Sail Training Vessel FAIR JEANNE

It's not fair to say that every time I snap the brigantine rigged sail training vessel FAIR JEANNE that it's fairly dull, or about to rain. Actually, every other time it's fairly nice out with blue skies or perhaps the odd cloud here and there. However I think it's fair to say that regardless of the backdrop, the FAIR JEANNE is fairer than fair, but rather she's one impressive fair, eh. c):-D
Yes, that was a fairly ugly cloud pattern to the west when I first snapped the FAIR JEANNE in Brockville in August 2008 but the next time I snapped her above the Rideau Canal's Hartwell Lock in May 2012, it was fairly nice out with blue skies and pleasant spring-like temperatures. Though it's fair to say the FAIR JEANNE was not quite herself that day with her fore and main masts secured to her spar (that long pole sticking out in front of her bow) along with her booms and yards tied off to her deck cabins but I'm fairly certain none of her crew would be complaining about the weather, especially after enduring Ottawa's fairly frigid temperatures all winter long in an drained Canal lock between the Canada's Parliament Buildings and the Chateau Laurier Hotel. Just after our Thanksgiving Weekend in mid October, the JEANNE was parked as usual in the lock and held upright on her keel with wedged against the wall boards while the system is emptied of water. Huge tarps are then placed over a steel structure that's erected soon after the lock has been drained giving FAIR JEANNE the appearance, (you got a it) of a fairly big cocoon which of course protects her from Ottawa's severe winter temperatures and average annual snowfalls of over 100 centimetres. It's not fair, eh!! c):-()

The Rideau Canal reopens for boating on the Victoria Day long weekend which falls on the third weekend in May, so just days before the canal is flooded in early May, the cozy cocoon of tarps and steel ribbings are removed and the freshly undercoated hull of the FAIR JEANNE reappears like a beautiful butterfly or..."Fairy" or NOT c);-b

After she is re-launched for the upcoming sailing season, FAIR JEANNE is motored upbound to Hartwell Lock, where the finishing touches of her winter overhaul is completed. From there she makes her way back down the canal and then transits the set of eight locks beneath the Chateau Laurier Hotel to the Ottawa River. Since the Rideau Canal is too shallow in some locations, the FAIR JEANNE must motor down the Ottawa River to Montreal and then up the St. Lawrence River and Seaway to Prescott. Yes, it was a fairly dull, damp and dreary day one month later from our earlier rendezvous at Hartwell Lock when I snapped the FAIR JEANNE's again, this time along the wharf in Prescott where regardless of the fairly miserable weather conditions, her crews seemed fairly happy completing the tasks at hand of securing the shrouds, yards, and sails to the JEANNE's fore and main masts along with her booms. Definitely a fair bit of work but once completed, she'll slip her mooring and make her way upriver to her summer homeport at the Tall Ships Landing in Brockville. In just a matter days a new group of trainees will board her and another sail training season commences.

Hey, if you're still awake, you'd probably expect that it would a fairly nice day for my next FAIR JEANNE encounter and it certain was as I snapped her transiting Iroquois Lock on July 14, 2013. Launched in 1980, the 110' (from spar to stern) FAIR JEANNE was built as a family yacht capable of sailing the Caribbean and European seas in her owner's backyard along the Ottawa River. Captain Thomas G. Fuller, a renown and highly decorated Canadian naval war hero and successful area building construction owner started the boat build in 1978. When completed she had a deck length of 82' and a 24.5' beam. She draws 12' with lowered drop keel but only 5.5' when mooring.

Since it was only fair to name her after his wife Jeanne, Captain Fuller designed his FAIR JEANNE (the boat) as a traditional two masted square rigged brigantine which allowed her to pick up a fair bit of speed with her 4,500 square feet of sail when all of her 10 sails are fully set. Without a wind or when manoeuvring a narrow channel like Iroquois Lock, her diesel engine becomes fairly useful too. After 14 years of sailing the world's oceans and logging over 280,000 kilometres the proud family yacht FAIR JEANNE changed careers in 1994 when joining Ottawa based Bytown Brigantine and becoming a sail training vessel along with sister brigantine, BLACK JACK (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/05/sv-black-jack.html)                                                          

