The Edgar Speer Returns

If you stay up at the Soo long enough, eventually you will start to see ships on their return voyages.   They are either returning from delivering cargo or heading to their port to deliver to cargo.  This time I was catching a ship as she was returning from delivering her cargo.

 I think she was returning from Conneaut.  If she were returning from Gary, it would take longer.

 I know that I've mentioned it here before, but the cycle is roughly a week.

 Typically, it takes a ship 24 hours to get from Duluth to the Soo Locks.  Then it is roughly 24 hours from the Soo Locks to Port Huron.  Another 5 hours from Port Huron will get you to Detroit.  It is roughly another 24 hours to get to Conneaut.  So the downbound trip is roughly 3 days.

 Depending on the unloader, it is typically 5 to 10 hours for a ship of this size to unload and it will take roughly the same time for the ship to head back to Duluth.

 Basically if you stay a week, you will see the same ship at least twice.  Some ships you will see more because their trips don't take as long.  For instance, Marquette to Dearborn is roughly a day and a half.

At any rate, it was my last day up at the Soo, but there were about four ships that would pass before I had to leave and this was the first of those four.