Two Downbounders Run the Keweenaw Gap Sixteen Minutes Apart

The Kathy McKeil is due at the Soo Locks at 12:07 p.m. this Saturday, last reported at 11:44 Friday night while still downbound from the Keweenaw. The Bluebill is sixteen minutes behind her on the same corridor, ETA 12:23 p.m., last reported at 12:06 this morning.

Sixteen minutes is close enough that a watcher at the Sault can take the first boat through and not move a chair before the second one noses in. The lock operators get the same arithmetic.

The Spruceglen had already cleared the southern approach, running upbound from DeTour toward the Soo as of 3:58 this morning with a 7:14 a.m. ETA. She will be well into Lake Superior before the two downbounders arrive, but a watcher who catches Spruceglen in the early light and stays put earns a full morning of traffic without relocating.

Harbor Notes

The St. Clair River is carrying traffic in both directions through the morning. The American Courage was upbound from the Detroit River Light at 4:27 a.m., due at Port Huron by 11:32. The Manitoulin was coming the other way from Harbor Beach, ETA 8:45 at Port Huron. Blue Water Bridge watchers have a two-direction morning.

In the Detroit River, the Herbert C. Jackson was upbound from South East Shoal at 2:45 a.m., ETA 7:45 at the Dossin Museum waypoint. The James R. Barker was downbound from Algonac at 4:26 a.m., ETA 7:22. Two heavy lakers in the river within the same half-hour window, running opposite directions.

The Welland Canal took on four inbound vessels overnight, all reported at Port Weller: Algoma Strongfield (ETA 12:12 a.m.), Algoma Equinox (ETA 1:16 a.m.), Algoluna (ETA 10:57 Friday night), and Limnos (ETA 4:36 a.m. Saturday). Mamry and Kaministiqua were outbound through the same window. Six vessels through one canal on one overnight shift.

The T/S State of Michigan, the Great Lakes Maritime Academy's 224-foot training ship, arrived at Sturgeon Bay on Friday morning for a deckhouse installation. Bay Shipbuilding's Manitowoc 2250 crane will lift the new structure dockside, adding cadet space to the vessel that has trained academy students since her transfer from the Navy in 2002.

The Levels Ledger

Lake Ontario leads the chain at 3.34 feet above Low Water Datum at Rochester. Lake Erie follows at 2.88 feet at Cleveland. Lake Michigan sits at 2.22 feet in Chicago, Lake Huron at 1.85 feet at Harbor Beach, and Lake Superior at 1.83 feet at the Sault. No reading signals a forced light departure. Superior's modest margin is the number to watch as the season runs toward fall.

Weather on the Water

A cold front is crossing the Great Lakes this morning and Lake Huron draws the direct hit: showers and thunderstorms are expected along and ahead of the front before winds veer northwest after passage. Lake Michigan is running steady northwest winds today, with gusty northerlies building as the front tracks through. Lake Superior sits under a 29.9-inch trough this morning, easing as a 30.2-inch Canadian high builds ridging through the weekend. Seas are running three feet on Superior, two on Michigan and Erie, and one foot on Huron and Ontario.

Looking Astern

The Thunder Bay Maritime Festival runs through Sunday in Alpena, at the center of Michigan's shipwreck alley. Eight tall-ship excursions on Thunder Bay are scheduled alongside a community boat parade along the Thunder Bay River and the Battle of the Paddles race. The sanctuary organizes the weekend to connect visitors to the wrecks resting below the same straits and bays the freighters in today's traffic report cross on every run. Anyone wanting to feel a deck move rather than watch from shore has through Sunday to make the drive up US-23.

Tomorrow's Watch If *Kathy McKeil* and *Bluebill* pass the Soo on their noon Saturday ETAs, both should be moving down the St. Marys River by early Sunday; a watcher at DeTour Village would be in position before 8 a.m.

Vessel Spotlight: The *T/S State of Michigan* tied up at Sturgeon Bay on Friday morning for a significant refit: Bay Shipbuilding will install a new deckhouse using the yard's Manitowoc 2250 crane, expanding cadet berthing on the 224-foot vessel that the Great Lakes Maritime Academy has operated since 2002. The work is done dockside, which means the ship is off the water and the crane will be the tallest thing on that end of the yard for the duration.