To get close to any freighters in winter lay-up here is a challenge unless you have special access. I don’t. Seen here is the 620′ Manistee with the 767′ Arthur M. Anderson behind and the 767′ American Valor on the right.

Here you see the forward end of the Valor, the stack of the Manistee, and the self-unloading gear of the Anderson. The Valor is in long-term lay-up while the other two are just in for the winter.

Defiance is enjoying her rest at the International Terminal.

The monster 145′ long articulated tug stayed out quite late into January before laying up here.

Her barge, Ashtabula, sits just ahead.

Another barge, Lewis J. Kuber, is just ahead of the Ashtabula/Defiance pair. the Kuber‘s tug, Olive L. Moore, is in Erie, Pennsylvania for shipyard work.

The Kuber sailed most of her life as a steamer, going by Sparrows Point and Buckeye before being barged in 2006.

The big Canadian boat Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin is the third vessel at the International Dock.

Behind a pile of coal at the CSX Docks we have the bow of the H. Lee White, with the superstructures of the American Mariner and Great Republic.

The 704′ H. Lee White sits alone in her winter rest.

Ahead of the Mariner and Republic lies the 770′ St. Clair.

With no 1000′ footers wintering in Toledo this year, St. Clair is the largest vessel in port.

Looking back toward the Torco Docks, here’s another shot of the Manistee, Anderson, and Valor.

After that episode of shooting across the river, I work my way across the river to the Col. James M. Schoonmaker museum vessel.

The opposite direction, the Ironhead Shipyard is very crowded. Up front is the Algosar, with the tug/barge Sea Eagle II/St. Marys Cement II behind, then the self-unloaders Sam Laud and Adam E. Cornelius.

Add a fifth vessel, in this view you can see the Phoenix Star in drydock.

Before heading over to the shipyard I mosey on over to the Schoonmaker for a detail shot or two. I grabbed more pics of her back in December.

That’s all for me and Schoonie.

At Ironhead, I can’t help but notice that little to no work has been done to the Phoenix Star since her arrival in December. There are rumors circulating around the shipyard but nobody knows for sure what’s going on here.

On the Star‘s agenda for the winter was to be painted black. That might not even happen at the rate work is progressing.

To her left is the barge St. Marys Cement II. They were to lay up in Hamilton, but missed the closing of the Welland Canal so they came here as a backup plan.

Algosar is here for drydocking, as is the Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin seen earlier in the post. The way the shipyard is working on the Phoenix Star, it might be tough to get that work done before the shipping season resumes in late March.

That’s all for the shipyard, the old Interlake Iron Dock is next up.

Fleetmates Sam Laud and Adam E. Cornelius are here, although the Cornelius sat out 2012 and is likely to remain here throughout 2013 as well.

The 680′ Cornelius is quite the looker. She is one of four ASC boats that didn’t run in 2012, and three of them are here in Toledo.

Here’s a close-up of her stacks.

I made the Torco Docks my last stop. This is especially what I mean by “spyshotting”. As a boatnerd without special access, I am usually restricted to shots like these of the Arthur M. Anderson when in Toledo.

American Valor enjoys her quality lay-up time.

Fleetmates American Valor and American Fortitude are both in long-term lay-up, with the Manistee barely visible between them. The Fortitude somehow failed to appear in the photos from across the river.

Anyway, Toledo is a tough port, but this year’s catch was much better than those of years previous. And I’m just getting started on my winter lay-up roll (although I’ve been capturing Windsor’s fleet for a few weeks now and I already stopped in Sarnia once as well). My next batch of photos should be coming in two weeks. Until then, the photostore I opened up will be closed by that point. Not all my ideas are good!

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In years past I have always waited until the end of the navigation season to go to Sarnia, once the entire winter fleet is in. This year I purposefully jumped the gun, so this is only most of the Sarnia lay-up fleet for this year. They will be joined by more boats later in the month.

Feel free to compare with last winter’s Sarnia post. The differences should be aplenty!

