Carlz Boats: Salty-Laker KAMINISTIQUA

Carlz Boats: Salty-Laker KAMINISTIQUA: At our 'Top Secret' viewing spot along the St. Lawrence, we got to see the bulk carrier KAMINISTIQUA pass us by 'real close'. Good luck ...

Saltie-Laker KAMINISTIQUA (Revisited)

At our 'Top Secret' viewing spot along the St. Lawrence River west of Morrisburg on July 19, 2012, we got to see the gearless bulk carrier KAMINISTIQUA pass us by 'real close'. Good luck trying to pronounce her name. I tried to Google and Wikipedia the background of the name and the closest I came to was 'Kaministiguia', a Northern Ontario river and an Ojibwe word that means 'river of islands'. Apparently there are two large islands at its mouth in Thunder Bay before emptying into Lake Superior. Whether KAMINISTIQUA is a name that is purposely spelled wrong or not, is doesn't matter to me because though looking a little rough, she was pushing hard against the flow of this river just fine.

Regardless, she was known as SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER when she went into service in 1983. Built in Scotland along with her Misener Shipping sisters, SELKIRK SETTLER, & CANADA MARQUIS, http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/09/saltie-laker-canada-marquis.html each were designed to service the grain and ore trades in the Great Lakes, and switch to salt water operation in the 3 month off season, hence the term 'Saltie-Laker'.

Also previously named VOYAGEUR PIONEER and LADY HAMILTON  the 29 year old KAMINISTIQUA is 730' long and is currently owned by Lower Lakes Towing Company of Port Dover, Ontario. Though the obviously hardworking lady motored along quite well to Iroquois Lock and beyond on this mid-summer day, her owner could afford to pay some attention to her rustic appearance. Just a suggestion.

Update - April 10, 2020:

While the upbound former saltie-laker still looked pretty rough when she passed our picnic table at Loyalist Park on May 19, 2013, the KAMINISTIQUA did get some TLC (Tender Living Care) and a new coat of paint while wintering at Erie, Pennsylvania's  DonJon Shipbuilding in 2014. When passing through so many St. Lawrence Seaway locks, the wearing look doesn't take long to return, like when I caught her at the grain terminal at the Port of Johnstown on April 23, 2016.

However due to an unfortunate incident on November 27th when she touched bottom near Beauharnois, the KAMINISTIQUA spent this winter at the former Port Weller Drydocks, in St. Catharines where her hull was repaired by Hamilton's Heddle Marine and she was given a fresh coat of paint to boot. Oh YAAA!! Even after passing through seven Welland Canal locks and approach walls today, the upbound classic stern-ender looks amazing and good to go for many more years in these photos by Nathan Attard in Port Colborne, taken this afternoon. Great shoots and thank again Nathan 👍📷👍

BTW, to view thousands of Great Lakes ship photos both modern and vintage, be sure to checkout www.GreatLakesShips.ca, or www.OceanShips.ca for photos of ships from elsewhere around the world. You'll be Glad You Did!!

Carlz Boats: Tug VICTORIOUS & Barge JOHN. J. CARRACK

Carlz Boats: Tug VICTORIOUS & Barge JOHN. J. CARRACK: While waiting for a certain downbound to make its way into Lake St. Frances, another ship caught my eye. As it got closer I cou...

Tug VICTORIOUS & Barge JOHN. J. CARRACK

While waiting for a certain downbound to make its way into Lake St. Frances, another ship caught my eye. However as it got closer I could see that it wasn't one vessel but two - the barge JOHN J. CARRACK being pushed by its tug VICTORIOUS. I supposed if I actually lived along the St. Lawrence Seaway, I wouldn't have been so surprised with the current appearance of a 'tug & barge' compared to what I recall from when I was growing up along the Welland Canal. Then, the barge was short and squatty, and the bow was angled-in from port to starboard like that pink eraser you may have had back when you were in public school. The barge was also narrow and didn't draw much water because along with its tug which appeared only high enough for the wheelhouse to see the deck of the barge, primary did its business through New York State via the Erie Barge Canal.

On this day, the CARRACK had a ship like bow which would allow it to handle much better in bad weather and the superstructure of its tug VICTORIOUS sat high and above the barge deck with an excellent view of what's ahead. Built on China, both the tug & barge are owned McAsphalt Marine Transportation of Toronto and hauls semi-liquid asphalt and heavy fuels on the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway and East Coast waterways. Don't be alarmed - it was my camera's zoom lens that might suggest that the tug and barge may be passing the self-unloader ALGOSOO a little too close for comfort. Regardless, nice shot just the same.

