Opening Day Woes

The Soo Locks officially opened on Wednesday, March 25, but it has been slow going because of ice.  Here are some photos taken on Wednesday by Debbie Jelen.  As always, Debbie's photos give us a wonderful view of the St. Marys River and the freighters on it.

Edwin H. Gott at Mission Point

The Gott and Blough await passage through the Locks

 A snowy day

 Tied at the east pier

Hammond Bay assists in getting the day going

The following description of the first day is from Boatnerd.com.
 
"The mighty 1,000-footer Edwin H. Gott tried her best to be the first boat to lock through the Soo Locks late Wednesday morning, but in the end she was bested by ice in the lock chamber and had to back out and tie up at the east center pier to wait for conditions to improve. Fleetmate Roger Blough was tied up astern of her. 

Wednesday evening the Corps tug Whitefish Bay was working to clear ice from the Poe Lock wall, while USCG Mobile Bay was cutting track in the upper approaches. By 8:30 p.m., the Gott was making a second run at the lock; this time she was successful and by 9:30 was clearing the lock. 

The Gott initially started going upbound through the locks around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. A welcoming party of community leaders and residents celebrated the Gott and its crew as it passed by during a heavy snow squall. But the excitement was short-lived as ice brought the passage to a crunching halt. 

Also, on Wednesday evening, the downbound John G. Munson and USCG cutter Alder were nearing Whitefish Point. If all goes well, the Munson will be the first downbound passage sometime on Thursday."