We rode the tour boat through the MacArthur Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, going up twenty one feet from Lake Huron to Lake Superior. Coming down via the adjacent Poe Lock: the Paul R. Tregurtha at 1013 feet long and 105 feet wide. And the lock it is entering is only 110 feet wide.
Then it was back down through the smaller Canadian lock on the north side of the St. Mary's River.
As we locked down, I sent the Spud over to talk to the ship's officer. Trying to light some sort of career-track fire under him. Turned out the man was a retired Navy Recruiter who'd started out as a SEAL. (And after talking to him for a bit myself, I believe him.) He started talking about great jobs in the Navy, and that was enough to get Spud to make himself scarce in short order (sigh...). But the old sailor and I had a good chat for a while, proving again that it often pays to take the time to talk with random old-timers.
Once through the lock, we went downriver a bit, turned around, and caught the Tregurtha coming down with the grocery ship Ojibway alongside, transferring supplies while underway.
More travel tales will follow. For now, this is as much as I care to do on an iPad.
Daughter of the Moon!
ReplyDelete(Where's her wigwam?)
Thanks for the memories. We did that same locks tour some years ago.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memories. My one and only time on the Upper Peninsula was about 40 years ago, when the family did the drive through Vermont, Canada, Detroit, and across Big Mac to the UP, hauling a rented pop-up camper. My Dad and I did most of the driving, but Mom helped out a little, my younger siblings not having yet attained driver licensure age. We stayed with some of our Yooper cousins for about a week, and then went back via Ohio and Pennsylvania.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't do the tour boats, what with the clock ticking and the sun on the downside, but we did see the Stewart J. Cort take its load of taconite pellets through the lock down into Lake Huron.
Those were the days!
Looks like the Keweenaw Star was in front of you going up bound through the locks.
ReplyDeleteIf it was the Star, that is not there normal cruise as they are out of Charlevoix, however they might be doing a chartered tour of lighthouses.
Great pictures Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI think I have done that boat tour about eight times since I was a kid, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it every time. Highly recommended for anyone touring the UP.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I was on it, the Canadian lock was closed because one of the walls had collapsed. Glad to see that got that fixed!