More Fishing Tugs 7

This road trip was partly about seeing more fish tugs, the focus of the next few posts.  One of the current hubs of fishing tugs still fishing is the Bayfield Peninsula, jutting out of northern Wisconsin into Lake Superior.  Bayfield still had chunk ice in the harbor on May 9!

Let’s start out at Bodin Fisheries, and the docks there.

Visible here from l to r, it’s Miss Madilynn, JJC, Twin Disc, and Alicia Rae.

And circling around to the other side, more views from different angles of this set.

Mackenzie May, partly visible here,  is astern of Miss Madilynn.

Looking out of the cove, that’s Madeline Island–the only inhabited island of the Apostles–visible only when the fog is lifted.  Part of the island is home to the Bad River band of the Ojibwe.

But back to the fish tugs.  Note JayJayCee is abridged on the stack.

A major resource I use to learn more about fish tugs is here, compiled by Harvey Hadland and Bob Mackreth.  A second one is Great Lakes Commercial Fishing Forum here.

Miss Madilynn might be the newest of this set, built (I believe) in 1964 in Black River Harbor MI.  Previous names are Isle Royale Queen, Jean-Maur-B II, and Jean Mor B.   She’s 31′ loa.

Mackenzie May was built in 1940 at Burger Boat, 42′ loa.  The Burger family has been building boats since 1863 in Manitowoc WI.

Twin Disc, 45′ loa, carries the original name as when she was built in Sturgeon Bay by Peterson in 1937.  

Alicia Rae was built as C. W. Lind in 1945. The 42′ boat was also once called Kelly.  She was built as hull 209 at Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding  & Drydock. 

 

I skipped the Garden Peninsula on my drive out to Bayfield, but from George Schneider a few years back, here’s a fish tug he photographed there.

All photos by will Van Dorp, who takes the blame for any mis-processed info here.

Click here for a short video on commercial fishing on Lake Superior.

Truckster! 7

Here’s where this series started . . .  And given the “road fotos” posts, you can guess that I saw trucks on those roads, lots of them.

The vehicle below–seen in a field along a narrow two-lane road–might be a truck.  Note the wooden visor bracing the top of the windshield supports.  Any guess on make and age?  I have no clue, bt I’d guess a Model T.

This 1947 (?) Ford has seen some body modification.  The sign on the window said it has a 454 and is for sale for $12k or BO.  It might be compared to this modification of a 1947 Diamond T. 

The trucks here are not that unusual, but their location–the Mackinac Bridge–certainly is.

Michigan has unique rules about truck weights and axles.

This 1946 (?) GMC pickup, stuck between trees on an island in Lake Superior, will likely never catch the ferry off the island.

I’d say a 1952 (?) GMC in very fine condition.

Canada once branded Ford trucks as Mercury, like this 1957 or ’58 Mercury panel truck.

I live right next to Jamaica NY, so for a newcomer, a plain truck like this would be an enigma.

This truck passed me on the Belt Parkway a few weeks back.  My impression was that it might belong to a member of the FBC, although I’m not sure. Here’s a related article from my favorite NYTimes writer from over 10 years ago.  Sometimes bulls escape in the city and then you want a cowboy.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who’s just back from a 3000-mile + road trip, but wouldn’t be if he stopped to photograph every old truck along the way.  All previous truckster posts can be seen here.

 

Yankcanuck

Yup . . . that’s a crankshaft.  And yup, that’s a full size 6’2″ version of myself.

Here’s the connection to the title.  Yankcanuck . . . cool word.

From 1963 until 2016, she worked in different trades, even spending some time in the Arctic.  With her interesting history, I’m glad that a portion of her has been preserved for folks like me who missed her arrivals into Detroit, for example, and can now learn of her.  Preserve, preserve, at least some parts.

These photos by Will Van Dorp, who’s now facing a corrupted card.

Road Fotos 39

How fortunate to catch Paul R. Tregurtha on her first upbound trip through the Soo!   She’s the last product of the shipyards in Lorain OH, which was the first stop on this gallivant.

Just ahead of Tregurtha was James R. Barker, another product of Lorain, here waiting to enter the locks.

An impulse stop in Sault Ste Marie ON was the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, a great stop.

To get from Manitoulin Island to the Bruce Peninsula, we boarded “the big canoe,” aka Chi-Cheemaun, a replacement for SS Norgoma, featured here a few days ago.  Chi-Cheemaun is a product of Collinwood ON shipyards, about which I’ll comment later.

Tobermory has erected a plaque to Le Griffon, the will-0-wisp of the Great Lakes, the first full-sized sailing ship built on the Lakes above Niagara.  She disappeared on the return from her first voyage, one of the many vessels lost on the Lakes without a trace.

Is it true that Dawn Light, docked here in Tobermory, was built in 1891?    !!  Here’s the suggestion and history.

Georgian Bay . . .  and here’s a cairn built in honor of those past.

Just east of Georgian Bay in Gordon Lightfoot country, there are lots of apple orchards.  Are there any Lightfoot songs referring to them or to farming there?

 

Here is part of the area that used to be Collingwood Shipyards, now living and shopping space.  At least they painted a mural of a laker on the supermarket wall.

Itinerary and all photos by Will Van Dorp, who offers this poem in respect for this day..

SS Norgoma Voted Out

SS and then MS Norgoma worked for Owen Sound Transportation Company from 1950 until 1974.  Now it’s been voted out of town.

I hope something can be learned from the public process that “directs staff to look for options to remove the former steamship.”  A public process is to be admired.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, with thanks to Greg for suggesting I look her up.

