The End is Nearer: Just the end of the maritime shipping season, that is. The Soo Locks officially close for winter a week from today on Jan. 15. I Love Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, this week has been posting videos of freighters "locking through." It also had a somber farewell video to the Algoma Enterprise (in photo) and the Mississagi, which passed downbound from Lake Superior through the Soo Locks likely for their last time on Jan. 4. The two vessels are scheduled to be scrapped, though the Mississagi is apparently not on the scrapping schedule for now. For the Twin Ports, the season has been a mixed bag, with taconite definitely down for the year while grain sales picked up and wind-energy cargoes hit a new record. Thunder Bay, where grain is the primary cargo, saw a banner year. You can read the details in our State of the Lake special report, part of the upcoming February/March issue along with announcement of the Lake Superior Photo Contest Winners. The issue goes to the printer in a week (sorry for the teaser!).
On the Levels: Lake Superior is down, but still not out of the above-average category for its water levels in December, reports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the International Lake Superior Board of Control. In December 2020, Lake Superior's water level declined 4.7 inches, slightly more than its longterm average decline for the month is 6.3 inches. "Lake Superior outflows continue to be set in consideration of high levels upstream and downstream," the board reports on regulating the outflow gates at the St. Marys River. The Big Lake begins the new year 8.3 inches above its 100-year average, but 6.3 inches lower than the same time last year.
Graphic Education: NOAA and its National Weather Service have a great series of infographics on topics from space weather to seasonal hazards. We particularly liked this one from its Winter Weather section. Facts fodder to use should anyone claim a brisk wind doesn't matter, so yes, there is a "wind chill effect."
Going to the Dogs … in a good way. Chelsea Mamerow of Milwaukee Magazine caught a dog sled ride with her husband in Bayfield … a first-time experience for the former California native. Jen Dale of Wolfsong Adventures in Mushing took the couple out. Chelsea took a tumble, but recovered thanks to Jen's expert advance instruction. Chelsea's hubby, Kevin, meanwhile, fell quickly in love. "He left talking of moving north and raising our own pack of sled dogs," she wrote. Wolfsong posted Wednesday that there was an opening for the upcoming weekend, in case gliding along behind some very lively dogs just might be your happy place.
New RV Fundraiser: The Lake Superior Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Superior announced a match-challenge gift toward replacement of its former RV (research vessel), the diesel-powered LL Smith, which was sold a few years back. The vessel was used for university research, but also toured regional school children into the harbor and Lake, some getting onto the Big Lake for the first time. UWS alumni, Bill and Lynne Rogers, gave the Superior Floating Classroom initiative a $100,000 challenge gift to encourage more donations; they will match up to $100,000. The initiative would re-establish hands-on learning and research aboard a new vessel. Bill owned and operated a chandlery business in Superior that provided supplies and equipment for vessels, according to the announcement. “The research and education that LSRI does is so important,” said Bill. “In the 1970s, I worked as a deckhand aboard iron ore ships, and in those days, everything was dumped overboard, even paint and chemicals. I never forgot that, so Lynne and I are passionate about the ballast water research and other conservation and education efforts being done by LSRI and UW-Superior.” People interested in supporting the vessel purchase can go to uwsuper.edu/together or call UW-Superior Foundation at 715-394-8452.
Great Lakes Icebreaker: The Lake Carrier's Association on Christmas eve put out a press release thanking the federal government for fulfilling at least one item on its wish list – a new icebreaker for the Great Lakes. "FY21 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security include $4 million for the USCG to build the desperately needed heavy Great Lakes icebreaker," the release notes. It cited the loss of more than $2 billion in economic activity and more than 10,000 jobs during the past eight years due to inadequate icebreaking on the Great Lakes. "The project has received a total of $18 million over the past five years." Jim Weakley, president of the association, is quoted: “Senator Tammy Baldwin, along with the support of other Great Lakes Congressional delegates put significant effort into making sure commerce can continue to move safely on the Great Lakes during the winter months. It is obvious Congress has a vested interest in protecting our mariners from dangerous ice conditions, coastal communities from devastating floods caused by ice jams, and the economy from major disruptions." This chart of Great Lakes icebreakers was included by U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Karl L. Schultz in the request to Congress for the new cutter. According to the report: "Icebreaking on the Great Lakes is conducted by the Ninth Coast Guard District. It facilitates the movement of critical dry- and liquid-bulk cargos carried by commercial traffic on the Great Lakes during the winter months. During a typical winter, the Great Lakes icebreaking program extends the navigation season by 4 months, ensuring the continued flow of maritime commerce. Ninth District icebreaking vessels include one 240-foot heavy icebreaker (WLBB), six 140-foot icebreaking tugboats (WTGB), and two 225-foot seagoing buoy tenders (WLB). Table 1 provides a summary of assets, capabilities, and the anticipated lifecycle of Coast Guard icebreakers that service the Great Lakes."
