• Thursday-What'sUP April 3 - 09:43 pm

Keith Baker and the Cason J. Callaway are back out on Lake Superior, trying their best to make it from Duluth to the Soo Locks, but the going has been pretty tough. He said it's a game of "follow the leader" and "go ahead 50 yards, then back up and ram ahead", as the Callaway and the John G. Munson follow the ice breaking path made by the USCG heavy icebreaker, Mackinaw.

Keith shares some photos from onboard the Callaway, as they're slowly making their way this past Monday. The ice cover is reported to be around 90% on Lake Superior as of this date, with it being four feet thick in some places with eight foot windrows.

Included with the photos are two images that Keith shared from NASA, of Lake Superior ice coverage. The first of these NASA images shows where all the ice is located on the Big Lake, with the dark spots being places of open water. The second shot, is a cut-out from the eastern portion of the map, with a black dot representing the location of the Callaway, Munson and Mackinac and an arrow showing the direction they're trying to go in, toward the dark line of open water. Once they get to that, then they'll follow that as far as they can to Whitefish Bay, then on to the Soo Locks and beyond.

From Keith's comments on his Facebook page, it looked like they had only moved about 3 miles in 24 hours. You can read more about the struggle to make headway on Gitche Gumee in this article from Lake Superior Magazine, where it talks about the "horrible" conditions out there on the Lake and gives an account of the boats that have had to return to Duluth, due to damage from pushing through the ice.

Thanks Keith, for sharing your view of the ice cover and passage on Lake Superior. The visual of seeing it, instead of just reading about it, is amazing!

What a great story this A.M. I am anxiously awaiting these ships to creep by here. It certainly will be some time yet. There will be a problem even locking through the Soo Locks due to the amount of ice and the flushing process. The constant grinding and scrapping for all those aboard must get nerve racking at some point.

I am curious as to whether or not the shipping companies bear any of the financial burden of the ice breaking that enables them to ply their trade, or if it is all paid for by the taxpayer.

Oh my, what a mess! May God protect Keith and all those who ply those dangerous waters!

Awesome pics and explanation! I wonder what the added cost in fuel consumption would be while trying to blast through that ice.

I just read this on boatnerd.com Seven days and they are not even to the Soo Locks yet. Loss of revenue or what???

4/3 - Sault Ste. Marie - The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Pierre Radisson was upbound in the St. Marys River Wednesday and passed through the Soo Locks about 1 p.m. She will join the Mackinaw to break out White Fish Bay and then continue working Lake Superior. They reached Whitefish Bay about 4:30 p.m. and made steady progress in the heavy ice. By 11 p.m. they were north of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior and had about 35 miles to travel north to meet the downbound convoy that left Duluth seven days ago.

Thanks Keith for the pictures of your work place. I was glad to see you start up on FaceBook with your pictures to follow you there also!

This is what PastyCam is all about. Fabulous photos, access for all of us to places none of us could ever get to. Thank you everyone involved.

Duane P.: It is all paid by the taxpayer as is the maintenance of the locks.

Ray L. - aptly written!!! :)

I wonder if this Mackinaw is the one I see @ the Coast Guard festival downstate in Grand Haven every year? If so, I just made the connection! What an important job she has!

I think it would be exciting to ride on an ice breaker as it cuts through in the spring! great pics!

Daveofmohawk: Thanks for the info. Any chance of going to the island on time this year? Or are you working elsewhere now?

Keith reported just shy of an hour ago they are now north Of Whitefish Bay and have cell phone service.

Amazing, but I think the coast guard should be the one to say the season is open and save us all some tax monies.

Duane P and Daveofmohawk:

The government justifies the cost by looking at
the social impact of the steel mill in Indiana or
Ohio not receiving iron ore; or the electric power
plant not getting its coal shipment in time, etc.
The economic impact of things like these slowing
or even closing down can add up and cascade.

One would think that better inventory control
could avoid or manage possible interruptions and
slowdowns, but if commerce knows the government
will be there as a "backstop" then some will take
advantage. Not much in government gets run on a
pay as you go basis for services rendered. They
just aren't set up that way, regrettably.

One would hope that someone in government at say
the Corps of Engineers has made a legitimate
assessment that by keeping the shipping lanes open
longer at cost $X, it will add a net positive $Y
to the economy.

Long term promises get made, so plans are set.
When mother nature decides one year that its her
turn to have her way, then someone is going to
"take it in the shorts".

below the bridge... Yes that's the boat you see in
Grand Haven at the Coast Guard Festival.

AWESOME Shots keith..!!!!!

Duane: There is about a 0% chance of going to the island on regular schedule this yr.

BJ Mittford - thanks so much - I now have a real
'personal' connection - I cannot wait to talk to
the Mackinaw fellas when they are docked in Grand
Haven this summer; thanks again for the
confirmation!

Update posted from Keith Baker, aboard the Callaway, around 10:30 pm:

Ok, quick update, we all have safely made it down into the The upper river between Gros Cap & light 26 in the straight stretch out in front of Brimley's King's Club C asino. We are all parked for the night and will proceed at 7:30am down to
the locks. The Callaway will be the 1st ship to open up the 2014 season! It was a marathon of heart ache and pain battling the ice but we're all here safe and sound! Radisson, Mackinaw, Callaway,& Munson!

U.S. Coast Guard to the rescue!

I just read on boat nerd that the Callaway made it through the Soo
Locks at 1:00 this afternoon. That's some trip!