I will say I am happy to welcome Kailary to the Sarnia winter fleet. I saw her in her home port of Port Dover last summer… see if you can find her in the background of one of the photos in that post! She is a cute little pleasure tug and is wintering in the North End of the North Slip. She has to share it, though.

And with none other than the battered old Mississagi!

The 1943-built self-unloader is in for the winter, waiting for some of her fleetmates to join her here in the North Slip.

The ship is in rough shape, and crews were all over her this morning.

I couldn’t resist this shot… the moment I pulled into the parking lot behind the Cargill Slip three CN engines rolled by toward the elevators.

The newest member of Sarnia’s commercial fleet is the tug Lime Island, a former Fraser Shipyard tug now owned by Sarnia’s Babcock Marine Services. She is accompanied by her small barge at the Government Dock.

Looks like somebody needs a touch-up…

Fleetmates Algosoo and Peter R. Cresswell are backed into the North Slip together, and neither one is looking particularly sharp at the moment.

They are accompanied by the fish tug Evalina.

On the contrary, there is a ton of work going on here… most of it appears to be on the Algosoo.

In March she will depart for Sturgeon Bay, WI where she will get her 5-year survey and hopefully a new coat of paint.

I didn’t get any good angles on the Cresswell, but I saw her almost a week ago on her last trip of the season.

Algorail is the boat I took the most photos of.

The Sydney E. Smith dock is the only full-access lay-up dock in Sarnia, so lots of angles are possible here.

Including a shot of her tanker fleetmate Algosar in lay-up in the south end of the North Slip.

In case you’re curious, I did mean for this shot to be crooked… there’s something about it that I like that way.

There was not a soul around the 640′ Rail, not a worker was to be seen. Somebody was onboard, though – the ladder leading to the deck was open and free of obstruction.

I decided not to invite myself aboard, however.

She isn’t looking too fresh herself… none of the boats here do, except maybe Algosar.

One more shot at the bow end before I go to the other end of the dock.

A work barge is in the water by her stern, and with nobody around I could’ve easily walked onto that as well… strange.

Note the ladder. Tempting, right?

I had to walk through the snow to her stern lines to get a decent stern view of the Rail. No decent full hull views from the bow were available at this dock.

Consider this a preview for tomorrow’s post, because like I said, I went before the end of the navigation season this time. The river is bustling.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have enjoyed “book two” of the Chronicles of Sarnia… but the series must go on. Some other time. Maybe later this winter, or even next winter.

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Port Dover is the largest inland fishery in North America, and I pulled in at about 4 PM eager to see what was up.

When I arrived, the big fish tug Mr. Minor was backing out of the river, except she was heading into a marina.

Kayloe is the vessel that does the harbor tours here.

The old fish tug Almidart is now a museum piece.

Around Scruton Marine, the old fish tug Dover Rose was sitting high and dry, looking a bit forlorn.

This small crane barge was sitting at Scruton’s dock.

From left to right: Lef-Dover (private tug), Silt-Master (fish tug) and Amy Krysta (pleasure craft).

This cute little tug was hauled out of the water.

Loganville is a small Russel Brothers “ville” class tug built for the Canadian Navy. See more of Loganville here.

C.S. Powell is a passenger vessel, but appears to be for charters only (as opposed to regular harbor tours like Kayloe)

One side of the river is lined by Gamble’s boneyard, a place where old tugs have gathered and stayed. Jiggs is the largest of them.

This rusty hulk is J.A. Cornett.

Vary Brothers seems to be in better shape than the rest of them.

Here is another Russel “ville” class, named Nedelec. She has fallen into Gamble’s hands and is looking quite awful. More photos of her here.

On the left here is the fish tug John D. and on the right is the workboat Hamilton Trader.

Two more boats at Gamble’s: what appears to be a passenger vessel on the right, and Vulcan II on the left.

River Runner is a third (operating) passenger vessel, operated by the same company as Kayloe.

Nimbi is a cute private tug.

Seen here in the Nadro Marine yard is their crewboat Intrepid III.