Founded in 1984 by the Fuller family, Bytown Brigantine first offered Ottawa River tall ship sail training on the BLACK JACK out of the Britannia Yacht Club. However, when FAIR JEANNE was acquired, Bytowne Brigantine was able to expand their training program to the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and offshore. While living aboard the FAIR JEANE for a week or more, young trainee learn to sail a traditional tall ship. They hoist the sails, steer the ship, climb the masts, stand a watch and make lifelong friends along the way.
Along with teaching youth the ropes about sailing, the FAIR JEANNE has taken part in many special events like the Tall Ships 1812 Tour during the summer of 2013 where her replica four pound cannon was used to salute passing lakers. When I snapped the FAIR JEANNE motoring upbound at Iroquios Lock, she had just been involved in a War of 1812 battle reenactments at Crysler's Farm near Morrisburg. Tours are also available during her many port visits like at Cape Vincent last weekend. Though built as a family yacht, the FAIR JEANNE has proven that she more than simply a sail training vessel but an ongoing visual example of a true "Goodwill Ambassador". Fair Enough?     

Bulk Carrier CEDARGLEN (Revisited)

Times are changing for Canada's Great Lakes fleet. Even though it still costs less to transport cargoes by ship than by train or truck, the new build boom by Canada Steamship Lines and Algoma Central focuses on ships that are more efficient and environmentally friendly. Whether the name of the ship-class is called Trillium for CSL or Equinox for Algoma, these new boats cut costs because they are more automated, requiring less crews and more fuel efficient with their latest technology in pollution reduction. 
While recent news of Ohio-based Interlake Steamship Company's decision to convert their last steamer, the 56 year old self unloading ore carrier HERBERT L. JACKSON to diesel received glowing reviews (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2015/02/classic-self-unloader-herbert-c-jackson.html), the next generation Canadian flagged "newbies" that have been or are soon to be built will use heavy marine fuel and are equipped with integrated exhaust scrubbers which will remove 97% of sulphur oxides from exhaust systems. Due to the larger size, unique hull and bow configuration, these speedy "new kids on the block" boats are expected to be 45% more efficient per cargo tonne than others in their fleets. It's being dubbed the largest rebuild of the Canadian fleet since the 1960's and early 70's. Unfortunately though, since all Canadian Great Lakes shipyards have been closed and our other shipyards have been allocated for ongoing refits and new builds for Canada's Navy and Coast Guard for many years to come, the "first in show" neophytes are all being built overseas in China and Croatia. So much for our constantly being encouraged to "Buy Canadian" and keeping our investments at home. c):-l

Like any boat watcher, we all get a charge when we focus in on new "up & comer" like when I snapped CSL's first Trillium-class, self discharging bulk carrier, the 740' BAIE ST. PAUL exiting Lock 8 in Port Colborne in May 2013 (above, right). Meanwhile, just a few months later, two of CSL's "salty-laker" bulk carriers,  the 730' RICHELIEU and SAGUENAY left Montreal under their own power and destined to Turkey for scrapping. H'uh? c):-o When I snapped the just 31 year old SAGUENAY being walked through Iroquois Lock on December 26, 2012 (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/02/bulk-carrier-saguenay.html), little did I know that it was not only an end of season passage, but her last transit on the Great Lakes for good. Other older and less efficient Algoma boats have already been or are in the process of being scrapped to make way for the Equinox-class vessels, like former Upper Lakes classics QUEBECOIS, MONTREALAIS, TRANSFER and PROGRESS. Which ones will be next?  c):-(      

When I snapped the 730' CSL bulk carrier CEDARGLEN (below) exiting Iroquois Lock in November 2012, she was motoring upbound to Thunder Bay to pick up a load of grain. On this trip she was empty of iron ore, a cargo she was especially built to carry when launched in 1959 in Hamburg, Germany. Her name then was EMS ORE, and along with her eight sisters, the 546' bulk carrier with her sleek deep-sea bow and pilothouse amidships, hauled Venezuelan ore to Europe for about 27 years. In 1976, EMS ORE along sisters RHRINE ORE and RUHR ORE, were purchased by Montreal's Hall Corporation to carry Labrador ore to Hamilton's steel mills and then prairie grain downbound to St. Lawrence River elevators. When entering service in 1979, the newly named MONTCLIFFE HALL sported a new fore body which lengthened her to 730', the midship pilothouse and cabins were modified and moved to the stern. While her original diesel engine remained, MONTCLIFFE HALL also had a bow thruster installed along with a controllable pitch propeller.  

