On the way to the river before the sunrise...

Red Sky at Morning...

Wind from the west, changing to calm and still...

Morning Glass

Canadian Geese

Sounds of birds and water for the first 3 hours

Fall Colors

Old Highway 2, Crumbling into the River

Knew there wouldn't be any ships in the channel...
Not before the rain started, at least.
I believe they were at 5am, 2pm and 6pm


Just one sailboat under motor, and a couple of fishing boats.

Croil Island, Sun and Cloud

Sparkles

Felt the shift in the weather, headed back.
Minutes later, raindrops were hitting the windows.

On the return trip, saw wild Turkeys on the shoreline.
Thanksgiving is fast approaching...

Turkeys

Seaway Traffic (KAMINISTIQUA, FEDERAL FRASER, FLORAGRACHT, HARBOUR FASHION, SPRUCEGLEN, WHITEFISH BAY)

FLORAGRACHT upbound

A whole day of big red ships...


FLORAGRACHT heading towards FEDERAL FRASER.
In the distant background, is the grey hull of KAMINISTIQUA... Which at one time, was the brightly (red) painted SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER.

The tug SPARTAN with barge SPARTAN II is also unloading calcium chloride at Universal Terminals.

Downbound FLORAGRACHT prepares to meet the upbound FEDERAL FRASER.

The two ships meet

The "new" 2021-built FEDERAL FRASER downbound on the St. Lawrence Seaway September 24, 2022.

FEDERAL FRASER downbound

This is the first time I've seen HARBOUR FASHION in action...
My first encounter with this vessel, she was temporarily holding up the que at the locks with a mechanical issue. This caused me not to see the SPRUCEGLEN, which was the ship I had gone there to see...

HARBOUR FASHION upbound

Got to see both HARBOUR FASHION and SPRUCEGLEN upbound today on their respective return trips. All is forgiven, and I won't "harbour" any resentment towards this little red ship, because I have a memorable snapshot of her cute backside with waves crashing on the rocky shallows.

HARBOUR FASHION motoring past the Murphy Islands.

Spotted SPRUCEGLEN on the horizon, and knew she'd be passing by within 45 minutes.
Zig-zagging past Cat Island Shoal, and briefly disappearing behind the Bradford Islands.

SPRUCEGLEN appears

SPRUCEGLEN approaching

Without a doubt, the best set of SPRUCEGLEN snapshots that I've taken.
Seen her many times, but the lighting was too dark, or too much glare. Today, I was set up, anticipating her arrival, and wasn't going to miss an opportunity to capture her red hull under ideal lighting...

SPRUCEGLEN upbound

With the really old vessels being retired at a rapid rate, just gotta appreciate the 80s "retro" shape, lines and curves of this "salty laker". Three of a kind - With two of them remaining in service (the other being her sister KAMINISTIQUA).

Classic 1983-built salty laker

The 1983-built SPRUCEGLEN upbound on the St. Lawrence Seaway September 24, 2022.
She was the "old" FEDERAL FRASER from 1991-2001 before being joining the CSL fleet.



Finally, it was WHITEFISH BAY to top off the day.

WHITEFISH BAY downbound

Bring me that horizon...

Iroquois Lock (HARBOUR FASHION SPRUCEGLEN, ALGOMA INTREPID)

Hoped to arrive in time to see tanker HARBOUR FASHION pull into the Iroquois Locks.

When I arrived, she was already inside the lock, and was still moving...

HARBOUR FASHION downbound at Iroquois

The superstructure and accommodations area

Captured the flag

Tied to the lock wall

Secured and waiting...

As the mighty SPRUCEGLEN approached, I kept waiting for a sign that the much smaller HARBOUR FASHION would clear the lock... But it had not moved at all.

Apparently, the vessel had experienced a mechanical issue.

Red lights

Last time I saw a ship stuck in the locks, it was there for days...

SPRUCEGLEN slowed down to a crawl, and even started moving very slowly back upriver, seeming to indicate that she had put on the "brakes" by going into reverse.

Such a tease...
This was as close as I could get to SPRUCEGLEN, one of my favorite older ships.

Looking at SPRUCEGLEN - Through the Spruce trees.

The top of the superstructure is all that's visible from the hill

At least I got to see the ALGOMA INTREPID, one of my favorite new ships.

ALGOMA INTREPID in the distance as seen from Iroquois Lock

ALGOMA INTREPID, slowing down as she approaches the lock.

 

Had no idea how long this traffic jam would last. Fortunately, the hold up only caused a delay of a few hours instead of days.

HARBOUR FASHION remains inside the Iroquois Lock

Fortunately, the problem was resolved, and HARBOUR FASHION was able to leave the lock and continue downriver.

 

CSL ST-LAURENT

Goose Graffiti

I bet the CSL ST-LAURENT gets photographed more than other ships just because she has a colorful Canada Goose painted on her superstructure...

CSL ST-LAURENT downbound

Stopped by the river to try and get a decent shot for my collection. Perfect timing, as I arrived at the river just as she was approaching.

Previous attempts were too grey and cloudy. Today was only slightly brighter - But I was closer to the ship than before.

Closeup of the bow

Heading for Iroquois

Seaway Traffic (FEDERAL MOSEL, ALGOMA SAULT, LE BELLOT)

Decent crop of relatively new vessels...
A red ship, blue ship, and a new ship.

The 2017-built FEDERAL MOSEL upbound for Oshawa

Always intrigued by the shape of the bow on some of these FedNav ships...

Optics of the curve...

Dwarfed by the mighty superstructure

x

FEDERAL MOSEL disappearing in the distance

Always amazed at how the ships zig-zag through the channel

Shorebirds hunting for Crayfish

Waiting for the next ship, the downbound ALGOMA SAULT

Nothing in sight just yet...

The 2018-built ALGOMA SAULT

ALGOMA SAULT approaching

Downbound for Quebec City

Definitely has newer paint than some of her fleetmates (Especially the EQUINOX and HARVESTER)

Closeup of the bow

Upbound passenger vessel LE BELLOT meets the downbound ALGOMA SAULT

The two vessels meet in front of MacDonald Island

The 2020-built LE BELLOT

Passenger vessels like this are becoming more common on the Seaway.

Can just barely see the colors of the French flag

The two vessels had practically upbound lock times at Eisenhower and Iroquois. They met close to MacDonald Island. Specularing that it's approximately the "halfway point" between locks... Guessing an hour from their in either direction to the lock? Arrival time plus one hour and forty-five minutes?