St. Louis on the St. Lawrence

Where was Doornekamp’s Sheri Lynn S heading?

Downstream on the St. Lawrence to assist USS St. Louis, LCS-19, as she was making a port stop in Ogdensburg NY.

Also assisting was Océan Serge Genois.

 

If this USN press release is current and accurate, other LCSs expected to exit the Great Lakes this year include USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (LCS-21), USS Kansas City (LCS-22), USS Oakland (LCS-24) and USS Mobile (LCS -6).

Now as seen from the US side of the River, standard procedure boom was deployed  around the LCS by a workboat provided by Seaway Marine Group.  More of this scene is captured in this article/photo from the Watertown Daily Times NNY360.

Once the LCS was boomed, the Seaway Marine boat patroled the exclusion zone.

 

 

Fifteen or so miles downstream from Ogdensburg, the Océan tug guides the LCS into the Iroquois locks.

 

All these photos from the Canadian side are compliments of Pat English, who posted a video on FB Seaway News Voie Maritime Info of the Ocean tug rocking back and forth to keep the LCS centered in the lock chamber.  All photos from the US side are compliments of Jake Van Reenen.

Again, many thanks to Pat and Jake for use of these photos.

Previous tugster posts with LCS vessels can be found here.  Previous posts at Iroquois lock are here.

 

Seaway Maid and Fort Plain

Here’s an expanded view of a photo from yesterday’s post here.   What you see in the distance is bridge inspection unit, 2018.

The small tug is Seaway Maid, and it’s hard to believe I’m posting a photo of it today for only the first time.  Last year this bridge inspection unit was moved through the Erie Canal by Arnold D.  Actually, Seaway Maid used to be Lil Joe.  Here is a complete page of Seaway Marine Group equipment.

Once the tugs had full facilities and transportation to and from the job site was arranged network-wide, but this is a new era.

The primer painted barge, here Fort Plain, has floated around the NYS Canals for a long time.  Note the rivets?

Judging by the dimensions of the barge, it was once Dipper Dredge #1 aka Fort Plain a by the NYS Barge Canal.  The dredge was acquired by the state in 1931.  As acquired, she was Derrick Boat #10, shown below 95 years ago!

I’m wondering what tug that was moving the derrick boat around.  Any help?

All photos by Jake Van Reenen and the archives.

And another reminder . .  . the NYS Canal Conference is happening on Staten Island next week.  I will show Graves of Arthur Kill and speak on a panel about the hidden places of the sixth born this coming Monday and Tuesday.

 

 

Arnold D

We came across this bridge inspection operation

between E-13 and E-12 eastbound on the Canal

in the town of Fonda, NY, not far from the speedway, which has hosted motor racing for 90 (!!) years,  and the fair, which is way older.

But the other day, Arnold D, of Seaway Marine Group, stood by and placed inspectors in the basket where they need to put eyes on the infrastructure.

 

For context on Fonda and lands immediately to the east, enjoy these shots.

 

All photos by Will Van Dorp, one of whose previous Seaway Marine posts involved stocking fish

here.

Springtime on an LCM 2

Here was the previous installment.  And here were the cargos and places of summer.  And if you missed it previously, here’s an article about Seaway Supplier I published in Professional Mariner last year.  The first six photos are used with permission from Seaway Marine Group.

Trucks like the ones with the white tanks transport stocks of fish from hatcheries to water bodies, in this case Lake Ontario.  Here’s the first time I noticed one of these trucks on the highway.

Off Oswego, it’s ready, aim,

swim!

Elsewhere at sites determined by the DEC . . . fish are brought in.

and the truck returns to shore for the next load.

The photos below all come thanks to Cathy Contant, who

works in the inlet and bay where I learned to swim almost 60 years ago. Back then, when a coal ship came in here, everyone had to get out of the water.  But I digress.

How could I not recognize the lighthouse AND Chimney Bluffs way in the distance.

 

Here’s what Seaway Marine writes on their FB page:  “We have transported 40 trucks, via 6 port locations stocking over 500,000 fish into Lake Ontario aboard our USCG certified landing craft, Seaway Supplier.”

Many thanks to Jake and Cathy for use of these photos.

 

Summer on an LCM

Here was “springtime.”  All the following photos taken by Jake Van Reenen this past summer show the variety of cargoes moved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks to Jake for use of these photos.

 

Springtime on an LCM

If you haven’t read it yet, here’s my Professional Mariner article on “barging” in the area of the St. Lawrence River called the Thousand Islands. Since there’s plenty of reading there, I’ll just make this mostly a photo post.  LCM owner Jake Van Reenen took all but the last three photos in this post.

In February, the LCM and everything else “afloat” is actually ice-trapped.   Folks who live year-round on the islands travel by snow machine.

By late March, the ice has turned to liquid, and navigation starts to resume on the Seaway. 

It’s April and houses on the islands need a visit from the fuel truck.

In May, folks from “away” begin to return, sometimes bringing their own supplies.

All manner of vehicles travel to the Islands in early June, when

I visited.  The photos below I took  . . .

As we traveled with an empty fuel truck back to Clayton, we took the stern of

Vikingbank, headed upbound for Duluth!! for grain.

Captain Jake and deckhand Patsy Parker.

 

Summer and early fall photos from Seaway Marine Group will follow.

If you’re interested in reading a great book on Andrew J. Higgins, the developer of these boats, try this one by Jerry E. Strahan.

For my post on another LCM cleaning up Sandy debris, click here. For my post on repurposed LSTs, one I’ll be traveling on tomorrow, click here.