 

Road Fotos 38

Even gallivants have destinations, and her it is, the Bayfield peninsula,

one of the best places to see fish tugs, to be included in a number of upcoming posts, following on these past ones. South Twin was built in 1938 in Bayfield and is now out of the water,

but many more like Gary (1945) still fish.  Recall that Urger was once a fish tug. 

Obviously, this is not a fish tug, but an excursion vessel.

Bayfield’s Devil’s Island was once visited by one President, and here’s why.

The town is itself spectacular, even when the fog prevents excursion boats from heading out.  Radar and other navaids can get you out there, but don’t guarantee

that you’ll see much.

Was this Bartholdi’s inspiration . . .?

… just kidding.

Anyone recognize this ferry?

Here’s the story.

 

This kit saw me and ran for its mother, lurking in the bushes.

John D is one more fish tug, and not mentioned in this site, but we’ll leave you here.  As Robert E. Keen says . . . the road goes on forever….

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who has crossed a border by now.

Road Fotos 37

Action in the 1979 movie Alien only begins when crew of the space tug Nostromo comes out of hyper sleep.  Travel on the Interstate system is similar to sci-fi space travel:  you don’t see much until you awaken from the hyper-vigilance of 70 or more mph and cruise the two-lanes.  I might not post the next few days because I’m hoping to leave even the two-lanes and do some hiking and canoeing.  But for this post, I’ve little need to say where I am because the photos give clues or outright identification.  If you are left with questions, I’ll answer when I again seek and find a wifi oasis.

These photos were taken over two days, so you can tell my trajectory by figuring out the photos.

I can’t identify this Lorain OH tug. Anyone help?  The sign on the front of the wheelhouse says South Shore Dredge and Dock, Inc.

 

Above . .. Appledore IV story is here.

Alpena is home to the Great Lakes Maritime Center operated by NOAA.  The engine order telegraph–made in Sneek, Holland and hence marked in Dutch–was taken from German freighter Nordmeer that sank not far from Alpena in November 1966.  “Sneek” is pronounced like the more common word for ”
serpent.”

This wheelhouse was at Forty Mile Point Lighthouse.

 

Is there a name for this style if fishing boat?  The photo I took in Cheboygan MI.

Ah, the big beautiful bridge of the northern run of I-75.

After crossing overtop the Straits of Mackinac, we turned to the west, through a series of bug tornadoes!

This light marks the harbor last seen by the captain and crew of the Christmas tree schooner in November 1912 on their fatal voyage to Chicago.

And for a final shot, who can tell me where this was taken . . . more or less . . .?

All photos by Will Van Dorp, whose previous road fotos can be found here.

 

Retro Road Photos

These photos I took on a road trip 10 years ago.  Revisiting some photos from this trip underscores how little I know about the inland waterways.  Let’s start in Pittsburgh with Consol Energy’s Gabriel.

Farther west at Pike Island locks, Brenda Rose pushes some large components up the Ohio.

Downstream across from the stadiums in Cincinnati, Shirley B waits at the dock.

McGinnis’ Canadian heads upstream.

And still in Cincinnati, TPG Mt Vernon Marine’s William Jeffrey Bayer moves coal downstream.  I wonder how they identify themselves on the radio.

Belle of Louisville–in Louisville–is a piece of history, launched only a little over 50 years after Herman Melville stopped by the port.

Cutting north to follow the eastern side of Lake Michigan, we came upon Captain George, looking immaculate for a 1929 built tug, here alongside Silversides.

This classic fish tug had no markings anywhere.

Nibroc, here in Muskegon, dates from 1938.

And finally, Paul H. Townsend, has since been towed to Port Colborne to be scrapped.  I hope to see her remnants, macabre as that may sound, when I pass through there in early August.

All photos taken in late spring 2008 by Will Van Dorp, who’s currently doing a trip taking in coastlines and waterways not explored before.

 

 

Retro Sixth Boro 3

All photos today I took in May and early June of 2008.  Odin, configured this was in 1982, is now known as Jutte Cenac, after considerable reconfiguration.  You’d no longer look twice at her now, as you would back then.

Scotty Sky, the Blount-built tanker launched in 1960, was rendered obsolete on January 1, 2015  by OPA 90, and now calls the Caribbean home.

When I took this photo along the South Brooklyn docks, I had no idea that it was to become the Brookfield Place ferry terminal. 

I had no idea until looking this up that Joan McAllister is the current Nathan G.

Juliet Reinauer now works as Big Jake.

For Lettie G Howard, another decade is somewhat insignificant, given that it’s been afloat since 1893.  Currently she’s sailing up the St. Lawrence bound for Lake Erie. The NJ shoreline there has changed quite a bit, beginning with the removal of the Hess tanks there around 2014.

Crow was scrapped in 2015.  I caught her last ride powered by Emily Ann here (and scroll)  in May 2014.

And finally, back in 2008, this living fossil was still hard at work,

gainfully plying the Hudson. This Kristin was scrapped sometime in 2012.

All photos taken in late spring 2008 by Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 229

Let’s do the numbers again.  No, Pelham is NOT becoming a tugantine in the tradition of Norfolk Rebel.  Seeing Pelham out of the water really reveals a beauty I hadn’t noticed before.

OK, numbers, built in 1960 and rated at 3000 hp.

Atlantic Coast, 2007 and 3000hp.

 

Genesis Vision, 1981 and 3000hp.

Margaret Moran, 1979 and 3000hp.

(l to r) Fort Schuyler 2015 and 3000hp, Patuxent 2008 and 4200, and Kings Point 2014 and 3000.

Note the difference in “neck” length leading to the upper wheelhouse;  that hints at the difference in engines.

Resolve, 2007 and 9280hp.

Brownsville, 2008 and 12,000hp.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who is playing in the Great Lakes by this time.