Ojibway--the maritime grocery store of Sault Ste Marie.

When Spud and I were camping just downriver from the Soo Locks earlier this month, we happened to see an odd-looking little boat that was berthed nearby. It was the Ojibway, a supply boat that has been servicing lake freighters around the clock since 1945.

An institution at the Soo, little known to anyone outside of the laker community, the "Jib" is on-call and available 24/7 as her customers travel up and down through the locks.

She's only 53 feet long and displaces just 65 tons, but she gets right up close and personal to the biggest 1,000-footers, hoisting aboard anything that they might need and taking away anything from trash to outgoing mail to personnel who need to get off.

Ojibway at work:

The big ships don't stop, and neither does Ojibway.

More on the Ojibway at Boatnerd.com