Self Discharging Bulk Carrier THUNDER BAY

GOTCHA!! The plan was to hook up at fellow boatnerd, Ron Beaupre's place in Mariatown to see and hear the downbound ALGOMA EQUINOX blast out a salute while motoring by Ron and Jeanine's seaway-front homestead, And... perhaps snap the upbound THUNDER BAY pass by at the same time. OH YAA!! The T-BAY was the only CSL Trillium-class self discharging bulk carrier that I hadn't snapped yet so to get them both in the same frame and hearing them blare their horns was going to be like being in 'Boatnerd Heaven" eh!! c):-0 Except the skipper on the 740' THUNDER BAY, which was riding high in ballast and making really good time, preferred to meet the EQUINOX along the north wall below Iroquois Lock. No Problem!! c):-x

Initiate Plan B: meet the THUNDER BAY at Loyalist Park, (which is about half way in between Ron's place and Iroquois lock), and NOT get a speeding ticket while motoring the 113 km from Kanata to the park. And... just like the Canadian courier company GoJIT,  I got there 'Just In Time" to get these snaps of the speedy THUNDER BAY. OH YAA!! c);-b

Then off to Iroquois Lock where from a new "Classified" vantage point that Ron told me about, I got to snap and video the ALGOMA EQUINOX blast a salute as she motored out of the lock (take a listen: http://youtu.be/6Ezq6moCir8) Beauty, I really like it!! Though I wasn't able to snap the pair off Ron's dock together, it was still quite pleasing and somewhat "apropros" to even snap them below Iroquois Locks since they were both the best of their class and fleet. They were both built and launched in China in 2013, and the ALGOMA EQUINOX which I featured in my blog last month (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2014/09/gearless-bulker-algoma-equinox.html) was carrying prairie grain that was loaded in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the other bulk carrier's namesake. How cool is that?

What a beautiful autumn day it was as the THUNDER BAY continued her approach in the Seaway's last lock before reaching the open water of upper St. Lawrence River and then Lake Ontario. After climbing the Niagara escarpment via the Welland Canal and then motoring up Lake Erie, the THUNDER BAY would take on a load of road salt at the Windsor salt mine in Ojibway and then deliver it to Calumet, Illinois. OK Polar Vortex - Bring It On, or NOT!!

The THUNDER BAY is the second of four Trillium-class self discharging bulk carriers to enter service in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence system between 2012-13. The next two  Trilliums will be gearless bulk carriers like the ALGOMA EQUINOX which you can see  continuing downbound behind the T-BAY in the above and left snaps. Both new bulkers are expected to arrive in Canada for service later this year and will be named CSL ST-LAURENT and CSL WELLAND to commemorate the St. Lawrence Seaway and Welland Canal. Meanwile, the THUNDER BAY is the third Canada Steamship Lines vessel to bear the name. The first sailed between 1921-40 and a was canaller about the size of my Dad's ship, the BIRCHTON, (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2014/06/the-canaller-birchton-revisited.html). The second was a 663' straightdecker that was built in 1952 at Port Arthur Shipbuilding in the Ontario community that when amalgamated with Fort William in 1970, the new city became known as "THUNDER BAY". Apropos, Coincidence, or None of the Above c);-b