Gott, Victory I, and Mariner Stack at the Soo Before Dawn

Three vessels had the Soo Locks on their cards before six o'clock this morning, and the queue showed no gaps.

American Mariner was in the chamber itself at 5:45, ETA 5:55. Edwin H. Gott was coming up from Detour, last reported at 3:13 with an ETA of 6:10. Victory I was working north from 9 Mile Point, last reported at 5:43 with an ETA of 6:45. Three lakers, three successive lock windows, all logged under today's date: the Soo is working a full card this Friday.

The Gott is the anchor of that picture. A U.S. Steel thousand-footer inbound from the lower lakes, she was moving north in the pre-dawn channel while the lock tenders were still on their first thermos. Her ETA at 6:10 puts her in the chamber right as Mariner clears, which leaves little margin and no idle time. Whatever Lake Superior dock is waiting for the Gott, the run north is already well along.

Harbor Notes

Dorothy Ann was logged near the Dossin Museum area at 4:45 this morning, upbound, with an ETA of 10:41 at Vantage Point in Port Huron. Samuel de Champlain was moving the opposite direction on the same corridor, last reported at 5:09, passing Downbound 11 and 12 with a Port Huron ETA of 6:13. Two vessels threading the Detroit-to-Port Huron stretch in opposite directions before sunrise: the river does not sleep.

The Welland Canal had a crowd at Port Weller overnight. Seahound was inbound at 4:18, Thunder Bay at 3:32, and Algoterra at 2:59, all logged this morning. Kaministiqua was working outbound at 1:40. Four vessels cycling through Port Weller in roughly two and a half hours.

Dirk S. VanEnkevort passed Vantage Point upbound on the St. Clair last evening, logged at 20:56. The Sam Laud we tracked Thursday in the Detroit River area was still moving north this morning, logged upbound near the Dossin Museum at 2:29.

The Levels Ledger

Lake Ontario leads the board at 3.70 feet above Low Water Datum at Rochester. Lake Erie follows at 3.05 feet at Cleveland. Lake Michigan stands at 2.21 feet at Chicago, Lake Huron at 2.09 feet at Harbor Beach, and Lake Superior at 1.88 feet at the Sault. Downbound ore boats shed water as they work east and south through the locks; upbound vessels pick it up. That 1.82-foot spread from Superior to Ontario is the whole arithmetic of a loaded run.

Weather on the Water

Patchy marine fog is possible over southern Lake Michigan this morning. Lake Huron carries the roughest outlook: a frontal boundary over southern Michigan keeps scattered showers and thunderstorms in the forecast, waves at 2 feet. A cold front is expected to cross Lake Erie this afternoon, waves there also at 2 feet. Lake Superior is the calmest water on the system this morning, waves at 1 foot, sitting between a Hudson Bay low and high pressure to the south.

Looking Astern

The tug Harriet M, formerly the U.S.-flagged Harriet Moran, was photographed at Glen Walter, Ontario on August 5, making her first Seaway transit under Canadian ownership. The purchasing company has not been publicly identified. She was bound for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. A vessel renamed and reflagged and already moving north on her first run is the kind of quiet transfer a shore-side photographer catches before the shipping press does.

Tomorrow's Watch If the *Edwin H. Gott* cleared the Soo on her 6:10 upbound ETA this morning, she is now on Lake Superior; watch the Duluth-Superior inbound board Saturday to see which dock claims her.

Vessel Spotlight: *Edwin H. Gott* was last reported upbound from Detour at 3:13 this morning, holding a 6:10 ETA at the Soo Locks, with *American Mariner* clearing the chamber just ahead of her. A thousand-footer moving north in the dark with a tight lock window and Lake Superior ahead: the Duluth-Superior inbound board will show where she is headed by Saturday.