When Hallco went out of business in 1988, the MONTCLIFFE HALL and twin sister STEELCLIFFE HALL were acquired by N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd. of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Soon after her name was changed to CARTIERDOC while the STEELCLIFFE became the WINDOC. The other sister was purchased by Algoma Central and was named ALGONTARIO. Named for the French explorer Jacques Cartier who discovered the St. Lawrence River Valley in 1534, with the added suffix "DOC" for Dominion Of Canada, CARTIERDOC continued the trade route she was designed for with Paterson & Sons and then Canada Steamship Lines when she was purchased in 2002 and became known as CEDARGLEN.

Currently the 56 year old CEDARGLEN is the oldest gearless bulk carrier in the CSL fleet. Despite her impressive 29,515 ton maximum carrying capacity, the "newbies" which are close to ten feet longer and almost three feet wider, can carry almost nine thousand tons of cargo more than the versatile CEDARGLEN.
Today, instead of plying our inland seas and channels, the tall and proud CEDAR sits high in the water and laid up in Goderich, Ontario's harbour until the fall due to "lack of work". Though ore shipments may have dropped off, such an excuse is pretty hard to believe on a day like so many this spring when two bulk carriers lay in anchor off Thunder Bay waiting for grain elevator dock space and two other bulkers according to MarineTraffic AIS appears to be motoring at a good speed towards Canada's largest grain port on the Great Lakes. Perhaps the real reason is it'll take until the fall for space to be available at Port Colborne's IMS scrapyard, which is currently busy cutting up to other classic lakers, the ALGOMA PROGRESS and AMERICAN FORTITUDE. After all, it's where Goderich's last long term layup, the ALGOMA TRANSFER end up. For the CEDARGLEN and her paid off crewman, let's hope it doesn't become a trend......

Updated March 7, 2019

 Waiting to enter the Beauharnois Locks on June 27, 2018

....well the trend of using Goderich as an IMS ship boneyard staging area may have been the case for long term layups ALGOMA TRANSFER, ALGOWAY and ALGORAIL, but my next series of photos is proof positive that the former salty built in 1959 and turned into a  laker in 1979, did not leave "Ontario's Prettiest Town" as a scrap-tow but actually the CEDARGLEN left Goderich under her own power in November 2015 and has been busy ever since.  

While celebrating our 44th Wedding Anniversary at Dewar's Inn on the River, I caught the aging CEDARGLEN again laden with cargo for a lower St. Lawrence port as she effortlessly glided by our cabin and then soon after met one of those "more automated and fuel efficient newbuilds" the 740' ALGOMA NIAGARA making lots of white water on her speedy upriver passage to the Great Lakes.
It is what it is but meanwhile, this winter the CEDARGLEN is laid up at Ironhead Shipyard in Toledo and once her repairs have been completed, she will be starting her 60th year of moving iron ore and grain on the deep and inland seas. Truly she's done yet. c):-))    

Cement Barge MÉTIS

Whenever I have time to visit Toronto's Harbourfront, I'll do a pan to the east to see what boats maybe tied off at Pier 35 or at the Marine Terminal near the Ship Channel Bridge. Almost always parked along the south wall of Pier 35's north slip would be a cluster of vessels owned by the Toronto Drydock Company. In this snap taken in March 2014, the camouflaged coloured MERNIER CONSOL which was a former bulk carrier until she was converted into a floating drydock in 1984, remains locked in the ice with the tug RADIUM YELLOWKNIFE parked in her belly for repairs. To her stern is the red superstructure of the salvage tug SALVAGE MONARCH (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/04/tug-boat-salvage-monarch.html) and just on the other side of the slip sits the laid up for winter and Essroc owned cement carrying barge MÉTIS with her notched stern facing the outer harbour.