Death of a Survivor: Frank Mays, one of only two crew members to survive the horrific sinking of the Carl D. Bradley in 1958, died on Thursday, according to reports by friends and family. Frank, in this photo by maritime author/photographer Chris Winters, was on the Bradley on Nov. 18 that year when the ship spit in two in a storm with waves, Frank has said, as high as 40 feet. He and First Mate Elmer Fleming survived, but 33 other crew members did not. He, Elmer and two other crewmen made it into a lifeboat that night, but in the freezing temperatures on the tempestuous waters of Lake Michigan, only the two survived to be rescued. During his life, Frank traveled the world and filled his life with adventures, according to biographer Roger P. Hulett who wrote A Lot More To Do: The Remarkable Life of Frank Mays. It is one of at least two books about Frank, the other being If We Make It 'til Daylight: The Story of Frank Mays. “My book is about the energies and how he lives his life,” Roger told Darby Hinkley of The Alpena News at the 60th anniversary of the sinking. “He ziplined in Costa Rica when he was in his mid-70s.” U.P. singer/songwriter Capt. Andrew Tamlyn Stempki recently finished a "songumentary" on DVD entitled "The Men Long Forgotten - a tribute to the crew and the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley." On Frank's Facebook page, Andrew posted: "He was always so kind and helpful to me with my research. I simply wouldn’t have been able to do my work without him. I often pressed him hard on details – calling him randomly with questions that’s bothered me. The story will live on, now in motion picture. I called him when we filmed last month and put him on speakerphone for the cast. My last words were to him were, 'We all love you Frank.'”
Another Notable Life & Loss: It has come to us that Curtis Gagnon (Migizi), 71, a former manager Grand Portage State Park, passed away on Dec. 18. The veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served in Vietnam was also a strong advocate for treaty rights and, as his obituary on TributeArchive.com notes "He could tell you a story that you wouldn’t believe, and it would all be true." He was land administrator, state park manager, forester, and naturalist, commercial fisherman, logger, wildland firefighter, dog musher who helped the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, an emergency medical technician and community organizer. His obituary concludes: "His passion though, was the Big Lake, whether he was setting his nets, taking the boat out for an evening ride, or trawling for lakers, he was at peace when he was on the water. He loved to be out there. He never took more than he needed. He always shared what he had with anyone in need. He worked hard all of his life to provide for his family. Curtis was an exemplary Anishinaabe man and he will be forever missed and in our hearts." WDIO TV spoke with Curtis' daughter Beth Drost, who is the first woman to become tribal chair of the Grand Portage Band. "My dad had a big effect, because he was brave enough to step out and be honorable, and someone who told the truth," she says of her father. "He was the first Grand Portage band member to be the manager at Grand Portage State Park, and that was something he was really proud of." Curtis' groundbreaking left many legacies, including at the state park, where the current manager, Travis Novitsky, is also a member of the Grand Portage Band.
Cuddling Cuties: We leave you with the cute stuff – a link to a series of photos by Paul Sundberg in Grand Marais, Minn., peeking at a flying squirrel nest hole with five of the little critters. Paul sends out a Photo of the Week blog that you can sign up on through his website or check out his Facebook page, Paul Sundberg Photography. "Every time I hike by an old pileated woodpecker nest cavity I always scratch on the tree to see what might be in there. Pileated woodpeckers build a new nesting cavity each year, and the old ones are used by owls, ducks and flying squirrels. I scratched on this one a few years ago and look what peeked out. … These aren’t babies. These photos were taken in January. They are adult flying squirrels. They live together during winter months to share body heat. When scratching on this one aspen tree twelve flying squirrels eventually came out to check me out. They all went right back in." Going "right back in" is the same reaction we have these days, peeking outside our nest. Have a more peaceful week.
Photo & graphic credits: I Love Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; NOAA; Wolfsong Adventures in Mushing; Lake Superior Research Institute; Chris Winter; TributeArchive.com; Paul Sundberg