Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Denny, thank you so much for mentioning this video.
It was way before I became interested in the Great Lakes and shipping, so there are a lot of ships shown that I've never seen or heard of.
The music really set the mood with tone and then the sea shanties! I've bookmarked the site and will watch in segments.
Holiday blessings, Denny!

Thanks everyone for your comments on this subject and thread as I appreciate them and also, the historical information on some of the past Winters and ice coverage on Lake Superior and other historical footnotes are all very informative and interesting! After the holidays are over, things begin to quiet and settle back down again and I have more free and spare time on my hands, I will be adding more of my own comments and information to the thread. I wish I could send photos of the 1996 ice jam on the St. Clair River but those are all 35mm images and right now my computer is messed up, my printer won’t print due to WIFI issues. Unfortunately, I cannot scan images either at this time and if I could I wouldn’t know how to do it on my computer, shrink the size enough for boatnerd and then send it to them then? The Winter of 1995/96 and the Spring of 1996 was one of the worst years for ice on the Great Lakes. Just take and view a You Tube Video of it as far as “Great Lakes Freighters The Seasons and The Seas” made back in 1996. That video shows Winter scenes from 1995/96 Winter and shows too the original Mackinaw and onboard scenes as she is breaking up the thick ice in the Straits of Mackinaw. There are scenes taken at the Soo Locks as well of the ice and ships and Coasf Guard tugs and USACE Tugs all working hard to flush out the ice from the Locks and keep the ship traffic moving at that point. It is my all time favorite video to watch and there are scenes not ice related to where it is really moving, I find it emotional to where there are parts in it that get too me and hit me like a ton of bricks anytime I watch it!

Mn bob wrote: December 16, 2025, 10:01 am I think it was the winter of 2014 that Lake Superior was completely froze over, I seem to recall I believe was the presque isle that left Duluth and had to return as she was holed. Also think the Kaye e barker sustained damage down near the soo. I think it took the Cason j callaway over 6 days to go from Duluth to the soo. It was a rough journey for several ships that spring on Lake Superior.

I remember the issue with Kaye E. Barker. She was above Whitefish Point, but made it into Whitefish Bay before it was decided she needed major repair (done at the Soo) and was unsafe to transit further loaded. Lee A. Tregurtha (in ballast) was upbound at the Soo, and a transfer of cargo from KEB into LAT was scheduled and reported, with photo, on Boatnerd. One of my favorite photos!

I have a spreadsheet of Great Lakes maximum ice extent for the years from 1962-63 to 2024-25.

For Lake Superior I have only one Winter where ice extent was 100%, and that is the Winter of 1995-96.

I'll go by year where ice extent on Lake Superior was 90% or greater.

1962-63 95%
1964-65 90%
1971-72 95%
1976-77 96%
1977-78 93%
1978-79 97%
1985-86 91%
1990-91 90%
1993-94 96%
1995-96 100%
2002-03 96%
2008-09 94%
2013-14 96%
2014-15 96%
2018-19 95%

I have enclosed an image I create of Great Lakes water temperature for my website. This image is a composite over seven days for December 18, 2025 18Z.

I don't remember the year, but after I moved to Michigan (2011) Arthur Anderson took on her last load of the season at a Lake Superior port, with a destination of Ashtabula, Ohio. She was good, weather-wise, across Lake Superior but from the Soo on, ice impacted her speed and she was quickly losing the race to get to Ashtabula, unload and make it back to the Soo before the locks closed. Being an armchair observer, I wondered why, since ships on Lake Erie were already dealing with thick ice, that last trip wasn't cancelled when she got to Detroit, sending her to lay-up, with cargo in the holds. But that was my opinion. I followed her on Marine Traffic as she inched her way across Lake Erie, only to be stopped in her tracks at Ashtabula because the harbor was inaccessible due to being iced in. Time, fuel, money and whatever else were affected as she turned around and slowly made her way back to layup, either at Bayship or Superior. Two days later, I watched her pass Marine City just as the sun was going down.

