The Samuel Risley Breaking Ice

As I got up to Marine City, I was also greeted by the sight of a ship that I've only seen from a distance.  At the time, she was doing buoy work.

 In this case, she was doing her other job, which is ice breaking.  She would take the ships from Marine City to Algonac, where they would be transferred to the Griffon.  The Griffon would take them from Algonac to the end of the River where they would be handed over to the Bristol Bay.  It's actually kind of a neat set up.  Sadly, the batteries died on my radio, so I didn't get the narration this time.

 At any rate, the Samuel Risley is a Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender and icebreaker.  She's actually a pretty nice looking ship.  I kind of wish our Coast Guard would go back to building nice looking ships.

 She is named after Samuel Risley who was a maritime inspector for Upper Canada and Ontario in the 19th Century.  He started as an engineer and worked his way up to becoming the first Chairman of Steamship Inspection for Canada.  He is considered one of the pioneers of maritime safety programs.

 The Risley is almost 70 feet long and 44 feet wide.  She is classified as a light icebreaker and can cut ice up to 2 feet thick.  She has an endurance of 58 days and a crew of 22.

 She is normally home ported in Parry Sound, Ontario which is about 240 km north of Toronto.   But she operates out of many places along the Great Lakes.

 A shot of her bridge.  I bet these guys can't wait for the end of shipping season.

 Shortly after she finished this run, I think she hit something because she headed back up to Port Huron for repairs.  That meant they only brought down one ship for the next passage.

One more shot of her.