When I returned to TO in September 2014 and visited the harbour along Cherry Street, I'll admit I was somewhat surprised to see the 331' MÉTIS still tied off where she was when I snapped her along with Toronto Drydock's support vessels six months earlier. It looked like she still hadn't moved in February this year when I was able to pick off her yellow coloured crane and amidships superstructure through the leafless trees on the pier. You never know what will happen when a vessel is placed in long-term layup. Take the 806' Interlake's ore carrier JOHN SHERWIN snapped in September 2013, barely visible through the trees while parked at an old coal dock near DeTour Village, Michigan since she was placed into long term layup in 2008. Click here to read more about her later, OK:  http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/12/bulk-carrier-john-sherwin.html

If you've been following my blog, you'd know about the run around the classic self unloader AMERICAN FORTITUDE got eh. She was placed in long-term layup also in 2008 in Toledo, Ohio, and is now waiting to be broken up in Port Colborne. Missed that post? Here's the link: http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2015/05/scrap-tow-american-fortitude-final.html c):-((

Then earlier this month while checking out Boatnerd.com's "Channel News", I read that the MÉTIS was in Oswego, New York unloading cement. She was paired there with the tug EVANS McKEIL, the same tug that towed the AMERICAN FORTITUDE all the way from Toledo to Côte Ste. Catherine Lock near Montreal and then most of the trip back upbound to Oswego for winter layup last December. That was one slow journey to nowhere and back for the FORTITUDE and her escort tugs. Meanwhile, MÉTIS's "Escape from Alcatraz" was no "Weekend at Bernie's" either. Since EVANS McKEIL notched together with the MÉTIS on April 30th, the "Not Dead Yet Duel" has been busy hauling cement from Essroc's Picton, Ontario plant in Prince Edward County to their bulk terminals in Toronto, and across Lake Ontario to Oswego and Rochester.

When launched in 1956 at Davie Shipyard in Levi, Quebec, the then 259' MÉTIS was a bulk carrier and the last canaller-size ship built for Canada Steamship Lines. Three years later, MÉTIS was lengthen to her current 331' and deepened by another 3.5' to 26'. Two five ton cranes and hoists were also installed which allowed her to self discharge various bulk goods instead of requiring shore-based equipment.

In 1966 MÉTIS was converted in a self unloading cement carrier and operated occasional along the Welland Canal but more often to her current Lake Ontario ports of Toronto, Oswego and Rochester for the then Lake Ontario Cement Company plant located in Picton. In 1991 her diesel engine was removed along with her wheelhouse, stack and aft accommodation quarters, at Kingston Shipbuilders in Kingston, Ontario. From then on MÉTIS was known as a self unloading cement "barge" and when she was not seen being pushed along by the 120' Purvis Marine tug AVENGER IV throughout the upper lakes, St. Clair or Detroit Rivers, she was placed in long term layup in Windsor. In 2001, Essroc  purchased the idle barge, had her towed to Hamilton to be refurbished and then while paired with the EVANS McKEIL began to re-servicing the same ports that MÉTIS did while under her own power for Lake Ontario Cement, a company Essroc had acquired in 1986.

In case you're wondering, MÉTIS is a French word that means "Mixed" and is referred to when describing the "Métis Nation" which are one of the recognized Aboriginal peoples of Canada with the formal recognition equal given to the Inuit and First Nations peoples. The Métis Nation's homeland includes the Canadian prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and parts of Ontario, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and the northern United States, specifically Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. The Métis have a distinct culture and history, and are connected through an extensive network of kin relations that started with the mixed-race descendants of unions between First Nations women and European men during the 18th & early 19th century Great Lakes and Western fur trade.  "À la façon du pays" or "according to the customs of the country" unions or marriages usually involved mutual commitments with local First Nations kin and communities. The fur trapper husbands often lived out their lives with these indigenous families. Due to their skills as voyageurs, hunters, interpreters and knowledge of the lands, the Métis were well respected employees by both major fur traders of the day, the Hudson Bay Company and North West Trading Company. Apparently such cities and towns like Sault Ste. Marie, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Green Bay all originated as Métis outposts. I did not know that. c):-o

It's amazing how such a little boat could be given such a big or vastly important name. A small five letter word that acknowledges an "Aboriginal People" whose tireless work ethics and openness over several generations has helped Canada and America prosper and grow. Where would we be without them?