I think it was the winter of 2014 that Lake Superior was completely froze over, I seem to recall I believe was the presque isle that left Duluth and had to return as she was holed. Also think the Kaye e barker sustained damage down near the soo. I think it took the Cason j callaway over 6 days to go from Duluth to the soo. It was a rough journey for several ships that spring on Lake Superior.

Chief1 wrote: December 15, 2025, 9:32 pm Around winter 1978 it was said that L. Superior was 100% ice. Believe that year the USCG also had a pair of their Arctic Ice breakers come visit the lakes to assist with the ice breaking. They were the EASTWIND and the WESTWIND, the EASTWIND still had her 5 inch gun mounted on the bow. That may have been the year when some companies attempted the year-round shipping experiment .

The Westwind grounded at Crab Island Shoa on December 13, 1977, whic is east of Detour Island. The Northwind was hurriedly reassigned for the Winter Navigation program on the lake near the end of the month, and the Westwind was taken to Montreal for repairs.

BTW, the year-round winter navigation program ran during the Winters of 1974-75, 1975-76, 1977-78 and 1978-79. Only the Winter of 1976-77 had a shortened season due to the severe ice conditions - it closed on January 21, 1977 and restarted on March 15, 1977. However, due to critical fuel shortages in Thunder Bay, the Canadian government asked the US government for the locks to be kept open for the tankers, Doan Transport, Hudson Transport and Imperial St. Clair during February of the year.

Around winter 1978 it was said that L. Superior was 100% ice. Believe that year the USCG also had a pair of their Arctic Ice breakers come visit the lakes to assist with the ice breaking. They were the EASTWIND and the WESTWIND, the EASTWIND still had her 5 inch gun mounted on the bow. That may have been the year when some companies attempted the year-round shipping experiment .

Very icy years you mentioned there. A little more recent, I remember the MV Speer stuck in Rock Cut for 3 1/2 days. The Old Mac Ice Breaker and two ITB type tugs disconnected from their barges hauling over 20,000 tons of taconite, and worked and worked to get the Speer loose.

A couple months later I was in a marine school outside of Mobile, AL and posted on the peg board was a picture cut out of a local newspaper of the Speer stuck in the middle of The Cut. I told the other students down there I was on one of nine boats stuck behind the Speer back up the river. They said they'd never want to work up here. We had to unload 5000 tons off the PI into one of the AAAs and then go down the upbound channel. It was surrealistic to see all this activity happening around Nine Mile in the middle of the night - you know - with booms sticking out over the river...

This was late January, 2004, I think.

Not sure if this post belongs here or the Reguonal Board? With this extreme cold weather boatnerds, doesn’t this remind you of something that hasn’t occurred or happened on the Great Lakes in about 30 to 40 years? I’m sure it’s happened since then but, here’s a few clues. Anyone care to remember what the Spring of 1984 and 1996 were like respectively? Does Major Ice Jams ring anyone’s memories of those days? I say all of this because I have the facts to back it up! It started both 1984 and 1996 respectively very cold in December of those two years. The whole entire winters were extremely cold lasting well into the Spring. Thus, those Springs we had major problems and Ice Jams especially in the St. Clair River as it was choked full of ice then. It was so bad that the Canadian Coast Guard sent in their “Big Boys” from the East Coast to help with the ice breaking! The 1984 jam was as one of the worst as you had ships stuck and anchored for days along the river back then. There were once a collection of photos of the 1984 ice jam in the Maritime Center at Vantage Point in Port Huron before they tore down that building not too long ago then. It is also worth noting that it seems that in 1995/96 Winter and now this current one in 2025/26, each of these years we had a very warm and hot summer and then the Winters were extremely cold and brutal. Another similar situation like that also occurred in 1977/78 as well. I reminder that year and Winter because the Summer of 1977 was very warm and hot and then the Winter of 1977/78 was very cold and brutal and you had ice jams especially on Lake Erie then with ships being stuck in ice! Next Spring 2026, IF it stays cold much longer it could be a very interesting Spring and Fit Out as well! Of course it’s still way too soon and early to say, tell and predict but right now we could be looking at a very rough and tough go for Spring 2026 and the start up of the season at that point then IMO then. Anyone care to comment or elaborate on this subject? Thank You in advance.