• Good Friday-What'sUP April 4 - 12:43 pm

Last week, Brenda Leigh was out and about on a foggy morning near her Brimley home and spotted the first upbound freighter of the season, the Edwin H. Gott. She almost didn't see it, due to the shroud of fog hanging over Lake Superior, but after a short time the fog began to lift a bit and the freighter, along with the Coast Guard Cutter accompanying it began to emerge.

Lake Superior still looks a bit ice covered here, so I'm guessing it was a rough sailing and most likely slower than it is when the Big Lake is thawed out and ice floe free. It's good to see the boats back on the Lake again, hopefully it won't be long before they're sailing along without the help from the Coast Guard cutters.

FOOTNOTE: Yesterday's shots from Barb Bouwkamp showed that the shore at Big Traverse is reappearing. If you missed them, just click here: Thursday, April 2nd, to take a look at them!

Eerie pix. Very foggy in SE-MI this morning.

Good to see the Freighters back in action!

What was the cutter's name? I wonder if it is the
one that comes to the Grand Haven Coast Guard
Festival...
(I LOVE that first pic!)

Pretty photos, Brenda. I love fog if I don't have to drive in it.

The cutter looks like the Mackinaw, 'below the bridge', but right now it's side-lined at the Soo because of a leakage.

Shirley is correct about the cutter being the Mackinaw. I zoomed in on the original photo and the #30 is there.

USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30)

I like the destination description for the Mackinaw on MarineTraffic.com:

'Nowhere Fast'!!

LOL, jbuck! ;)

From your comment, Shirley, it seems the Mackinaw had some tough run-ins with the ice in Superior!

Evidently, jbuck, but from what I read on the Boatnerd site this morning, it's been repaired and underway once again. The Soo cams no longer show it 'on the wall'.

Check out the "Cutter Characteristics" on that USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30) web site:

Level Ice Capability (ahead) @ 3 kts:	32"
Level Ice Capability (astern) @ 2 kts:	32"

and even more interesting …

Refrozen Brash Ice Capability (ramming):	Up to 10 feet
Ridge Ice Capability (penetrate in < 4 rams):	10 feet within 30 min

Now that's pretty serious ice crunching!

Spring struggling 2 get here.

Whoa! 10 FEET?!!

That IS impressive!

Another interesting feature that the old Mackinaw possessed was the ability to rock from side to side to crush the thick ice. I'm not sure the present cutter has that ability. They do awesome jobs.

Very cool!

yes, it is the Mack that comes & docks at the
festival every summer! There are tours inside, but
I always bring my dog so I never had the privilege
to have a look see inside those ships docked!
Such neat info given above! Love what Shirley says
about it rocking to break the thick ice; I will
try to remember asking someone outside the cutter
about that this summer; fascinating!