From Eisenhower to Iroquois

Started my day seven miles west of the Eisenhower Lock, and found myself making a trip to Iroquois to catch a couple of ships at the end of the day.

White Heron

Pair of White Herons in flight

Seems that a replacement marker has been installed at Farran's Point...

New Marker

It has to be brand new, because I'm pretty sure there was no marker last month.
(was no marker on my last trip Aug 9)



Outside from the Eisenhower Lock, got to see a number of ships (ALGOMA HARVESTER, TORRENT, BLAIR MCKIEL, CSL ASSINIBOINE). Unfortunately, the sun was on the opposite side with nothing but a black shadow for a hull.




TORRENT passes Croil Island, downbound on the St. Lawrence River.


Got to see TORRENT making her return trip downbound. (had been upbound Aug 27)
Any upbound saltwater vessel will eventually come back downriver - But there's also a chance that she'll pass by at night in the dark. I always find it special to catch the ship on its' return trip downbound.








The tiny McKIEL ship barely shows up at all.

ALGOMA MARINER, ALGOMA INTREPID

Thought I had missed the ALGOMA MARINER...
Fortunately for me, she spent the day at the Wilson Hill anchorage for crew rest, and I was able to catch her transiting the Iroquois Locks during the late afternoon.

Upbound ALGOMA MARINER transiting Iroquois Lock

The 2011-built ALGOMA MARINER

Closeup look at the superstructure

Closeup of the bow

The ALGOMA MARINER exists because of the unplanned loss of ALGOPORT - A "forebody replacement" had been planned for ALGOPORT in 2009, but the vessel sank en route to the overseas shipyard. This led to the building of an entirely new vessel known as ALGOMA MARINER, completed in 2011.

Possible seam where the two pieces were welded together?

This trip to the locks was two for one... Got to see the MARINER for the very first time - But it was the ALGOMA INTREPID that I was most looking forward to.

Fourth time seeing this vessel, but getting a chance to appreciate all the details...

ALGOMA INTREPID slowly crawls into the lock.

The INTREPID has only transited the Seaway several times this year, and I've caught her twice.
Seen her four times altogether, including once at the Iroquois Locks.

ALGOMA INTREPID easing through the lock

Length of the crane

Headed downriver to catch the ship...

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.