Intrepid III is for sale, as Nadro has no use for her.

She doesn’t look as bad as I thought she would, actually.

Vac, a former fish tug, is one of Nadro’s busiest tugs (but all their tugs are very busy).

Seahound is right next to Vac, looking pretty as always.

Bob’n appears to be a spare-time project for Nadro. Much thanks go to Nadro Marine for allowing me access to their yard.

Further down the harbor near the CG station, this hulk sits on blocks.

I have absolutely no idea what it could be but it looks pretty cool.

Fish tug Dover Clipper is high and dry.

CCGS Cape Lambton is at the Coast Guard Station.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has a research vessel on each Great Lake besides Michigan. Erie Explorer represents Lake Erie in that fleet.

BB Miller is just another fish tug.

This is the local dive tug Alex B.

Angler is hauled out but looking fresh.

Donna-F is classy-looking.

R&G provides a good look from the stern.

Ironfish is probably my favorite of the fish tugs in port on Tuesday.

But T James T is nice too.

The old carferry Amherst Islander somehow ended up in Port Dover and has been sitting here for years. Her new owner appears to be Townsend Lumber Mills, but I have no clue what their plans are.

To close out this trip, Songa Sapphire is anchored off Nanticoke waiting for Algonova to leave port. Songa Sapphire is a saltie tanker.

Last bur not least, Algosar, who I caught earlier in the day at Lock Seven, was anchored off Nanticoke as well.

That closes out my Toronto/Hamilton/Welland/Port Dover trip for this summer. I will be doing more gallivanting later this summer, but for now, back to my rivers!

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So upon my arrival, the first boat I saw was Algoma Discovery, shown exiting Lock Seven. She is a 730 foot long straight decker, built in Yugoslavia in 1987 as the saltie Malinska. She later sailed as Daviken for Viken Shipping under charter to FedNav. In 2010 she was registered Canadian under Algoma’s ownership.

She has two sisters, Algoma Guardian and Algoma Spirit, although Spirit‘s design varies slightly.

She had just unloaded ore from Sept-Iles at Hamilton and is on her way to Thunder Bay to pick up a load of grain.

The next Algoboat was John B. Aird, a 730′ self-unloader. I went down to Lock Two so that I could catch her in daylight.

The “scared Aird” is on her way to Burns Harbor, Indiana.

Back at Lock Seven, the next one was my favorite Algosteel in the evening light. Earlier in the day I had seen her departing Hamilton.

She’s 730 feet long and a 1966 veteran. She was built for Labrador Steamships (a division of the Interlake Steamship Company) as A.S. Glossbrenner.

Algosteel is heading empty to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

She makes a quiet exit. And so until we meet again, if we meet again, adieu Algosteel!

But then a few hours later Algoma Enterprise was arriving in the lock. I realize that I’m not the best night photographer, but this was during a thunderstorm on a wet balcony and the boat was moving. Enterprise is a 730′ long ship built in 1979. She’s headed for Quebec City.

Now when I awoke Monday morning, Algowood was my first boat, entering Lock Seven in the morning sunlight.

Algowood is 740 feet long and was built in 1981.

She’s on her way to Toledo.

Algoma Guardian came around later Monday, following her sister Algoma Discovery to Thunder Bay to load grain.

She is the former Omisalj and Goviken, measuring out at 730 feet in length.

Tuesday morning I was awakened by Capt. Henry Jackman. She’s a handsome 730′ self-unloader, built in 1981 as Lake Wabush for Nipigon Transport.

One reason I like Capt. Henry is that she’s the only Algoboat with the logo on the back of her cabins like that.

She’s headed for Two Harbors, Minnesota to load ore.

Then Algomarine, my first freighter, pulled up in the morning glow.

Algomarine is a 1968 veteran, and she was built for Nipigon Transport as Lake Manitoba. Like all the others so far besides Algowood, she is 730 feet long.

She is carrying a cargo of salt to Toronto.

