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