Great lakes shipping coming to a crawl

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Papa Bear

Papa Bear

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Aug 11, 2005
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Leamington, ON, CA - between Detroit and Cleveland
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-83.7/centery:43.2/zoom:7 Pushing ice getting to port is getting difficult. The icebreakers are working hard. Most freighters are in their winter quarters by now wink2 http://www.boatnerd.com/ http://www.boatnerd.com/layup/layup17-18.htm (I live in Leamington ON right between Detroit & Cleveland where the little blue dot "Pelle Islander" is docked) http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-82.0/centery:42.0/zoom:9
 
Cool stuff Papa Bear. Thank you. Shipping that has to go through the Soo Locks ends by early December most years. It starts back up in March. They tried winter shipping a few times. It is fun seeing the ice breakers work the channel. I started my career (1977) working about 16 miles south of the Soo. My workplace was on the St. Marys River shipping lane and we lived on the banks of the shipping lane within walking distance of the Neebish Island "rock cut", a VERY narrow passage for the ships going southbound. I assisted on a winter navigation study those years to determine the effects of winter shipping on the river ecology. Checking gill nets set below the ice via snow mobile travel was a very Marlin Perkins type experience (only the old guys will remember this reference). A recent thread about living near attractions asked if you become desensitized to the exposure. While I never tired of seeing the ships so close, after a few years you do take it for granted somewhat. About once a year, a ship would miss the turn into the rock cut and get stuck. Getting them unstuck took a bit more than calling AAA, LOL.
The Neebish Island Rock Cut is on the left side where it turns at 45 degrees (near the faint compass circle).
 
Ice jams in the St. Clair river are causing localized flooding in the area. The US and Canadian Coast Guard are sending ice cutters to break them up and to break up the bigger chunks that can be a problem. I just checked the satellite maps, and the lakes still aren't frozen over. The lake effect snow machine is still going strong.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Cool stuff Papa Bear. Thank you. Shipping that has to go through the Soo Locks ends by early December most years. It starts back up in March. They tried winter shipping a few times. It is fun seeing the ice breakers work the channel. I started my career (1977) working about 16 miles south of the Soo. My workplace was on the St. Marys River shipping lane and we lived on the banks of the shipping lane within walking distance of the Neebish Island "rock cut", a VERY narrow passage for the ships going southbound. I assisted on a winter navigation study those years to determine the effects of winter shipping on the river ecology. Checking gill nets set below the ice via snow mobile travel was a very Marlin Perkins type experience (only the old guys will remember this reference). A recent thread about living near attractions asked if you become desensitized to the exposure. While I never tired of seeing the ships so close, after a few years you do take it for granted somewhat.
Marlin would have sent Jim Fowler down to check the nets while he stayed warm in the Land Rover...
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
If the lakes completely freeze over, does Buffalo get a break from snow?
Yes. Even as the lakes get colder the intensity of lake effect snow diminishes.
 
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