The 434′ long tanker Algosar came a few hours later, under some bright sunlight. She is from 1978 and was built in Texas as Gemini for Cleveland Tankers.

Algosar is going empty to Nanticoke, Ontario on Lake Erie.

Algosar slides the wall upbound as the next boat approaches.

730′ long Algoma Progress is hauling coal from Toledo to Hamilton. I have seen her quite a few times over the years.

My last Welland Algoboat is Peter R. Cresswell. She’s a 730 foot long ship used to haul cement clinker and salt. I got onboard for a few hours back in April.

Cresswell is moving a load of cement clinker from Bowmanville, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan.

Her departure Tuesday did not signal the end of my Welland hours, but it did signal the end of my Algoparty. Everything else I saw around the Algocanal will come in the next two posts.

NOTE: In a time constraint, there will be two posts per day up until June 29th.

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The big Algoma ship Peter R. Cresswell was in the north slip, shrouded by snow.

Here are the wheelhouses of Cresswell and fleetmate Algowood rafted outside of her.

It barely shows here, but Algowood is ten feet longer.

The McNally Construction tugs Carl M. and Sandra Mary (the bigger one) were also there.

The monstrous CSL boat Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin was sitting strong.

Fleetmate Atlantic Huron is rafted outside.

The stern of Saginaw in the Cargill Slip was visible from the road.

There was very good representation from Lower Lakes Towing. These two, Manistee and Manitowoc, were a part of it.

Manistee of Cleveland is from 1943 and previously sailed as Richard J. Reiss and Richard Reiss.

Manitowoc is 30 years younger than Manistee and previously sailed as Paul Thayer, Earl W. Oglebay and Earl W.

The classic Ojibway from 1952 is at the Government Dock. Her previous names were Charles L. Hutchinson, Ernest R. Breech, Kinsman Independent and Voyageur Independent.

Mississagi is rafted inboard of Ojibway. Mississagi (ex-George A. Sloan) is an exact twin to Manistee.

Oh, how I love this shot!

Cuyahoga is rafted at the Cargill Dock outside of Saginaw. She is formerly J. Burton Ayers and was LLT’s first freighter.

The unstoppable Canadian Coast Guard ShipSamuel Risley was waiting to break ice.

Um… see this post.

Fleetmates Atlantic Huron and Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin huddle together.

The Sydney E. Smith Dock was home to Algoway that winter.

Looking aft on the proud Canadian, currently nearing the end of her days.

Engine no. 6069 sitting in her permanent home at Sarnia.

So here’s the ironic part – this was the weather when I got back to the American side. The snow shots were great, but can’t hold a candle to this in terms of clarity. The boat pictured here is Atlantic Huron.

Ah, some better views of Saginaw and Cuyahoga. Saginaw, from 1953, originally ran as the John J. Boland.

Here’s a nice shot of the four LLT boats. Manistee is kind of hidden in the back.

Lastly, it’s Algosar rafted to Algoway.

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In the first shot Algosoo has passed an ASC 1,000 footer. Based on the photo’s approximate date, it has to be either Burns Harbor, Indiana Harbor or Walter J. McCarthy Jr.

She sails nearer and I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Now here she is at the MacArthur Lock approach. The Purvis tugs in the background are Adanac and either W.I. Scott Purvis or W.J. Ivan Purvis. Yes, that is Algosar‘s bow barely visible.

This is her bow mast.

The Algoma Bear.

Now you can see all of Algosar in the background…

Here she exchanges greetings with an unidentified Interlake freighter in the Poe Lock. I can’t make out the name on the side of the hull.

After being raised to Superior level, she towers over onlookers.

This crewmember marks the thirty-first and final photo of the set. Again, I have to thank Bob Baker for these fantastic shots!

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But this is before any of those photos were taken.

The funniest little tanker on the Great Lakes is working her way through the St. Marys River.

Does she look different than she does my own photos? She should.

Ah, she’s painted gray and the Algoma logo is nowhere to be found.

