Morning magic with a flock of Seagulls...
Don't care if it's September...
I'm still enjoying it.




















Another encounter with a Bald Eagle.
Attributing it once again to the fact that it's a dismal day, not appealing for most people to be at the water.

Bald Eagle

Perfect definition of
Mix of sun and cloud, defined.

Marker buoys in the shadows

Missed the ALGONORTH upbound around 7am.

Spotted EVERLAST & NORMAN MCLEOD.
Position unchanged, presumably at anchor just off Ault Island.
They would spend the day here, and would head upriver around 9pm.

EVERLAST & NORMAN MCLEOD at anchor

Only vessel I'd see up close was BLAIR MCKIEL

BLAIR MCKIEL downbound

Just love the choppy water, red sailboat and marker...
Plus the downbound vessel visible in the distance.

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Water was getting a bit rough, and had barely seen any Seaway vessels.
Decided to head upriver to find ALGOMA GUARDIAN transiting the Iroquois Lock.

Had actually seen her once before, downbound at these same locks - but it never gets old...

Especially with a ship this old because it has character.

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Getting dark, but still following one of my favorite ships.
Got ahead of her to watch her coming downriver.

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Here she comes!

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Love the profile of this ship.

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Blurry or not, it's still magical.

Seaway Traffic (EVERLAST & NORMAN MCLEOD, CAPTAIN HENRY JACKMAN, REESEBORG, WILF SEYMOUR & ALOUETTE SPIRIT

A Spanish Galleon!
A replica, no doubt...

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Missed TIM S. DOOL, FLEVOBORG and LEA ATK...
My first cargo vessel of the day was EVERLAST pushing NORMAN MCLEOD.

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EVERLAST & NORMAN MCLEOD may anchored for crew rest.
Something seemed unusual about the exact anchoring location though...

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Next up, the CAPTAIN HENRY JACKMAN.

Always thought her cabin area was "shorter and fatter" than other fleetmates in her class... Her superstructure does appear to be one deck lower than the others.

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Normally travelling loaded with cargo, she often looks relatively short on approach her true length is revealed.

Didn't think the REESEBORG would reach me before nightfall.
My eyes saw a beautifully colored ship...
The photos were dark, but managed to capture a few salvageable shots.

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REESTBORG upbound for Duluth, Lake Superior.

Had time to re-stock some supplies, returning to the river just in time to see tug and barge WILF SEYMOUR & ALOUETTE SPIRIT.

In the evening with lights on, this strange figure moving up the river could have been an alien ship...

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WILF SEYMOUR & ALOUETTE SPIRIT disappearing into the night

Seaway Traffic (SPRUCEGLEN, EVANS SPIRIT, RADCLIFFE R. LATIMER, CANADIAN EMPRESS)

Around 6AM, Bass boats were off to the races. Assuming there was a tournament, judging by the wave of boats and the short distance between them, three - make that FOUR in one snapshot.

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Caught a ship in the brief window BEFORE she navigated past Cat Island Shoal.

SPRUCEGLEN upbound

Eyeballing the vessels profile on the horizon, I immediately thought KAMINISTIQUA - Until the red-painted hull with CSL emerged. This would be her sister ship SPRUCEGLEN (aka SELKIRK SETTLER / FEDERAL FRASER)

SPRUCEGLEN silhouette

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Camera's time was 8.29
She rarrived at 9.12.
That's 43 minutes.

Coincidentally, KAMINISTIQUA slipped by me in the night - According to Ron Beaupre's log.


Waiting for her to arrive, was exploring, moved a few small rocks to loosen a bigger brick when a small crayfish appeared, greenish in color. Had probably been hiding under a rock until I disturbed him. It's the first live one I've seen there - Although considering the number of crayfish corpses scattered across the beach...



EVANS SPIRIT, upbound, undoubtedly fully loaded with cargo as the MCKEIL name is just barely above the waterline, as usual.

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More ship identification.... Kinda fun on a clear day, as they emerge from nothingness as tiny faint marks on the horizon to full-sized vessels with giant super-structures.

