Cement Carrier ENGLISH RIVER (Revisited)

Easy as she goes...

...You know I have the right of way, eh sailboat skipper.?..

It was a hot summer afternoon in August 2011 and the balcony of the condo my son, Drew was "sitting" offered a wonderful view of the 404' ENGLISH RIVER laden with cement as she manoeuvred around the man-made Leslie Split and all kinds of pleasure craft while  cautiously making her way off Lake Ontario through Toronto's eastern gap harbour entrance and then slowly backing in to Lafarge's storage facility dock off Cherry Street.

...About time but still too close for comfort...

...That's better...

...All ahead slow...

It's not during every visit that I've seen this much "in-your-face-action" though mind you it was through a highly ZOOMED camera lens. While Toronto was once a very active Great Lakes port with grain carriers and dry goods arriving daily, it's now pretty quite and more often the wide and wind protected harbour has become an ideal  location for an evening sail or motor to the entertainment activities and parks on Toronto Island. Meanwhile, construction is till a go there so it was nice to this delivery of cement by the now 45 year old ENGLISH RIVER.

...Can you move it please? I have to back in there...

...Bow thruster engaged... 

...Easy as she goes...

...And soon hidden behind taller condos and billboards.

The ENGLISH RIVER hasn't always hauled cement. After launching at Collingwood Shipyards in 1961, she spent her early years as a package goods freighter shuttling anything from skidded freight to deck loads of cars between various Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River ports. When package goods demand dropped due to improved highway and rail services, the ENGLISH RIVER was converted into a cement carrier in 1973 at Port Arthur Shipbuilding in Port Arthur, Ontario (now Thunder Bay). Since her conversion which included a sloping cargo hold, and stern mounted bucket elevator used to unload her cargo, ENGLISH RIVER has remained active hauling cement products from Lafarge's plant in Bath, Ontario to Canadian and American Great Lakes ports like Toronto, Hamilton, Oswego, Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit.

Bought outright from Canada Steamships Lines in 1992, the Lafarge owned ENGLSH RIVER has done well for herself over the years and is currently laid up for winter in Toronto which is where I snapped her again three years ago almost to the day on February 10, 2013. Hope to capture her again when I visit the always exciting Toronto Harbourfront next weekend. I can hardly wait!! c);-b