Port of Erie PA 1

The port of Erie is protected behind an “almost island” called Presque Isle, pronounced in French to rhyme with “wheel.”  Click on the map to interact with it.

So guess which “laker” was behind Presque Isle the other day?  Presque Isle, of course, and that’s the name of both the tug and barge.  Both parts date from the early 1970s but were built in different locations . . . Louisiana and Michigan.  Does that mean the tug made the saltwater journey to Michigan solo?  I caught her here in Port Weller last summer.

 

Over in the distance, the land is inner side of the peninsula of Presque Isle.

St Clair was also in port, tied up here to the DonJon pier.

I finally got a closeup of one of the more interesting “second lives” vessels” I’ve ever seen:  a 1945 YO-178 tanker, sold out of government service in 1953,  converted to a trailing suction hopper dredge!  J. S. St. John started life in Pensacola.

To see her underway, check out this video.  for lots of news and photos from Erie, check out Erie Shipping News.

All photos here by Will Van Dorp, last week.

 

Random Ships *8

We continue along the Great Coast, now on Lake Erie, a place of

dramatic early morning skies.

And lakers against the canary daybreak.

Calumet has just left the Cuyahoga,

Italcementi Essroc has the very best logo . . .

and Stephen B. Roman has worn it for some time now, as it also has the distinction of being the first vessel to break out of the Toronto winter ice most years.

The engineering department catches some air and ambience entering Cleveland on a late summer evening.

See the hatch in the hull of Buffalo directly below the ladder on the port side?

J. S. St John (1945!) is a sand dredge I’d love to see under way.  I caught these two slightly different angles in Erie PA.

 

And finally, American Mariner–possibly transporting grain to ADM in Buffalo–makes her way into port and up the ship canal after dark sans assistance.  Two details not captured by these photos include the sound of crew opening hatches and the effect of three spotlights picking up a variety of landmarks along its path in.

Here’s the scoop (pun intended!) on the purple lights on the Connecting Terminal elevator.

All photos by Will Van Dorp.