Wow MN boater, you guys sure didn't get very far before having to take shelter! You're lucky that little Lexington marina was there, what would the next one have been, Harbor Beach? Didnt' the captain check the weather/radar before heading out? How many were aboard this boat? What was the name of it?
Looking forward to the third installment :)
BTW, nice shot of the Boland.
Duluth inbound
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MN Boater
Re: Duluth inbound
Lady Pirate 1, Yes, we should have taken that as a sign! Part Deux:
The trip started out from Detroit on a Thursday morning. Things went fine running the short stretch of the Detroit River, also crossing Lake St. Clair. Most of the run up the St. Clair River went well also. Now, remember that storm in MN. I said to remember? It caught up with us near the north end of the St. Clair River. Have a look at the photo of the John J. Boland (below), and see how the weather is turning. When we went under the
Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, and out into Lake Huron, things were pretty wild. The lake was 10-12 foot waves with 39 kt. Winds! Not a lot of fun, but not bad. I was on the bridge with the owner/captain when we headed out into the lake. We went out a few miles and he decided to see how the others were doing down below, so I took the helm. It was a real treat trying to keep the boat headed in the right direction. The waves in Lake Huron are not like the waves in Lake Superior. I have been in waves that big in Superior, but in sail boats. Big difference!! Anyway, the waves in Huron seem to come from every direction, like the wind pushes water up on the shore and then the waves come back at you from another direction. You get hit from the bow, stern and side, all at one time! The captain came back up to the bridge and we decided to turn around, run back into Port Huron and top the boat off with fuel and potable water to try to sink the boat into the waves a little deeper and maybe make it ride better. I turned the boat around and saw you could not see the bridge or south shore anymore due to the rain. Had to bring it back in using radar, no big deal.
We filled the boat with fuel and water at a marina and headed back out. Besides the 1 hour of sleep I got on the plane, I had been up now for 30 + hours and decided to get some sleep. I went into the captains’ quarters and laid on the bed, fell right asleep. Well, when the boat passed back under the Blue Water Bridge again and went out into the lake I was tossed out of bed and slammed into the ceiling. What a rude awaking. That was not a one-time event, and it wasn’t going to stop. I headed back to the bridge settling in for a long ride. Like I said, 10-12 foot waves and 39 kt. winds made for a hard ride. At one point we rolled off a wave sideways and one of the big antennas mounted on the side of the bridge actually cut through a wave going past us!! The captain/owner decided his new boat was getting smacked around pretty good and before we knocked one of the 3208s out of their mounts, we’d head for shelter.
We checked the charts and found a marina at Lexington, MI to duck into. We headed that direction, and when we were close we radioed the harbormaster to find how to line up to stay in a channel to enter the marina. Being that close to shore in water that rough was not a place to be. He told us how to line up and we headed in. We got dropped into a trough of a wave and hit bottom hard enough to kill one of the engines. Luck it was a soft bottom and not rock. We made it in, and jumped the harbormaster about the directions he gave us. He said they dredged the opening and got the dredger stuck, so they dug them selves out and left a pile of sand in doing so. Nice, we hit it. We were now in off the lake and tied up to wait it out.
The trip started out from Detroit on a Thursday morning. Things went fine running the short stretch of the Detroit River, also crossing Lake St. Clair. Most of the run up the St. Clair River went well also. Now, remember that storm in MN. I said to remember? It caught up with us near the north end of the St. Clair River. Have a look at the photo of the John J. Boland (below), and see how the weather is turning. When we went under the
Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, and out into Lake Huron, things were pretty wild. The lake was 10-12 foot waves with 39 kt. Winds! Not a lot of fun, but not bad. I was on the bridge with the owner/captain when we headed out into the lake. We went out a few miles and he decided to see how the others were doing down below, so I took the helm. It was a real treat trying to keep the boat headed in the right direction. The waves in Lake Huron are not like the waves in Lake Superior. I have been in waves that big in Superior, but in sail boats. Big difference!! Anyway, the waves in Huron seem to come from every direction, like the wind pushes water up on the shore and then the waves come back at you from another direction. You get hit from the bow, stern and side, all at one time! The captain came back up to the bridge and we decided to turn around, run back into Port Huron and top the boat off with fuel and potable water to try to sink the boat into the waves a little deeper and maybe make it ride better. I turned the boat around and saw you could not see the bridge or south shore anymore due to the rain. Had to bring it back in using radar, no big deal.
We filled the boat with fuel and water at a marina and headed back out. Besides the 1 hour of sleep I got on the plane, I had been up now for 30 + hours and decided to get some sleep. I went into the captains’ quarters and laid on the bed, fell right asleep. Well, when the boat passed back under the Blue Water Bridge again and went out into the lake I was tossed out of bed and slammed into the ceiling. What a rude awaking. That was not a one-time event, and it wasn’t going to stop. I headed back to the bridge settling in for a long ride. Like I said, 10-12 foot waves and 39 kt. winds made for a hard ride. At one point we rolled off a wave sideways and one of the big antennas mounted on the side of the bridge actually cut through a wave going past us!! The captain/owner decided his new boat was getting smacked around pretty good and before we knocked one of the 3208s out of their mounts, we’d head for shelter.
We checked the charts and found a marina at Lexington, MI to duck into. We headed that direction, and when we were close we radioed the harbormaster to find how to line up to stay in a channel to enter the marina. Being that close to shore in water that rough was not a place to be. He told us how to line up and we headed in. We got dropped into a trough of a wave and hit bottom hard enough to kill one of the engines. Luck it was a soft bottom and not rock. We made it in, and jumped the harbormaster about the directions he gave us. He said they dredged the opening and got the dredger stuck, so they dug them selves out and left a pile of sand in doing so. Nice, we hit it. We were now in off the lake and tied up to wait it out.
