Gott and Victory II Charge the St. Clair Together

If you were standing at the Vantage Point in Port Huron this morning with coffee going cold beside you, you had two American Lakers charging up the St. Clair in close company. Edwin H. Gott and Victory II both departed the Detroit River Light before 4 a.m., and both were tracked inbound to Port Huron with ETAs within thirty minutes of each other, the Gott at 11:34 and Victory II at 11:03. Running that size of boat in tandem through the river narrows is not a daily occurrence, and the spacing suggests they cleared the lower Detroit approach nearly side by side.

Upbound behind them come Oakglen and Algoma Innovator, both reported through the Detroit reach by 4:39 a.m. and both pointed at Port Huron by mid-morning. The St. Clair corridor, in other words, is running a four-boat upbound convoy through Thursday's daylight hours while Capt. Henry Jackman works south in the opposite lane.

Harbor Notes

FAIRPORT HARBOR: Herbert C. Jackson arrived to load at Carmeuse and CSL Tadoussac departed for Bowmanville. Manitowoc is at Osborne. Three different vessel programs touching one Ohio harbor in the same morning report.

MARBLEHEAD: The Sam Laud we tracked passing Port Huron Wednesday cleared Amrize this morning after arriving to load limestone, then left for Marine City. Dorothy Ann and her tug Pathfinder arrived to load at Amrize; once loaded, the ATB left for Cleveland.

SOO LOCKS QUEUE: Algoma Harvester and Hon. James L. Oberstar were both inside the Detour-to-Soo corridor before dawn, followed by Candace Elise a few minutes behind. Frontenac, coming downbound from the Keweenaw, carries an ETA of 11:22 this morning. Four vessels converging on the Soo from two directions inside the same morning window.

DULUTH/SUPERIOR: Clyde S. VanEnkevort was inbound through the Duluth Piers as of 3:09 a.m. James R. Barker was outbound through Superior Entry on the evening of the 12th.

The Levels Ledger

Lake Erie reads 2.98 feet above Low Water Datum at Cleveland, the highest of the lower four lakes this week. Lake Ontario sits at 3.64 feet, its trough forecast clearing as high pressure builds in from the Prairies. Lake Huron at 2.17 feet and Lake Michigan at 2.25 feet are running close, which means drafts on the Huron-Michigan connection are consistent. Lake Superior at 1.67 feet is the low end of the chain; a boat loading at Two Harbors or Duluth is working with less margin than its counterparts downlake.

Weather on the Water

A stalled front just south of Lake Michigan will linger through midday before retreating toward the Ohio River Valley. Expect periodic rain, thunderstorms, and patches of fog on Michigan waters through this morning. Lake Huron carries the same quasi-stationary boundary, with showers and storms possible on the southern reaches where the St. Clair boats are running. Lake Erie's front finally pushes into the Ohio Valley today as a 30.00-inch high builds in; conditions there should improve through the afternoon. Lake Superior holds calm under weak 29.9-inch ridging, a 30.2-inch high building over the Canadian Rockies by Friday.

Looking Astern

Rogers City is preparing for a ceremony that closes a long loop in Lakes history. The Carl D. Bradley went to the bottom of Lake Michigan in November 1958 with 33 men aboard. The only two survivors were pulled from the ice water by the Coast Guard Cutter Sundew. Now privately owned and known as Sundew WLB 404 LLC, the 82-year-old vessel is scheduled to visit Rogers City's Lakeside Park for a public memorial. The Bradley's bell, recovered from the wreck in 2007, will be rung once for each sailor lost. The Presque Isle County Historical Museum and the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum organized the visit.

Tomorrow's Watch Watch for Frontenac to complete her Soo transit by late Thursday morning and track her downbound into Lake Huron, where the clearing Erie high should give her easier water through Friday.

Vessel Spotlight: Edwin H. Gott was tracked upbound from the Detroit River Light before 5 a.m. Thursday, running in close company with Victory II through the lower St. Clair corridor with a Port Huron ETA of 11:34. At 1,000 feet, the Gott is one of the largest hulls on the lakes, and watching her thread the river narrows while a sister-class boat works the same water ahead of her is the kind of geometry that makes a shore watcher set down whatever they are holding.