Just like her namesake, the little barge MÉTIS has shown over the years that she continues to be a valuable asset and remains useful regardless of her size. While other pre-seaway canallers have fallen victim to the ship cutter's touch many years before, the MÉTIS which was built to work has adapted. Mixing or changing her cargo trade from mostly grain to only cement products, has in itself made her a unique vessel. Though at times she's had to lie in wait, but when called upon, regardless of being self powered or pushed along the way by the veteran harbour tug EVANS McKEIL, the agile and shallow draft MÉTIS can enter narrow and winding rivers and channels with ease delivering cement which when "mixed" with water can be used to build lasting foundations for the homes and apartment buildings that we live in, sidewalks and roadways to help us get from 'Point A to Point B' by any means of transportation, and as seen in the background of the tied off MÉTIS below, the cluster of commercial skyscrapers that adorns Toronto's dynamic skyline built with concrete and reinforced steel. The cityscape icon and pinnacle of Canadian success and innovation, the 1,815.4' CN Tower consists of over 52,972 cubic yards of concrete all "mixed" on site to ensure batch consistency. So many applications achieved thanks to cement carriers like the MÉTIS. Which begs the question, where would we be without her? c):-()

Scrap Tow AMERICAN FORTITUDE (Final Chapter)

In Nathan Attard's snap above, the high in the water and newest of new Great Lakes bulk carriers, CWB MARQUIS motors out of Port Colborne harbour and making her way that much closer to her next destination, Thunder Bay, Ontario. After picking up a load of Canadian prairie wheat there, she'll be motoring downbound all the way to a grain elevator near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. When the grain that's destined to a European port by a deep sea bulker is fully discharged, the 740' MARQUIS will take on a load of iron ore which will be discharged at a Hamilton steel mill before making her way back up to Thunder Bay to start another downbound/upbound cycle that will only end when the shipping season ends for winter in late December. Then the whole process gets repeated time and time again during each Seaway and Great Lakes shipping season for many years to come for the fuel-effiecient and state-of-the-art CWB MARQUIS. Meanwhile, parked abeam of the upbound Algoma Central gearless bulk carrier, sits also high in the water Great Lakes classic, the 690' "straightdeck" self unloader AMERICAN FORTITUDE going nowhere fast at the International Marine Salvage dock. Though much smaller than current American ore carriers, the FORTITUDE may have continued to be useful hauling salt, stone or grain like the SAGINAW in Lower Lakes Towing's fleet of veteran boats (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/09/self-unloader-saginaw.html), had one of her former owners re-powered the AMERICAN FORTITUDE from steam to diesel. Instead she waits to be broken apart by the welder's torch for everyone to see. It wasn't supposed to end this way. 

With her 8 year long-term layup in Toledo behind her, the AMERICAN FORTITUDE patiently sits along Port Colborne's downbound east wall in Nathan's snap to the right. Here, she was waiting for a Seaway inspection to be completed, and a pilot to be boarded on the lead tug, EVANS McKEIL so that the long passage could get underway to Quebec City where  the tow would be transferred to another tug to complete her journey along the Eastern Seaboard, the Straits of Florida and Gulf of Mexico to Brownsville, Texas. While every boat watcher east of Duluth presumed the worst, that the once gallant Great Lakes classic was doomed to the cutter's torch, rumours started floating around (no pun intended, really c);-b) suggesting that once arriving at Brownsville, only a few sections of the FORTITUDE and her discharging boom would be remove, leaving her massive holds be used for scrap storage. That could work!! Her life or usefulness could be extended for another 10, 15 or 20 years. Who knows? c):-) If the FORTITUDE could speak, she probably would have said, "ALRIGHT!!, so let's get this tow on the road or as the St. Lawrence Seaway people like to call it, "Highway H2O". c):-D  
     

