Sunday's July 5 report puts fresh names at two Ohio ports, and Toledo is the busier of the pair.
G.L. Ostrander/Integrity arrived at Toledo with cement for Amrize. Robert S. Pierson put in at Kuhlman's. Blair McKeil, Federal Asahi, and Wilf Seymour/Alouette Spirit are all sitting at Midwest Terminals simultaneously, which means three vessels sharing one terminal on a holiday Sunday.
Also in the July 5 Toledo card, Dirk S. VanEnkevort/Michigan Trader departed for Calcite, clearing a berth the same day new arrivals were filling others.
Down the shore at Sandusky, Baie Comeau arrived Sunday. The data gives no cargo or berth, so that detail stays out of this column. What it does confirm is a fresh call on the same July 5 report.
At Marblehead, Mark W. Barker arrived to load limestone at the Amrize dock, another Sunday movement on Lake Erie's Ohio shore.
Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader arrived at Monroe, Mich. with coal for DTE on Sunday, per the July 5 report.
New York/Double Skin 509A is still unloading at Michigan Paving in Monroe, a job the data has noted since at least July 2.
The July 5 report also lists Stenheim to load at George Gradel in Toledo. Whether Stenheim arrived Sunday or earlier in the weekend, the data does not confirm, so the date stays out of this item.
Lake Ontario leads the system at 3.97 feet above Low Water Datum at Rochester. Lake Erie follows at 3.31 feet at Cleveland. Lakes Michigan and Huron sit at 2.47 and 2.27 feet respectively. Superior is lowest at 1.83 feet at Sault Ste. Marie, keeping upbound drafts honest through the Soo.
Lake Erie has the most active pattern through Monday, with 29.90-inch low pressure drifting east across the upper Ohio Valley, two-foot waves, and a cold front due later in the week. Vessels working the Sandusky and Toledo cards today are operating inside that window. Lake Huron holds northeast flow with shower chances before 30.10-inch high pressure builds Monday. Superior is the calmest lake, with waves at 1 foot under a solid ridge.
Capt. Steve Hughes retires in December after three decades on the lakes, most recently as pilot of the Paul R. Tregurtha, the longest vessel on the Great Lakes system. He grew up in Marquette watching ore boats work the iron-pellet docks, brought there by his father, a former Northern Michigan University geography professor now 97 years old. Hughes, who lives in Duluth, is understated about the assignment: "The distinction is more symbolic than operational." The boat's followers will read that differently.