Carlz Boats: Cable Layer ILE DE RÉ

Carlz Boats: Cable Layer ILE DE RÉ: Any other time that I visited Vancouver's Canada Place pier, a cruise ship would be docked. However during our March 2004 visit, the cable...

Cable Layer ILE DE RÉ

Any other time that I visited Vancouver's Canada Place pier, a cruise ship would be docked. However during our March 2004 visit, the cable layer ILE DE RÉ looked the part quite well. Starting out as a RO/RO ferry, she was converted to a cable ship by Remontowa shipyards in Poland in 2002. More recently, ILE DE RÉ has been seen laying fibre option cable between Japan and Australia. She's a sister to also Alcatel Lucent owned ILE DE BATZ which sat in front of our Jamaican resort in 2010 laying cable between Jamaica and Cuba. Though also based in France, much of her crew were from Australia and we often enjoyed chatting with them while indulging on the odd Red Stripe beer or rum laced pina colodas during happy hour. Ah Jamaica, NO PROBLEM!!

Carlz Boats: Cargo Ship HHL CONGO

Carlz Boats: Cargo Ship HHL CONGO: Another hot and hazy summer day and tell me, what's more fun than sitting on the wharf in Lancaster, Ontario along the St. Lawrence River ...

Cargo Ship HHL CONGO

Another hot and hazy summer day and tell me, what's more fun than sitting on the wharf in Lancaster, Ontario along the St. Lawrence River and watching ships of the world go by? Here in the distance, the 452' Hansa Heavy Lift cargo ship HHL CONGO approaches a red marker on Lake St. Francis, and then continues to make good time while making her way upbound with a load of wind turbine towers destined for the upper lakes and perhaps a  neighbourhood near you. A few weeks ago, we saw the ATLANTICBORG pass us by with a load of wind turbine blades destined for Ogdensburg, New York http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/07/canada-day-2012-and-what-better-way-to.html. Seems to be the trend here.

Carlz Boats: Self-Unloader CSL ASSINIBOINE

Carlz Boats: Self-Unloader CSL ASSINIBOINE: The 739' CSL ASSINIBOINE is the fifth of ten CSL self-unloaders that have passed by me while making their way along the St.Lawrence Riv...

Self-Unloader CSL ASSINIBOINE

The 739' CSL ASSINIBOINE is the fifth of ten CSL self-unloaders that have passed by me while making their way along the St.Lawrence River. On a rainy afternoon on June 12, I snapped this photo of the downbound and low in the water CSL ASSINIBOINE approaching Brockville, Ontario. Despite the dreary weather conditions of the day, she appeared to be motoring along in complete control. As noted on my May 24th 'Carlz Boats' post, that was not case, when on another dreary and blustery day on March 3rd, extremely high winds snapped her stern lines and forced the ASSINIBOINE to collide with another ship on the opposite wall at the Lake Erie entrance to the Welland Canal. Going nowhere fast, CSL ASSINIBOINE helplessly rests near the stern of the ALGOWOOD in a photo taken by my mother, Janet, who after church rushed up to the West Street wall in Port Colborne, Ontario, like a true 'boatnerd' to take this snap. What a sweet-heart!

Shrimp Boats JOCELYNE B & MARÉE HAUTE 1

When the fishing is over, it's over for these shrimp boats which we found high and dry during our drive around Gaspésie in September 2010. They maybe called 'shimpers' but they are some big, like the JOCELYNE B which we found in Rivière-au-Renard parked next to that itsy-bitsy green Plymouth Neon.  Over at Paspébiac, we found the MARÉE HAUTE 1 and other Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimpers waiting for the fishing season to begin as it always has on April 1st. No fooling!!

Carlz Boats: Tanker SICHEM DUBAI

Carlz Boats: Tanker SICHEM DUBAI: While panning the horizon for the superstructure or mast of the upbound ATLANTICBORG to become visible, suddenly from the corner of my eye...

Tanker SICHEM DUBAI

While panning the horizon for the superstructure or mast of the upbound ATLANTICBORG to become visible, suddenly from the corner of my eye appeared the tanker SICHEM DUBAI. She wasn't on my list of passages for the day, but who cares. The Danish oil & chemical tanker is actually registered in Valletta, Malta and she was making good speed downbound to who knows where. After the seaway opened in 1959, it was pretty amazing to see all these 'salties' (a local slag for an ocean-going freighter) as they made their way to new ports of call on our inland fresh-water Great Lakes. They came from all over the world and I recall trying to determine where they were from after seeing their flag flapping in a breeze and homeport boldly written at the stern of each ship. Some city names were quite humourous and had words in them that a 10 year old wouldn't want to be caught saying at home like 'RotterDAM', and HELsinki. I recall having a good laugh when for the first time I saw a saltie from 'SPLIT'. Whether the ship comes from Holland, Sweden, a small island in the Mediterranean, or an Adriatic Sea port in the former Yugoslavia, they all seem to be rushing by me while getting to be where they need to be as soon as possible.