As mentioned in my December 7th post about AMERICAN FORTITUDE's last Great Lakes "Not So Excellent Adventure" http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2014/12/scrap-tow-american-fortitude.html, things weren't looking so good. Just mile away from completing the delicate and slow going passage through the Seaway (as shown in my friend Shaun Judge's snap near Mallorytown on December 1st) and then on down to the deeper and open waters of the St. Lawrence River, the scrap tow came to a dead stop that lasted several days just above Côte Ste. Catherine Lock on December 4. Though initially reported that the extended delay was due to high winds further down below on the St. Lawrence River, the actual reason was because during another inspection, this time done by Transport Canada, a large quantity of bunker fuel remained in her tanks and it would need to be removed before the tow down to the lower river and Gulf of St. Lawrence could proceed. A worthy concern because when another classic straightdecker, the CANADIAN MINER which was being towed to Turkey for scrap, broke free of her tug during a storm in the Cabot Strait in September 2011, the MINER ran aground on Nova Scotia's Scatarie Island with over 3,000 litres of diesel fuel on board. Not GOOD c):-(   

With only a few weeks left before the Seaway would be closed for the winter, the FORTITUDE's tow to Texas looked even more hopeless when on the next day, first her lead tug EVANS MCKEIL left the tow and got underway "upbound" back to her home port on Hamilton which is located on the far end of Lake Ontario, and then the EILEEN MCALLISTER, the tug that was supposed to takeover the tow and deliver her Brownsville, Texas, departed her berth in Quebec City and appeared to be heading at full speed to her home port of New York City. However things started to look up again though when on December 18th, AMERICAN FORTITUDE got hooked up to another lead tug, this time Groupe Ocean's ROSS GAUDREAULT but instead of continuing east through the two remaining Seaway lock that would bring her closer to her new life and usefulness along  Texas' Gulf of Mexico coastline, the scrap tow started heading in the opposite direction upbound, presumably to the IMS scrapyard in Port Colborne. It wasn't supposed to end this way.      

On the other side of the Beauharnois Locks, another McKeil tug, the 120' SALVOR took over the lead tug roll and then further upriver, EVANS MCKNEIL regained the top spot. For the FORTITUDE it didn't matter which one was the lead tug, as she had no choice but to follow along wherever they were taking her with fortitude. 

Wintering at Oswego - January 31, 2015. Photo by Mike Kaminski

Soon after noon on Christmas Day, EVANS MCKEIL and JARRET M were on there way at full speed to Hamilton and hoping their crews made it home in time to enjoy many yuletide festivities. Meanwhile, tied off for winter, the AMERICAN FORTITUDE was parked facing the lake at Oswego, New York, and positioned perfectly to be towed out of the Lake Ontario port in the spring to where: Brownsville, Texas or the IMS scrapyard in Port Colborne?

At Oswego, AMERICAN FORTITUDE is positioned lake-ward for her to go somewhere in the spring. The warm climes of the Gulf of Mexico or a burning end at IMS in Port Colborne? - January 31, 2015.  Photo by Mike Kaminski

With the contract to dock the FORTITUDE in Oswego ending on April 15, 2015, her new Texas owners had to find a way over the winter to get the bunker fuel removed so the tow to Brownsville could be resumed. Due to ice conditions in Oswego harbour, the owner had almost an extra month to sort things out but once everyone who was tracking her departure on May 12th via MarineTraffic's AIS, it didn't take long for us to figure out that she was not going to end her career along the shoreline of the "Lone Star" state, when AMERICAN FORTITUDE's lead tug, now the 98' MOLLY M1 turned hard to port and upbound towards Port Weller, the northern entrance to the Welland Canal. MOLLY M1 was very capable to take the lead position. When launched in 1962 at the Davie Shipyard in Levi, Quebec, for Foundation Maritime of Halifax her name was FOUNDATION VIGOUR. She became POINT VIGOUR in 1973 and after 47 years of operating mostly alongs Canada's east coast, the harbour tug began working on the Great Lakes in 2009 when purchased by McKeil Marine of Hamilton. Ever since, her name has been MOLLY M1 and she currently wears the Nadro Marine of Port Dover colours, as subsidary of McKeil.

Just like she did to and from Côte Ste. Catherine Lock last winter as shown in another snap by Shaun, the 98' JARRET M continued to maintain the stern position when the AMERICAN FORTITUDE was delivered to IMS scrap dock in Port Colborne on May 14th.

