The upbound CCGS PIERRE RADISSON rounding Toussaint Island at 9:00 am - March 25, 2018. |
The PIERRE RADISSON was built in 1978 at Burrard Dry Dock
in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
|
At 10:58 I posted this pic of a MarineTraffic map showing that the RADISSON was now motoring on Lake St. Louis which simply could have meant she'd be conducting ice operations in the area, so I added the comment to Joanne's post, "that I will have to keep an eye on her movement this weekend.....because she may scoot her way up the Welland Canal before the official opening too". Soon after James Chapman joined in the conversation saying he was. "... going to be watching for her passing through the American Locks" which is where he has taken many great snaps of ships along the Wiley-Dondero Canal between Snell and Eisenhower (or Ike, for short) Locks.
Well, the only ice operations the PIERRE RADISSON had conducted on Lake St. Louis that day was to cut a clear path for her all the way for to the Lower Beauharnois Lock at the other end of the lake as you can see in this MarineTraffic pic that I added to the post at about 12:06. A little later Helen Mott, who's taken many beautiful wildlife and ship passage photos between Prescott and Iroquois Lock where I met her for the first time last spring, joined in saying, "Joanne, Carl, keep me posted OK. I'm twelve minutes from Iroquois...would love to see her again and get my "pic-fix" (AGAIN π³, I haven't even seen her once yetπ ).
While keeping my eye or actual both of them π on the MarineTraffic map which by the way gets updated every 30 seconds, I saw that the destination unknown RADISSON had actually passed through both locks was still underway on the Beauharnois Canal which runs between the Beauharnois Locks to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and posted a comment to Brenda Benoit who administers the ship-watching group, "The π¨π¦Summerstown Seaway Lookout π¨π¦", to be on the look out or as Marty Milner on ADAM-12 would call it, a "BOLO" that the CCGS PIERRE RADISSON was coming her way. Soon after James Chapman gets into the conversation again and mentioned that she is passed the Algoma self unloader ALGOLAKE which was laid up for winter at Port of Valleyfied.
On into Lake St. Francis the big icebreaker continued passing Saint-Zotique and RiviΓ¨re-Beaudette which is very close to the Ontario/Quebec provincial line along the north shore of the St. Lawrence. At 3:54 I responded to Helen Mott's earlier comment mentioning that the PIERRE RADISSON was approaching Lancaster and that because of the hour I doubted that she'd motor beyond Eisenhower Lock, if that because I felt it might be too dangerous to manoeuvre at night without lighted navigation aids (like what do I know?). Regardless, Helen replied, "Thanks Carl, I'll keep watching to see if she stops at Snell or Ike. Shiver me timbers - shipping season is about to get exciting!" (Yes, you got that right Helen ππ·π’πΉπ)
Just after 5:00 Joanne at The ⚓Anchor mentioned to Helen that the RADISSON was just above Hamilton Island and was thinking she might go to Cornwall for night (quite possible because we didn't really where she was going that day). Then at about 6:20 Joanne added that she was locking at Snell and that she hoped that she anchored at Wilson Hill for the night breaks otherwise the RADISSON wouldn't be at Iroquois until late at night or early morning. (YUCK π) At about 7:00 our man on the American side of the Seaway, James Chapman, mentioned that he got a few photos of her below Ike (π, I said) and about a half hour later he mentioned, "they are going to tie up to the upper wall at IKE for the night", and later said, "estimated departure at 06h15". That was great news because now we'd all get a chance to snap her in the morning, (OH YAAA!! ππ·π)
CCGS PIERRE RADISSON is the first of three medium/river-type icebreakers to be built and designed for Coast Guard operations in the Arctic Ocean. |
Her gross weight tonnage is 5,910 tonnes which is almost three times
heavier than the light icebreaker and more familiar to the Great Lakes,
CCGS GRIFFON which is based at Prescott, Ontario.
|
Propelled by two fixed-pitch propellers and a bow thruster, the RADISSON's powerful diesel-electric propulsion system can power her through 1 meter (3.3 feet) thick ice at a speed of 6 knots. |
The maximum speed for the PIERRE RADISSON is 16 knots or 30 km/hr. |
With a ranger of 15,000 nautical miles, PIERRE RADISSON can stay
at sea for up to 120 days.
|
No, she wasn't fooling around then or even hours after locking through the Soo on the first of April, as she quickly began cutting a track for the upbound self unloaders JOHN J. BOLAND, AMERICAN CENTURY and MICHIPICOTEN through the ice fields on Whitefish Bay as you can see in this MarineTraffic map pic. It's what she does and will continue to do until the real spring arrives with her warm seasonal temps and the odd bouts rain instead of snow squalls like we all experiencing now. And when that day comes, ship-watchers from Pier Drive in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan thru to the walkway on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge in Montreal, will be there watching and snapping the PIERRE RADISSON's every move. Are we a tad obsessed? Well maybe but none of our local NHL hockey teams will win the Stanley Cup this year so we may as well be out snapping you, CCGS PIERRE RADISSON. Just like I finally did at Cardinal and...
...Brenda Benoit of the π¨π¦ Summerstown Seaway Lookout π¨π¦https://www.facebook.com/groups/summerstownseawaylookout/
did from her boat dock across from this cute little cottage on Clark Island, and....
.... James Chapman did along the Wiley-Dondero Canal ....
...and Helen Mott did at Iroquois Lock....
....And Joanne Crack of The Prescott ⚓ Anchor
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/theprescottanchor/)
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/theprescottanchor/)
did from her balcony in Prescott.
Great pics ππ·π everyone and if anyone else would like share a pic of this impressive vessel with her a big red maple π leaf proudly being displayed on her tall white funnel during her current mission or return home, then please send them my way and I'll add them to the mix for the brave men and women of the RADISSON and other fine CCGS vessels to view when they've run out of other more interesting reading material, or sooner. And for everyone on board your impressive vessel with a big red maple πleaf proudly being displayed on her tall white funnel, be sure to SMILE π because you could be on a Ship-watchers Camera too π·πΉ EH!! π³π¬π
Here's a couple of nice pics by Tyson Breckenridge who snapped the CCGS PIERRE RADISSON taking on fuel and provisions at the Essar Steel Algoma Inc's dock in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario this morning. See more of Tyson photos at the ship-watching group, "Fans of Great Lakes Ships"( https://www.facebook.com/groups/141291056286532/) Thanks again, Tyson ππ’π
Here's a couple interesting shots taken by Allard Teeple Sr. at Bay Mills near the mouth of the St. Mary's River on Lake Superior of CCGS PIERRE RADISSON in action. In the top pic she's assisting the upbound Canada Steamship Lines self unloader FRONTENAC on April 4th. Just days earlier, it was CCGS GRIFFON that was assisting to break her free of the iced over Midland Harbour and Georgian Bay for her to start her journey to the upper lake.. In Allard's snaps below taken on April 5th, American Steamship Company's self unloader JOHN J. BOLAND is continuing on her own towards the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, while CCGS PIERRE RADISSON motors out to Whitefish Bay to free 7 vessels stuck in the ice fields there. Thanks for sharing these Allard and, Take Care my Friend!! ππ’π
As always, GREAT Carl !! Except for this one I certainly didn't stay on my balcony!! Haha. No need to edit. It doesn't matter. Thanks again. Cheers, Jo
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