Carlz Boats: HMS FIFE (D20)

Carlz Boats: HMS FIFE (D20): The final voyage for the Royal Navy's County-class destroyer, HMS FIFE (D20) was a Great Lakes tour. Working down on Toronto's Harbourfron...

HMS FIFE (D20)

The final voyage for the Royal Navy's County-class destroyer, HMS FIFE (D20) was a Great Lakes tour. Working down on Toronto's Harbourfront had it's benefits for boatlubbers like me and while taking an extended lunch one afternoon in May 1987, I took these photos of the FIFE as she left Toronto harbour destined to Chicago, Milwaukee and other ports of call. Commissioned in June 1966 and the fifth of eight ships in her class, the FIFE was under refit and missed action in the 1982 Falkland conflict. In 1986 she became a moving training ship and was deployed in the Mediterranean before her North American and Great Lakes tour. On her returned home in June 1987, the FIFE was decommissioned and then later sold to the Chilean Navy. Renamed BLANCO ENCALADA, she sailed the southern seas for another  17 years before being sold for scrap in November 2005.

Carlz Boats: CSL ATLANTIC ERIE

Carlz Boats: CSL ATLANTIC ERIE: While taking the scenic route  to Montreal today, we happened to see CSL ATLANTIC ERIE manoeuvre her way past a variety of markers and buo...

Carlz Boats: USS QUILLBACK (SS-424)

Carlz Boats: USS QUILLBACK (SS-424): Happy 4th of July to all my American friends. Probably the first ship I ever got to tour was actually a boat, quite a large boat, the Amer...

Self Unloader ATLANTIC ERIE

While taking the scenic route to Montreal today, we happened to see Canada Steamship Lines' ATLANTIC ERIE manoeuvre her way past a variety of markers and buoys near Mariatown heading upbound to the St. Lawrence Seaway's, Iroquois Lock. Originally launched as the HON. PAUL MARTIN in 1984, this versatile 736.5' Great Lakes and ocean class self-unloading bulk carrier has carried grain, coal, iron ore, gypsum, and stone products to and from ports along the Great Lakes, Atlantic Canada, southern US, the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Spain, Germany, Holland and more. She even carried and unloaded magnetite ore to ballast an Hibernia Oil Platform off the Grand Banks.  ATLANTIC ERIE also makes a great pair of photos on a hot day in July.

USS QUILLBACK (SS-424)

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends. Probably the first ship I ever got to tour was actually a boat, quite a large boat, the American submarine USS QUILLBACK (SS-424). The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in June 1959, meant that many ocean-going ships from around the world could now  do business in Great Lakes ports such as Toronto, Detroit, Chicago and points even further west in Lake Superior by transiting the new seaway and Welland Ship Canal. To celebrate the opening of the seaway, many US warships toured the Great Lakes during the summer of 1959, and at a port visit in Port Weller, my family got a guided tour through this big black 'boat' with all of it's ladders and round doors. It was cool. Actually, it was a hot and humid like today and the sub was air-conditioned. It was REALLY COOL. I was 7 years old then and pictured with me in front of the QUILLBACK is my mother, Janet, and sisters Cheryl (2) and Karin (10). For your information, the QUILLBACK was launched in 1944 and served in the Pacific in WWII. It also spent time in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean before being decommissioned in 1973.

Carlz Boats: Cargo Ship ATLANTICBORG

Carlz Boats: Cargo Ship ATLANTICBORG: Canada Day 2012 and what better way to spend the holiday than having a picnic along the St. Lawrence and watching ships from around the...

Multipurpose Dry Cargo Carrier ATLANTICBORG

Canada Day 2012 and what better way to spend the holiday than having a picnic along the St. Lawrence and watching ships from around the world pass by. Most interesting sail past had to be the 469' Royal Wagenborg general cargo vessel ATLANTICBORG from Holland with its cargo of wind turbines destined for Ogdensburg, New York. 
Built this year in Shanghai, China, here are a couple more snaps of the upbound ATLANTICBORG leaving Iroquois Lock with my wife Janice, looking away (and not wanting to admit she's become a boatnerd like me & YOU), and then later gliding along while approaching Cardinal, Ontario, which is a quaint little town just a few miles downriver from her final destination (pretty wild cloud formation in the background, eh). Though we did see a tug come out to meet ATLANTICBORG and guide to her berth across the river, it was too dark for anymore action photos of this unique vessel. More personal shipping pictures and stories along the St. Lawrence Seaway and elsewhere coming soon @ CarlzBoats. WATCH FOR THEM!!