For 56 years this huge boat made of strong and lasting American steel sailed under three different names of honour, while plying the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River resupplying the steel mills with raw iron ore or coal to keep the furnaces burning. When launched in 1952 her name was ERNEST T. WEIR. She became the flagship of the fleet replacing the famous ore carrier EDMUND FITZGERALD which sank on November 10, 1975, when the WEIR was sold to Columbia Transportation in 1978. She continued to steam on with prestige even after her name was changed to COURTNEY BURTON soon after the purchase and became substantially more useful when the BURTON was converted into a self unloader in 1981. Over the next 25 years, when the self unloader wasn't busy hauling many different trades throughout the Great Lakes, she was laid up due to lack of cargoes. To make matters worse, two years after being sold to American Steamship Company, the newly named AMERICAN FORTITUDE commenced long-term layup in Toledo, Ohio.
I know no ship can last forever and recycling the scrapped steel of a ship and her fluids in an environmentally safe manner makes a lot of sense, but in AMERICAN FORTITUDE's case, It simply wasn't supposed to end this way.      

While International Marine Salvage workers continued to cut up the former Captain John's Toronto waterfront restaurant boat JADRAN, in their main slip, dismantling had already begun with the removal  of AMERICAN FORTITUDE's self unloading boom when I snapped these photos of her during my visit to Port Colborne on November 19, 2015.

Not much  was left of the classic AMERICAN FORTITUDE when the former Algoma tanker ALGOSAR arrived to take her place for dismantling in late May 2016.

HEY, Wake UP!! What a yawner, eh c):-O but if you haven't had your fill in tugboats and scrap tows, may I suggest you read the Farley Mowat's non-fiction book, 'The Grey Seas Under' about the "Hero" Atlantic salvage tug, FOUNDATION FRANKLIN, and it's many daring rescues during the Great Depression and World War II while based out of Halifax, NS. Launched as HMS FRISKY, you can appreciate why her name was so appropriate throughout the books by clicking on to this Wikipedia link or NOT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grey_Seas_Under.
My dad passed on his copy of the book many years ago before he died. I read it, so has my son, and he will pass it on to his young son at the right time. c):-D
Thanks again for your excellent photos Nathan and Shaun. I really appreciate it c);-b

Specialty Vessels CCGS CARIBOU ISLE & CCGS COVE ISLE

Anyone living here in the Great White North has their own tell-tale sign that "Spring is 'Really' here". No, I'm not talking about simple little things like that foot and a half of snow melting off the roof or lawn because that generally happens at least once during our normal winter (except this year of course). For many it's the first sighting of a robin red-breast or hearing its pleasant song in the neighbourhood, or perhaps it's the opening of your bulbed flowers like tulips, hyacinths and daffodils in your garden or randomly appearing in the middle of the yard due to unplanned re-planting activities done by neighbourhood squirrels in the fall. People who let their dogs do their business out back know exactly when spring has arrived. That's a fun annual event, right? c):-() Regardless, for me when those purple buds start popping out of the ground in my asparagus patch, I know right then "Spring is here". Like the snap above, asparagus spears cut into inch or so morsels, boiled or steamed for a few minutes, lathered in melted butter then seasoned with freshly ground pepper. Oh YAAA!! Is there a better freshly grown spring time vegetable treat out there? I don't think so!!! c)8-D

Meanwhile, back to the boat blog, yes I know many self-confessed boatnerds or shipwatchers might suggest "Spring is here" when the Seaway commences its new shipping season and all kinds of salties and lakers make an appearance for the first time since late December. I agree it's a fun time but you still have to bundle up to stay warm due to all that ice that's still bobbing about and the wind is COLD!! It's still so winter-like that you may just as well have stayed in Florida or Arizona, eh? c):-o However, a true tell-tale assurance that "Spring is 'Really' here" for boat or shipwatchers is when a Canadian Coast Guard small buoy tender like the CARIBOU ISLE or COVE ISLE motors by because they can only venture away from their home base to repair or place small navigation aids when all channels and port entrances are completely free of ice. So many other coast guard buoy tenders that we see all season long like the GRIFFON, and SAMUEL RISLEY remain active throughout the winter as icebreakers on the upper Great Lakes, but CCGShips CARIBOU ISLE and COVE ISLE are laid up all winter long because their bows are not ice strengthened, so they cannot become operational until "SPRING".