This is because Algoma had literally just purchased her from Cleveland Tankers, where her name was Gemini.

Honestly, I would like to know the story behind this ship’s design. She looks to have been built for some canal, based on her height.

Now as for Algoma Tankers Ltd. (a division of the Algoma Central Corp.), it came into existence in 1997 when they bought out Imperial Oil’s marine operations.

The only one of the ex-Imperial boats left is Algoeast. The others were Algosar (1), Algoscotia (1), and Algofax.

In 1999 they bought out Enerchem Tankers, but only kept one boat. She became Algocatalyst. I think she still works overseas as Santa Claus.

However, the single-hull boats were sold for scrap. Algoeast remained (Algonova (1) stuck around until 2008) because she had been converted to double-hull. They bought Algosar (2) aka this boat, and Algosea. In 2004 Algoscotia (2) was delivered and Algonova (2) and AlgoCanada came in 2009/2010.

But back to this. Here’s Algosar approaching the locks. Behind is the Purvis Marine yard. From left to right are the tugs Anglian Lady (Wilfred M. Cohen behind) and Avenger IV. The craneship Yankcanuck can be seen behind the building.

She takes the lock approach. Anglian Lady is now gone and you can see either W.I. Scott Purvis or W.J. Ivan Purvis. The tall wheelhouse astern of Yankcanuck behind the building is the tug Reliance.

She’s heading into the mighty Poe Lock. And so ends the tale of Algosar.

Meanwhile, while I’ve been sitting here and doing this, Ken of MichiganExposures was at the Soo Opening. Here’s one of his shots of the mighty 1,004′ long Wasabi Mesabi Miner. For a kind of size comparison, see what Tugster did with this.

Just for fun, I’ll tell you that Miner is 570 feet longer than Algosar. That means that Mesabi Miner is over twice the length of Algosar!

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So maybe they can be called mini-freighters. Or just tankers.

But anyway, of the strange fleet of Great Lakes tankers, I’ve bumped into one more than all the others. Yes, it’s another Algoma boat.

I posted this very photo just a few days ago here, but I am using it again because I am writing about that tanker in the middle. It’s Algosar. For those curious, the other two boats are Algomarine (left) and Maria Desgagnes.

So that first photo was my first Algosar sighting, and this was my second, in Soo harbor. She is farthest on the left. To her right is the tug Reliance and then the craneship Yankcanuck.

Besides those first two, all of my other sightings of her have come at this very dock at her namesake port: Sarnia. Yes, all of Algoma’s strange names mean something. This photo and the next four were all taken on 6/30/2008 from the Huron Lady II.

This is the kind of fleet-shot you can only get from another boat. Algosar is 434′ long, and previously sailed as the US-flagged Gemini for Cleveland Tankers. She was built in Texas.

Algoma purchased Cleveland Tankers around 2003, but all they got was two boats: Gemini and Saturn. Saturn was immediately sold off-lakes. At around the same time they made this purchase, they also acquired the 472′ Algosea and took delivery of the brand-new 488′ Algoscotia. Algoscotia is currently the longest tanker on the Lakes.

Algosar, though, maintains a stranger profile than the others in her fleet. She almost looks like a canaller compared to her fleetmates, but not when compared to Saturn.

But she isn’t the oldest of her Algoma Tanker mates. Algoeast was built a year earlier (1977) by Mitsubishi in Japan. The third-oldest is the 1998-built Algosea.

Starting in 2009, Algosar began appearing in Sarnia for winter lay-up almost every year. This is unusual because most tankers run the year through and don’t lay-up, except perhaps for just a week or two. Previously, she had been carrying from Sarnia to the Soo all winter long, but the newer Algonova and/or AlgoCanada have taken over that role.

And actually, she blends in really well with fleetmates such as Algorail shown here, and Algoway before that.

And this photo appeared in my “Chronicles of Sarnia” post. It is my most recent Algosar sighting, and she is rafted to Algorail once again. For comparison, Algorail is 640′ compared to Algosar‘s 434′. However, the average Canadian laker, such as Algomarine shown earlier, is 730′. Very strange.

