Great Lakes

One last Two Harbors photograph, for now. I have many more from this visit, and will post them at a later date. This is the usual view of the harbor at Two Harbors, Minnesota. The Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range docks dominate the view. Camera: Minolta Freedom 100. 1990.

"March 23 1958 Sterns of freighters at Monroe Harbor Monroe Michigan Saturday" The nearest ship is John Hulst, and the fourth is A.H. Ferbert; the second seems not to be labelled, and I can't read the names on the others (both names are quite long). There are six ships in the harbor (see the next photo ), but only five seem to be visible here. John Hulst was Vice President of the Steel Corporation when his namesake was built in 1938; the ship hauled ore on the Lakes for 40 years, and was scrapped in 1986. =========== Had a short chat with Rick Borucki on Friday. He tells me his father labelled all his photographs with date/description/location, which Rick finds as amazing as I do. This is, apparently, just a small portion of the original collection of Lakers photographs. Borucki's Lakers

"Monroe March 23 1958 Pittsburg Steamship Co. ship at winter berths Saturday" [Lots of good information in the [flickr] comments. Thanks, all.] Six ships in last week's photo , not five.... The ships : Unknown, Unknown, A.H. Ferbert, Governor Miller, Unknown, and John Hulst. (If you've reasonable guesses at the Unknown ships, please share. Thanks.) Winter layup's been a "feature" of Great Lakes shipping for as long as the lakes have hosted large ships. It's generally less uneconomical to park the ships than to keep the harbors ice-free, so most of the boats take to port from mid-January to late March. This photograph's less sharp than most in the set, and I've cropped a lot of "dead air" from the photograph. Borucki's Lakers

Interlake's freighter Elton Hoyt 2nd (the name's sort of a pun; this is the second ship named after Elton Hoyt II) takes on a load of iron ore at Marquette's Presque Isle dock, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on a glorious day in 1998. The ore jennies atop the dock are pretty impressive. This ship now sails as Michicoten.

"American self unloader Reiss Bros upbound Bob Lo Island Amherstburg channel Saturday August 1963" Notice that one of the [flickr] commenters says Mr. Borucki's identification is incorrect. Any assistance on correcting that id would be appreciated. Built as the William K. Field in 1924 as the flagship of the Reiss Steamship line. Also named George D. Goble & Robert S. Pierson over the course of her long career. Name was Spruceglen when she was scrapped in 1985. Borucki's Lakers

Leland, Michigan; 1973. Photo by Roger Dinda.

Over her eighty year life she's worked many roles, last summer Roseway was windjammer tourist attraction. The current owners are mostly using her has a roving school. She spent last summer sailing from this dock in St. Ignace, Michigan.

"Canadian SS Scott Misener upbound off Bob Lo Island Amherstburg channel Saturday August 1963" Scott Misener was the founder of the fleet which bore his name. There were several ships named after him; this appears to be the third of those, built in the early 1950s. Borucki's Lakers

Fishtown in winter.... We've turned around, and are looking down the river to where it empties into Lake Michigan. Leland's Fishtown is on the right; the breakwater shows in the background. The large boat is Mishe-Mokwa, the transport to the Manitou Islands. This photo is quite similar to one I posted a couple weeks back ; that one was taken by my father in 1973. Besides the sorts of insignificant details you'd expect to change in three decades, the most obvious change is the planking on the boardwalk.

Fayette State Park, Michigan, 1998. The grey building was the Sheldon House when Fayette was an active town, and the limestone and brick building in the foreground was the machine shop. The Garden Peninsula's residents include a number of commercial fishermen, and Escanaba's Bishop comes by early in the summer to bless the fishing fleet. That's the event we're watching develop in this photograph. This picture works quite well in black and white, by the way; along with the horse-drawn carriages, it has an apparent authenticity which seems quite impressive. Perhaps I'll post that version, too.... Scanned from a negative; taken with my Nikon N90s

Fishtown in Winter.... Another, more direct, photo of fishing boat Janice Sue, docked at Fishtown in Leland, Michigan. Although this is a brand-new photograph, it's pretty easy to find century-old photographs which don't look much different from this (for instance, inside Leland's Bluebird restaurant). Fishtown's a really remarkable place. Things change, over the years, but not enough that you notice.

Looking towards the Manitou Islands from the Glen Haven Cannery, Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. Sleeping Bear Bay--Lake Michigan--in the background.

The highway bridge, the rail bridge, and the bridge of the (ship) St. Clair; Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on Engineers Day, 2005. This is a technically dreadful picture--I shot it though the windshield, from the passenger side--but the composition's interesting enough that I thought I'd share it. Seem to be doing that a lot this week.

Presque Isle Park, Marquette, Michigan.

...this is where I want to live. Houses along the St. Clair River, Port Huron, Michigan; May of 1991. Shot this with my Chinon Genesis III from the Coast Guard wharf, which wasn't yet sealed off from the passing crowd. I'm quite pleased with this photo, despite the unfortunate graininess.

"Monday July 13 1964 SS Thunder Bay of Canada Steamship Lines upbound towards Lake Erie in Lock # 7 Welland Canal @ Thorold Ontario Canada Taken by Ricky out of back window of car." First of two photos of this ship. Ah, Ricky. You're revealed a bit here.... Can't seem to find much information on this ship. Thunder Bay was built in 1952 at Port Arthur Shipbuilding. She'd have a self-unloader installed in 1968, and be renamed to Stadacona the next year. This ship was scrapped, in China, in 1992. [Updated 12/6/2010] Borucki's Lakers

A speedboat passes straight-deck freighter CSL's Murray Bay on the St. Clair River in May of 1991. Sold to Upper Lakes Group in 1994, and now sailing as Canadian Provider. There's some strangeness, here; the riverbank looks to be parallel to the photo edges, but the boats are oddly angled. Not sure why, though it might have been self-evident when I shot the pic. I really doubt that the ship was rear-heavy, though. Footnote: Most lakes freighters are self-unloaders, these days; straight-deckers require unloading equipment, and can therefore only unload at a limited number of ports. They've become quite rare. Camera: Chinon Genesis III

Fishtown in Winter.... This ship is the usual transport to the Manitou Islands. She's named after the the bear in the local Legend of the Sleeping Bear . Leland, Michigan.