It was still technically "Spring" on June 7, 2014 when from behind the tall spruce trees west of the Iroquois Lock, out popped this cute little boat, the 75.5' CARIBOU ISLE. Cool c):-D At the time I was actually waiting for the downbound Algoma tanker, ALGOCANADA (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2014/06/oilchemical-tanker-algocanada.html which was listed as the next downbound on the Seaway's 'Order of Turn' website for Iroquois Lock. However since 9/11, Seaway passage information for all Canadian and American navy ships, and coast guard vessels have been restricted to the public due to security reasons. Meanwhile, anyone can check their whereabout on MarineTraffic's AIS site, so what's with that, h'uh? c):-l

Regardless of what you can or cannot know about, it sure was neat to see the 75.5'x19.7'x5.5' CARIBOU ISLE motor through the 766'x80' Iroquois Lock with the same grace and confidence of any of her substantially larger fleetmates like the helicopter carrying high endurance bouy tender CCGS MARTHA L. BLACK (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2015/03/light-icebreaker-ccgs-martha-l-black.html).

When built in 1985 at Breton Industries in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, the CARIBOU ISLE was one of four vessels in her class of small buoy tenders that were primarily intended for use in restricted and shallow waters. Manned with a crew of 5, the controllable pitch twin screw CARIBOU ISLE has a top speed of 11 knots and is powered with a 475 horsepower diesel engine. To haul buoys in and out of the water, CARIBOU ISLE comes also with a hydraulically-powered articulated crane which has a maximum lift of 2.5 tons. When not motoring about along the St. Lawrence River, Seaway, or Lake Ontario, CARIBOU ISLE's home base is the Prescott Coast Guard Station located about 24 kms west of Iroquois Lock..

While touring the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal in September 2013, I came across another small buoy tender, the CCGS COVE ISLE tied off along the lock's upbound east wall. Based at the Parry Sound Coast Guard on Lake Huron, the COVE ISLE was built in 1980 at Canadian Dredge & Docks in Kingston, Ontario and has the same specifications as CARIBOU ISLE except the COVE is ten feet shorter and is powered by a slightly smaller 380 horsepower diesel engine.  

If you didn't know it already, the Canadian Coast Guard is mandated to provide aid to navigation in Canadian waters. Winter ice conditions may require the removal of some buoys at the closing of the navigation season and in less severe ice conditions, unlighted summer buoys maybe left in place or lighted buoys maybe replaced with unlighted winter buoys. Got That? c):-o OK, I'll try to lighten the rest up, or NOT. However with winter ice melted, ship's crews on all coast guard buoy tenders are currently busy throughout the Great Lakes and Seaway replacing winter to summer buoys and/or positioning those that may not be in the advertised location due to storms and shifting ice.

Though one might be slightly older and 10' shorter that the other, did you notice that both ISLES have a pair of marker buoys on the fo'c'sle deck near their starboard bow. The green one with the flat top is a "Port Hand Buoy". It marks the port or left side of a channel or location of danger and must be kept on the vessel's port or left side when proceeding in an upstream direction. The red one with pointed cone top is a "Starboard Hand Buoy". It marks the starboard or right side of a channel or location of danger and it must be kept on the vessel's starboard or right side when proceeding in an upstream direction. If the "Starboard Hand Buoy" is located on the port side when heading in an upstream direction, the name of your ship may be the 623' Polesteam bulk carrier JUNO and the reason why your ship appears to be dead in the water, is because she's run hard aground beneath the Thousand Island International Bridge. Embarrassing but it actually happened almost a month ago? c):-((

Besides aids to navigation work, these versatile little boats could also be used for marine and fishery research, conservation and protection patrols, search & rescue support and even fire fighting with their water cannon mounted high and amidships. That's why the Canadian Coast Guard prefers to call CARIBOU ISLE & COVE ISLE "Specialty Vessels". They're pretty much "Jack of all trades and masters of them all" and prime examples of the Guard's motto' "Safety First, Service Always". c):-D

Still awake? Hey, want to read more exciting information about lighted or unlighted markers and buoys? Then check out this colourful link or NOT c);-b : http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/folios/00020/docs/CanadianAidsNavigationSystem2011-eng.pdf