LL Mackinac to Escanaba

Let’s start with a 1000-footer, MV Burns Harbor.  For all the particulars, click here. 

I’m amazed that someone would approach to that point in a kayak.

 

 

Fishing anyone?

After we’d crossed over in Lake Michigan, 

we passed James R. Barker.  For her particulars, click here. 

 

Both Burns and Barker are among the largest.

Twelve hours later, we entered Escanaba MI, and the Basic yard, or at least used to be that. 

Biscayne Bay awaited the dry dock.

And Nickelena stood by for its next job.

Siscowet is named for an indigenous trout, but that’s all I know. 

Greenstone is intriguing.

I don’t know the story here, but there is only some resemblance to a Point-class USCGC.  Maybe I’m missing something else entirely.

All photos, any errors, WVD, who could do a whole other post about Escanaba.

Thanks to George Schneider 1

George sent me these photos months ago, and I apologize for leaving them in storage for so long. But since I have a lull in traveling, these photos need to come out now, starting with Deschenes, about which I’ll have more to say at the end of this post.  This photo was taken in the interestingly named town of De Tour Village, MI, a place definitely on my list for a summer trip.

As I reconstruct George’s journey, which started and ended the same day in Sault Ste Marie MI, he drove close to 500 miles to get these photos.  I’ve rearranged the order.  This fish tug on the Garden Peninsula appears to be called Morning Star, although likely in earlier days it had a different name.  I skipped this peninsula on my trip last summer.

Farther east and south, he shot Siscowet (1946) over the fence.  As of some time ago, the Burger Boat vessel was still not scrapped.

Lake Explorer, built 1963 as a USCG 82′ cutter, is now retired from the Minnesota Sea Grant program. No doubt, the vessel below has shifted some of its work to Lake Guardian, which I caught here entering Milwaukee harbor.

Krystal started life as 45′ ST 2168, later USACE Thunder Bay, launched by Roamer Boat in 1953. Some Roamer STs previously posted on this blog can be located here.

LARCs . . . here’s one.

This tug yacht . . .  George had no clues about.  Anyone?

Linda Jean, built in Green Bay in 1950, spent a quarter century as a fish tug before transformation into a pilot boat, a role she continues–I believe–to serve. I’ve long been intrigued by fish tugs.    In the distance, that’s Drummond Islander IV, 148′ x 43′ with 32-car capacity, since 2000 providing year-round service to  . . . Drummond Island.  Click here for the great shots of her “walking” over the ice on a -15 degrees F morning.  How can drones even work in that?

If there were plans to scuttle this Chicago River icebreaker fireboat as a dive site over a decade ago, well, only skydivers could descend on her in her location as of some months back.  It’s Fireboat Engine No. 37 aka Joseph Medill, launched in 1949 and retired in 1936 1986.

My reason for starting out with George’s photo of Deschenes is that she is for sale.  Here’s a photo of the boat in 2003.

Here she is out of the water at Passage Boat Works in De Tour, MI, and

and here’s the paperwork.  If interested, here’s more:  asking price is $22,000.00 and contact is Les Thornton at les.d.thornton@gmail.com

Thanks to George and Les for use of these photos.

And happy thanksgiving, today and every day.

Unrelated:  Enjoy this slide show of the work leading up to the opening on the VZ Bridge 53 years ago today, and below, that’s Sarah D outbound under the VZ near midsummer earlier this year at 0530  . . .