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This was the classic look of the "retro" 1980s Algoma Central laker,. Reminiscent of other 1980s Collingwood builds (ALGOWEST, CAPTAIN HENRY JACKMAN, ALGOLAKE, ALGOWOOD, ALGOPORT...)

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The RADCLIFFE R LATIMER is more familiar to me as ALGOBAY - Or ATLANTIC TRADER. Didn't catch it with my eyes, but the photos of the bow reveal the first few letters of the ship's old name.

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Finally, CANADIAN EMPRESS appeared before nightfall.

Seaway Traffic (LEA ATK, ALGOSEA, ALGOMA STRONGFIELD)

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Sunrise over the river... Each one is different.



A Cormorant, holding his pose to "impress" females.

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First ship was just visible upbound on the horizon.

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It arrived in 30 minutes.
The vessel was LEA ATK, a chemical tanker from Turkey.

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Wish I had a better shot of the Turkish flag.

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Got to see ALGOSEA during daylight hours. Was enjoyable to see her at night on a previous trip.

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Spotted the ALGOMA STRONGFIELD right before she disappeared behind (Bradford) Islands...

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Forty minutes later, she was within photographing range. Seems to hold true that it's about 45 minutes from first spotting them on the horizon.

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Color turned out OK, timestamped between 5-6pm. Ideal color seems to be between 4-5pm, this time of year... 3 hours before sunset. Of course, that's on the water. Photography golden hour is apparently within the last 30-45 minutes before sunset.

Seaway Traffic (FEDERAL MAYUMI, CANADIAN EMPRESS, ALGOMA COMPASS, CAPE)

Missed the CSL WELLAND... First ship of the day from my perspective was the FEDERAL MAYUMI. Great photo with the sun and sky in the background...

FEDERAL MAYUMI upbound

FEDERAL MAYUMI destined for Johnstown

Shortly past noon, the CANADIAN EMPRESS traveled upriver (apparently destined for Brockville)

CANADIAN EMPRESS destined for Brockville

Second day in a row, the small red Coast Guard Technician boat was out on the water, working further down the channel, returning upriver in the afternoon.

Coast Guard Tech Boat

Never thought my vessel identification skills would return. Was just enjoying being back on the water..

To eyeball a cargo ship on the horizon, and make a confident guess from a pool of unfamiliar names and builds... They are gradually becoming more familiar.

ALGOMA COMPASS on the horizon

Got some great snapshots of the ALGOMA COMPASS for my collection.

The ALGOMA COMPASS upbound in the early afternoon, destined for Goderich

Through the summer haze in the late afternoon, managed to spot the green-hulled CAPE (which I'm sure that I've seen at least once).

CAPE passing the Bradford Islands

The colors were good at around 4.30 pm - but not quite as awesome as they were just forty minutes earlier.

CAPE upbound for Toronto with a load of sugar

Saw a lone Morganser duck in the evening after 5pm before leaving.

Morganser

ALGOMA COMPASS

ALGOMA COMPASS upbound September 8, 2022.
(formerly ROGER M. SKYES,  ADAM E. CORNELIEUS)
Built in 1973 by the American Shipbuilding Company (Toledo, Ohio).

The second of four nearly identical vessels. Constructed with all accommodations aft, which was relatively uncommon at the time.

She also has a rather unusual design with the boom support running aft between her twin smokestacks.


As ADAM E. CORNELIUS she sailed primarily for the American Steamship Company.
For a time, the vessel was chartered by Inland Steel - And was even painted in their colors.

After a period of inactivity from 2012-2014, the vessel was laid up again in 2015 - Remaining idle until purchased by Algoma in 2017. She returned to active duty in 2018 as ALGOMA COMPASS.


At 680 feet in length, the ALGOMA COMPASS is the longest of her sisters, and was the second ship to be constructed. The other vessels are 630 feet long, and her three sisters have been sailing in the colors of Lower Lakes Transportation since 2008.

Sister ships to ALGOMA COMPASS:
CALUMET (formerly WILLIAM R. ROESCH, DAVID Z. NORTON)
MANITIWOC (formerly PAUL THAYER, EARL W. OGLEBAY)
ROBERT S. PIERSON (formerly WOLVERINE)