Thursday, October 7, 2021

The St Marys Challenger Makes an Appearance

 The next ship was kind of a bittersweet catch.

The St Marys Challenger used to be the oldest self powered freighter on the Lakes.  When they decided to convert her into a tug/barge she was 106 years old.
Many boat nerds were upset to see her converted into a barge and I was one of them but then I realized that the company that owned her must have had their reasons.
She was a well cared for ship and cement is a pretty easy cargo for ships.  She also tended to stay on Lake Michigan.
Still 106 years is a long time for a ship.  When you consider that most salt water vessels last about 20 to 30 years.
The Canadian ships last around 50 years.
Many of the American boats are in their 70s but they aren't going to be around much longer.
I would imagine that the company that owned her looked into all possibilities and at the end, converting her to a barge was the best option.
She still has pretty nice lines.
The Prentiss Brown that is pushing her looks pretty nice.
I switched over to my drone.
It was pretty cool

The beam shot.
She was moving slow enough that I was able to get some different angles.
You can see how well the tug fits into her.
And she continues on.
She was heading to Charlevoix.


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