Find the Freighter!

Ahhhhh...SPRING! You gotta love it..sunny days, warming weather....but those nice days bring about the melting of a few feet of ice on the Great Lakes. And that ice from Lakes Michigan, Superior and Huron, all flows toward the Lake Erie right past my town! The last few years have brought few problems, but this year was another story. Last Saturday a freighter got stuck in the ice just short of where Lake Huron meets the St. Clair River. I guess it took an icebreaker and a tug to free it. So...we have had a LOT of activity here on the river with several tugs and ice breakers (even the big dog...the Mackinaw) in the area breaking apart the ice so it can flow downstream as to not interfere with the shipping lanes. This morning I heard that the icebreakers were providing escorts for up bound freighters, I had to work at 2 and thought this might be worthwhile to see...but I would be cutting it close! So, I played find the freighter...but before 2pm! My first stop was in Marysville next to the water treatment facility...I went out on this dock..it seemed pretty sturdy.







Looking down I saw LOTS of fairly large chucks of ice...this one was the size of a desk. Then I thought...this is not too smart...docks get ripped away from land every year during the ice floe..and you are on the dock...I certainly didn't want to fall in (especially with my camera) and be all soaked to the bone then be late to work!Somehow I don't think my boss would have understood...I retreated back to dry land! Much safer anyway.

Sarnia and its "chemical valley" across the river, even from yesterday the ice seems to be moving and breaking apart better.

Looking downstream....no I still don't see the freighter or its ice escort. But I did see the Coast Guard helicopter!

I took these as I was driving (slowly of course) on the road that parallels the river...see how the ice accumulates at the base of the docks..perhaps they may be lucky and next week the docks will still be there. Many a time have docks been hauled downstream along with the ice, that's sort of a strange sight seeing a bunch of wood entangled with an ice floe! I remember back in the early 80's there was a year that it was exceptionally bad.....my mom took be "ice watching", at that time I couldn't have been more bored! I am pretty sure I just napped! But....almost 30 years later here I am doing the same stupid stuff! Freaky! I guess that's the aging process for you! I am pretty sure though that

when my mom took photos she was smart enough to NOT take them from a moving vehicle, she had some sense!

No freighter here......hope that dock AND the boat stay put!

I stopped at the River Crab in St. Clair....but I did NOT get out and ACTUALLY LOOK because some other onlookers were shaking their heads and walking away...so I kept going down the road............WHEN all of a sudden I saw it through a break in the houses! YIKES! I parked my car...ran down a VERY steep driveway to a cottage....


to make it down to the river to see that the 690 foot Herbert C. Jackson had passed me. DARN! I guess I should have been patient and waited at the River Crab! POO! So, I found the freighter...the icebreaker had already turned around to assist another up bound ship....NOW I had to play the Race TO Work Game! I huffed and puffed as I attempted to run up the VERY steep driveway....by the time I got to my vehicle my lungs were seriously burning! I DID make it to work though (dry) with 5 minutes to spare! And a funny story to boot!

And this was a sunset at my house the following night! It was so pretty I just had to share it! I happened to get up and pass a window just in time to see the colors!