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This one is from April of 2006… it’s Algocape downbound on the Detroit River. Please pardon the small child. Algocape is a veteran straight-decker that is rumored to be nearing the end of its days. I am thinking that I may never see her again.

Also, in April of 2006, I took my first ever trip to the Welland Canal. Several Algoma vessels found me there, including Algowood.

Sometime late at night the old straight-decker Algonorth soldiered past my hotel room. She is currently in long-term lay-up in Thunder Bay. I assume that she will be towed to Sault Ste. Marie for scrapping once dock space opens up, so I’ll probably never see her again either.

I did catch her the next morning, however, approaching Lock Two in the fog.

This photo from June of 2006 was taken in Port Huron. The boat farthest to the left is the Algomarine. She is still active, and has already begun her 2012 season. It could be her last, however. In the middle is the tanker Algosar, with whom I have crossed paths many times, especially during the winter at Sarnia. Farthest on the right is the Desgagnes tanker Maria Desgagnes.

That’s actually all for today. I really wish that some of those shots had turned out better…

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Brace yourself, this is a long post!

I’ll start with the James L. Kuber, a self-unloading barge. She is part of the Lower Lakes Transportation fleet. Lower Lakes Transportation is the American arm of Canadian shipping firm Lower Lakes Towing. The registered owner of the Lower Lakes Transportation vessels is Grand River Navigation. Yes, that’s all very confusing. In the above photo, the Kuber, formerly the steamer Reserve, is in the North Slip of Sarnia harbor.

Kuber was rafted outboard of her Canadian fleetmate Saginaw, who has appeared before on this blog. If you look on the right side of the photo, you will see that her self-unloading boom is being re-constructed on shore. It collapsed at Thunder Bay just before she headed for lay-up here. Part of the old one sits on her deck still.

Here’s a portion of Saginaw‘s old boom laying on shore.

Here’s Frontenac, with her fleetmate CSL Laurentien visible behind.

This old hull is Q105, formerly the Sarnian tour vessel Duc D’Orleans. She is being restored to her appearance as a Canadian Naval Ship.

Fresh from drydock, Robert S. Pierson sits in the Cargill slip.

They tell me she comes from Nanticoke.

Here’s the giant tug Victory.

“Oh, she’s even taller!” Actually, Victory is the tug that pushes the previously-mentioned James L. Kuber. She formerly ran for Penn Maritime on the east coast.

Menasha is just hangin’ out behind the much larger Victory.

Fish tug Teresa Marie. Darn those fences!

Evalina also in port.

Back for more, Algolake?

Here is the 640′ long Algorail. She is expected to sail one, maybe two more seasons before her date with the scrappers. Therefore, I was surprised to see that she was getting a new conveyer belt for her boom.

She looks rusty and worn-down. It’s a shame she has to go soon because she’s a relatively new boat (built 1968).

Here’s Pierson‘s freshly-painted bow.

Another barge, the McKee Sons. Her tug, Invincible, is in Toledo and was barely shown on this very blog last week.

The contrasting sterns of Frontenac and CSL Laurentien. This view is obscured by the boat-to-boat ziplines of Sarnia harbor.

Here’s one more shot from the Canadian side. This is Duc D’Orleans II, the replacement for Q105. Note the Algorail in the background.

Now, here are a few views from Port Huron. This first one is of fleetmates McKee Sons & Robert S. Pierson.

Now,the tanker Algosar rafted to Algorail‘s side. Algosar is so small, I couldn’t photograph it from the Canadian side!

Here is a full-hull view of CSL Laurentien.

Lastly, James L. Kuber and Saginaw. I enjoy the contrasting paint schemes.

So that is my overview of the St. Clair winter scene. One boat that laid-up in Sarnia but is not pictured is Capt. Henry Jackman, which departed lay-up about two weeks ago. I did catch it from American shores on New Year’s Eve, and published the photo here. But otherwise, that’s everything.

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