Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Boom! Sounds like a great time, happy new year!

The Buffalo has been running the shuttle.

We are off to the PA mountains to ring in the new year. We use this cannon to say goodbye to the old, and hello to the new year. It can be heard a long, long way off. Just to give you an idea of the size of the cannon, there is a 5 gallon bucket shown here sitting at its base.

I have been told by the CFD brass to never bring it to Cleveland. Ha!

Happy New Year!

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The Buffalo, Sam Laud and the Manistee have been up the river.
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The Manistee came up river in the dark and was showing her xmas lights. I could not get a good pic in the dark. She looked great! Here she is returning.
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I am looking in to getting a camera that works in the dark. There are some really great views to capture here at night.
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Have a safe Christmas!
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b

Hi seadog! Yes, the GLB is great. They have The Christmas Ale now as well.

Hi Guest! The WSM is open year round on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, & Saturdays. Once you learn how to shop there you get hooked. I am a junkie!

How often do you see stuff like this?
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I heard the bridge danger horns as I was walking around Downtown. Somebody was sailing the river.
Cheers
b

right across the road from the westside market is my favourite place great lakes brewery

Beecher, great pics! That West Side Market looks pretty cool. Very nice! Seeing that it's indoors, is it open all year? We have farmers markets here in MN, but they are outside and summertime only.

We saw Dorothy Ann - Pathfinder, an Algoma boat in the dark at 3am yesterday, and the Buffalo sailing the shuttle with an escort of terroristic omnivores.
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Just above the Buffalo, on the west bank of the river, above the Irishtown bend, is the West Side Market. The food is the best. Shown here is the Main Arcade where you can haggle for your cuts of meat and such. You name it, they have it. When you are done here you can go on to the adjacent fruits and vegetables arcade. It is a gem to have.
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They often have musicians of all sorts play and sing up on the mezzanine. During xmas it is a real treat. The acoustics are good.

I missed the Maumee tow. I was called away. Shucks.
Other activity:

Sam and Dorothy Ann sailing the river together
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The Iowa was towing the Cuyahoga last night. The lights in the upper left is The Indian's Progressive Field lit up. They have skating, hockey, and tubing.
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When I was called away from stalking the Maumee there was this boat chuggin it up the river. I'll bet he was stalking the tow as well. lol.
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Off to the Market. Hope they have artichokes.
Cheers

The Buffalo woke us before 5 am sailing down the river. The Sam Laud just sailed up the river with D/A pathfinder right behind her. I seldom see that. I have pictures for later.

I hope to get away today to get some last shots of the Maumee being towed out for the final time. I remember her last trips into Cleveland. She seemed to mope and take the long way around to enter Cleveland Harbor from the East at times. I hope they get underway with some daylight so I can get some shots. Anyone know the exact time she will start her journey?

The Great Republic has been sailing the river. We have seen the Buffalo and the Manistee too.
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I am also working on the information search page looking for information from long ago. See the post "Block Stone"

Happy Thanksgiving
b

The USCG had this one pulled out on Tuesday. The VP was here that day as well. They were enforcing a security zone for him that day.
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I woke today to the Great Republic unloading stone on the river.
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The Alouette Spirit is sailing the new trade pattern and showed up while the GR was unloading the stone.
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They eventually passed down by collision bend.
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The American Mariner followed the Great Republic out of the Harbor an hour or so ago. The GR headed towards Pele Passage and the AM sailed 10* east of her.

We were reading a ships manifest from a schooner in 1869. One of the cargoes was listed as "black stone". What is black stone?

Lots of sun.
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This partially constructed boat appeared in view when Kevin and the Sam Laud left their lay up moorings this spring. They only changes noticeable to me around it is the tree by the bulkhead has grown a few feet. This welder caught my eye on Sunday. I am curious as to what kind of boat is being built here. Anyone?

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The activity has included the USCG Hollyhock visiting for a few days. The Sam Laud was here to kick off the month. Cleveland-Cleveland Rocks has been busy. Dredging has resumed up the river. The Buffalo is currently running the river 24/7 to Mittal. Her last trip was at 4am and is due to sail by anytime by my predictions.
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The leaves are in full "flame". We'll head to the National Park to soak it in today.

Cheers

[quote="beecher"]My Daughter celebrated Halloween at OU last night. I did not have to send bail money there thank goodness ;-). [/quote]

Well that's a good thing!

[quote="SA Tish"]They had steel slabs on the Alouette Spirit yesterday when it left Cleveland. The tug Wilf Seymour was flying the ArcelorMittal flag.[/quote]

This is a new trade pattern. Wilf Seymour/Alouette Spirit and John Spence/Niagara Spirit will haul slabs from Mittal to Hamilton.

They had steel slabs on the Alouette Spirit yesterday when it left Cleveland. The tug Wilf Seymour was flying the ArcelorMittal flag.

Thanks for the video clip. We saw the towmotors in the barge. I can't help but think of the labor implications. Does this method of materials movement bypass the dock worker/longshoreman? or not.

The Sam Laud backed down the river through all the fog this morning.

Work barges were moving late last night.

We have one saltie in port too.

My Daughter celebrated Halloween at OU last night. I did not have to send bail money there thank goodness ;-). The news says there were only 50 arrests. They usually average 200. My son evidently snuck away from South Bass Isle and ended up in Delaware, Ohio last night. I usually hear of all the halloween shenanigans during the Thanksgiving meal with all their cousins trying to one up each other. Funny stuff.

Cheers & Go Browns!

Paul A. I know a welder that built tow boats in St. Paul, MN. I used to go down to the shipyard on the Mississippi River with him every now and then to look around. Very cool stuff! They built smaller work boats, pusher type tow boats and 200 foot long grain/coal barges. They even built some aluminum work boats for down in the Panama Canal. The ship yard is closed and gone now, but they used to build the tow boats right side up. I guess different places do things to whichever way works best for them!

Beecher. You were close on saying that tug/barge Alouette Spirit hauled steel. Actually they haul aluminum ingots in that unit. That front ramp flips over and they run flatbed tractor trailers right onto the barge to be unloaded by a group of forklifts on board. Very interesting. Here's a web address that shows the Alouette Spirit getting loaded in Sept Iles, Quebec.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUZyuAQsqrQ[/youtube]

Great Lakes Shipyard rolls the hulls out of the fab shop and turns them over to finish completion. That hull will be overturned Friday to be finished.

Thanks as always for the photos Beecher! That Travelift is huge! I think they say it's the largest in North America? Also, that's cool that you got under the Soldiers and Sailers Monument. I've always really admired that structure.
To MN Boater, I ran across a web site that showed the construction of a river tow boat and they built the hull upside down then towed it out of the fabrication building to turn it right side up to fab the cabins. Pretty interesting!
Great one to all
Paul