by Guest » September 8, 2025, 6:20 pm
Photo was not taken on Whitefish Bay, instead it was taken at Johnson Point in the St. Marys river. The Charles M. Beeghly was downbound in the Middle Neebish Channel on January 26, 1978 and was pushed out of the channel by the ice which had shifted due to the high winds. The West Neebish Channel had been closed by the US Coast Guard on the 8 January in case anyone is wondering why she was using the Middle Neebish Channel while downbound.
Here's the May-June 1978 issue of Telescope which makes note of the grounding on pages 27 and 28 magazine:
https://images.maritimehistoryofthegrea ... 27241T.PDF
The Blizzard of January 26-28, 1978 impacted a wide region of the Great Lakes. In Cleveland, wind gusts reached over 80 mph, causing the collapse of the ore bidge at the C&P ore dock. Capt. Delmar Webster, of the J. Burton Ayers, reported wind gusts reaching 110 mph in Pigeon Bay, as did the Northwind that was stopped in the ice on Lake Erie near her.
Page 22 of the July-August 1978 issue of Telescope notes in the news byline for April 1, that the Charles M. Beeghly was drydocked for repairs at Fraser Shipyards. I have a letter from BGSU's Great Lakes Marine History Archive and it mentions that the Charles M. Beeghly passed upbound at the Soo Locks on February 12, 1978 for Superior.
https://images.maritimehistoryofthegrea ... 27251T.PDFPhoto was not taken on Whitefish Bay, instead it was taken at Johnson Point in the St. Marys river. The Charles M. Beeghly was downbound in the Middle Neebish Channel on January 26, 1978 and was pushed out of the channel by the ice which had shifted due to the high winds. The West Neebish Channel had been closed by the US Coast Guard on the 8 January in case anyone is wondering why she was using the Middle Neebish Channel while downbound.
Here's the May-June 1978 issue of Telescope which makes note of the grounding on pages 27 and 28 magazine: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/images/MHGL0001227241T.PDF
The Blizzard of January 26-28, 1978 impacted a wide region of the Great Lakes. In Cleveland, wind gusts reached over 80 mph, causing the collapse of the ore bidge at the C&P ore dock. Capt. Delmar Webster, of the J. Burton Ayers, reported wind gusts reaching 110 mph in Pigeon Bay, as did the Northwind that was stopped in the ice on Lake Erie near her.
Page 22 of the July-August 1978 issue of Telescope notes in the news byline for April 1, that the Charles M. Beeghly was drydocked for repairs at Fraser Shipyards. I have a letter from BGSU's Great Lakes Marine History Archive and it mentions that the Charles M. Beeghly passed upbound at the Soo Locks on February 12, 1978 for Superior. https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/images/MHGL0001227251T.PDF