Catching an Old Friend

As I said in a previous post, my original plan was to catch the Blough was she was passing under the Mackinac Bridge.  I knew there would be no way I could get up early enough but I figured I could make it to the Bridge in time.  As I made a stop somewhere, I saw that I could catch the Cort at the Soo.  Since the Soo only goes between Gary and Superior or Duluth, I had to go see her instead.

 The Stewart Cort has the distinction of being the first 1000 footer on the Great Lakes.  She was not entirely built on the Lakes though.

 They sometimes call her Stubby because a shortened version of her was sent through the Welland Canal.  It was cut and extended at one of the shipyards on the Great Lakes.

 You can see the #1 on her deckhouse.  That is showing her status as the first 1000 footer.

 It's funny because the first 1000 footer could have been the Blough.  The executives at US Steel didn't think a 1000 footer could make the turn at Johnson's cut, so they shortened her.

 I wondered if they realized that bow thrusters and what not would help her make that turn.  As it was, the Blough still wouldn't be first because she had a fire during construction and that delayed her entering service.

 At any rate, it is nice that the first thousand footer has the configuration of a classic laker.  Including the look of a straight decker (versus having the unloading boom).

 She has a shuttle system that is similar to the Blough but unfortunately for her, that limits the number of ports she can visit.

 In fact, I think I heard that the Cort might be headed to layup soon.  I'm not sure how many ships are laid up but that is quite a few.  Given the nature of the products these ships support, that can't bode well for the economy.

 Anyway, it was nice to see her.

 Her pilothouse.

 Her deckhouse.

 The rear of her pilothouse.

 Her unloading system.

And one more shot as she continues on to the Locks.

An Appearance by the Stewart J. Cort

The next ship is one that I pretty much can only see at the Soo.

 The Cort pretty much exclusively goes between Duluth (or Superior) and the ports down by Gary.

 When she goes to those ports by Gary, there aren't too many places you can see her.

 It has been a while since she's passed the eastern side of the State.

 As a result, it's always nice to see her.

And she continues on her way.

Catching the Stewart J. Cort in Layup

Milwaukee was about 45 miles to the north east of Lake Geneva but not terribly out of the way for the trip back home.  I knew that the Cort was laid up there, so I wanted to catch her.

It was pretty cool to see her since I don't get to see her that much.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get different angles of her.

Another Stop in Indiana

So I stopped at a little place in Indiana.  If there are ships nearby, it is not a bad place to catch them.

 The Stewart J. Cort was unloading her taconite there.  I think she exclusively goes between here and Superior.  She might go to one of the other Indiana ports.  I'm not sure.

A pair of Great Lakes Towing tugs.  One of them is the Arizona.  I'm not sure about the other.

And the Stewart J. Cort

One of the ships that I was hoping to catch was the next one.

 I really didn't need AIS to know that she was heading from Indiana Harbor.  I think that is one of three ports that she can unload at.  The other two ports are on Lake Erie and she never goes that way.

 And she would be heading to the dock in Superior, Wisconsin.

 It's been a while since I've seen her, so I was happy to catch her.

 And the sun was just about right.

And she continues to the Locks.

Number One Appears

Saturday was a pretty busy day for me.  There was a pretty good pace to the appearance of ships that day.

 It's funny, when you think of lakes, you don't think that they could support something as massive as a 1,000 footer.  Typically, you think of something that you putter around in your fishing boat.  Maybe sometimes you might go around in a lake the size of Higgins Lake but still you couldn't fit a 1,000 footer in there either.

 But that's why they are called the Great Lakes.  It's pretty amazing to think that they hold about 21% of the world's fresh water and I think that number is even larger when you include all the lakes that are in the Great Lakes region.

 The Great Lakes contain over 5,000 cubic miles of water which is the equivalent 147 billion cubic feet of water or 1 trillion gallons of water.  That's a lot of water.

 The Stewart J. Cort wears #1 on her deckhouse because she is the first 1000 footer to appear on the Lakes.  Parts of her were built in the south and they came up here.  She was lengthened and widened when she arrived on the Lakes.

A shot of her pilothouse.  If you look closely, you can see her Captain waving to the crowd that was assembled at Mission Point.

 A shot of her front.

I was happy to see her because she is one that I never see unless I'm up at the Soo.  She exclusively goes between Superior, WI and one of the ore docks in Indiana.  I would love to see her on the Detroit River someday but I don't think that's going to happen.

The Stewart J. Cort Passes the Soo

The Stewart J. Cort was making her way up Lake Huron.  I had just missed her at Mackinaw.  I didn't have a chance to catch her as she was passing DeTour.  I tried to catch her on the way up but I couldn't find a good spot to do so.

 But I did catch up to her at Mission Point.  She is another ship that I don't see often enough but it seems like I see her every time I'm up at the Soo.

 She pretty much exclusively travels between Superior, Wisconsin and Gary, Indiana.  I don't think she has made many trips down Lake Huron.  She has a unique shuttle unloader that makes it difficult for her to use other ports.

 She sports the #1 on her deckhouse because she was the first 1000 footer on the Lakes.

 She is the only classically configured 1000 footer with her pilothouse to the front.

 She's still a pretty neat looking ship.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

 And her Plimsoll Lines.

 The rear of her pilothouse.

 Her deckhouse.

 And she passes Mission Point.

 I caught her against at the Power Plant.

 She waits to enter the Poe Lock.

 Still waiting.

And one more shot of her from my hotel room.

Waking Up to the Cort

So as I was checking AIS Saturday night, I was seeing the Cort approaching the Soo.  I wasn't sure if she would be there after sunrise in order for me to catch her.  As it turned out, she would arrive almost right at sunrise.

 Sadly, I was shooting into the sun for the shot, so she's quite a bit silhouetted.  I still thinks it makes a nice shot.

 It was getting a little lighter as she was working her way up the river.

 But still not quite light enough.  However, you can see the #1 on her deckhouse.  That declares her status as the first thousand footer on the Lakes.

 Here she is about to greet another thousand footer.  More on that one in the next post.

After some lollygagging, I decided to head over to the other side of the locks in order to catch her there.  This was the best I could do as Sherman Park was closed until spring.