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Lady Pirate1
Re: Duluth inbound
LOL I loved the *dark and stormy night* referrence. All that flight trouble- I'd have taken that as a sign! :)
Excellent story so far, continue please :)
Excellent story so far, continue please :)
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Guest
Re: Duluth inbound
Lady Pirate 1, here goes, you asked for it. Part one.
It was a dark and stormy May night in Minneapolis, Mn., the year 2000. Hahahaha, really, it was a stormy night. 3 of us were at the Minneapolis airport to catch the red eye to Detroit. 2 others had flown out ahead of us that afternoon, but some of us had to put in a full day at work. They were going to pick us up at the Detroit airport when we got in.
Our night at MSP didn’t go well. The plane we were supposed to take got diverted some place else because of the storm over the airport at the time. Now remember this storm. It comes into play again later in the story. They brought in another plane. It got hit by lightning on the tarmac at the gate. Now they were off looking for plane number 3. They found a plane number 3 and loaded what was left of the people waiting for the flight and pushed back. While sitting just out of reach of the gate, the pilot came on the intercom and said he had to shut the plane completely down to sort of “reboot it”. I have never been in a plane and saw the emergency lights they always tell you about in the preflight instructions actually turned On Well, they got the plane rebooted and running and we headed out. It was raining very hard again, but we took off. They must have needed a plane in Detroit the next morning, because I couldn’t see them going through all that trouble, and then flying only about a dozen people to Detroit, but they did. Have to give to NWA, they stuck with it We landed in Detroit, called the other guys and they picked us up. By the time we got to the marina, the sun was coming up. You can see in the picture the parking lot lights were still on when we got to the boat.
I don’t remember the name of the marina. It was in the Detroit River, just off the end of Lake St. Clair. As you can see in the photo, it had a large covered dock area. We threw our gear on the boat and headed out.
It was a dark and stormy May night in Minneapolis, Mn., the year 2000. Hahahaha, really, it was a stormy night. 3 of us were at the Minneapolis airport to catch the red eye to Detroit. 2 others had flown out ahead of us that afternoon, but some of us had to put in a full day at work. They were going to pick us up at the Detroit airport when we got in.
Our night at MSP didn’t go well. The plane we were supposed to take got diverted some place else because of the storm over the airport at the time. Now remember this storm. It comes into play again later in the story. They brought in another plane. It got hit by lightning on the tarmac at the gate. Now they were off looking for plane number 3. They found a plane number 3 and loaded what was left of the people waiting for the flight and pushed back. While sitting just out of reach of the gate, the pilot came on the intercom and said he had to shut the plane completely down to sort of “reboot it”. I have never been in a plane and saw the emergency lights they always tell you about in the preflight instructions actually turned On Well, they got the plane rebooted and running and we headed out. It was raining very hard again, but we took off. They must have needed a plane in Detroit the next morning, because I couldn’t see them going through all that trouble, and then flying only about a dozen people to Detroit, but they did. Have to give to NWA, they stuck with it We landed in Detroit, called the other guys and they picked us up. By the time we got to the marina, the sun was coming up. You can see in the picture the parking lot lights were still on when we got to the boat.
I don’t remember the name of the marina. It was in the Detroit River, just off the end of Lake St. Clair. As you can see in the photo, it had a large covered dock area. We threw our gear on the boat and headed out.
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Lady Pirate1
Re: Duluth inbound
Would love to see some photos! And it's not related to Great Lakes Shipping per se, but, this is the Regional page so would fit right in here! :)Guest wrote:Lady Pirate 1, I guess I could tell the story in short segments if that would work. It's not exactly a discussion on Great Lakes Shipping. I have many pictures from the trip so I could post a pic or two and give a short story about them.
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Guest
Re: Duluth inbound
Lady Pirate 1, I guess I could tell the story in short segments if that would work. It's not exactly a discussion on Great Lakes Shipping. I have many pictures from the trip so I could post a pic or two and give a short story about them.
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Lady Pirate1
Re: Duluth inbound
Guest, that must have been some trip! Care to tell us a few stories from that trip? I'm sure there must be some! :) And don't be sorry for not falling in love with Detroit, it doesn't matter to me. LOL
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Guest
Re: Duluth inbound
Lady Pirate 1, I've only been to Detroit once. I was invited to crew a 41 foot boat that was purchased in Detroit and bring it back to Duluth. What a trip! Sorry, I didn't fall in love with Detroit.
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Lady Pirate1
Re: Duluth inbound
Guest, I am from the Detroit area. I've only been to Duluth once, but I fell in love with that city! :)
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Lady Pirate1
Re: Duluth inbound
I absolutely love the photo of the Barker that is on the newspage (taken in Duluth)- I am using it for my desk-top photo! Sure makes me wish I was there! :)
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Guest
Re: Duluth inbound
The folks and visitors in Duluth are a hearty bunch!
They are out in the cold, snow, late night, high winds,
to watch the ships come in. Not much will keep them away from the harbor entrance.
They are out in the cold, snow, late night, high winds,
to watch the ships come in. Not much will keep them away from the harbor entrance.
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island05
Duluth inbound
Saturday afternoon on the Duluth Harbor camera there was a Great welcoming group for the inbound Mesabi Miner.
On a sunny day with lots of snow around the channel was elbow to elbow with people, with the remaing large crowd on the small wall behind the nice wide sidewalk.
The people of the twin ports were out in numbers.
Jim Lindholm
Grand Rapids
On a sunny day with lots of snow around the channel was elbow to elbow with people, with the remaing large crowd on the small wall behind the nice wide sidewalk.
The people of the twin ports were out in numbers.
Jim Lindholm
Grand Rapids