Correction: Corrected September 17, 2026: the water-level paragraph now reports the archived NOAA station observations and their limits. Unsupported navigation implications were withdrawn. NOAA measurement context.
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Baie Comeau arrived at Sandusky's Norfolk Southern dock today, took a partial coal load, and left for Toledo to top off at CSX. Two rail-served coal docks on opposite sides of the same short run to complete one cargo is not a routine south-shore day. The data does not say whether the short load at Norfolk Southern was a supply constraint or a trim calculation, so that question stays open. What the record shows is plain: one vessel, two terminals, one coal cargo, one day.
Sandusky readers will recall the Gazette noted Baie Comeau's arrival there last Sunday. She is back, and this time she did not leave with a full hold.
Monroe was the busiest port in today's report: New York/Double Skin 509A and Karen Andrie/Endeavour arrived while Undaunted/Pere Marquette 41 cleared for Port Colborne, Manitowoc pushed north for Calcite, and Florence Spirit set course for Montreal. Three out, two in.
Toledo sent Exeborg to Windsor and Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader to Detroit; Algoma Bear cleared for Sandusky. Federal Asahi and Wilf Seymour/Alouette Spirit remain at Midwest Terminals.
Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder departed Marblehead for Cleveland today. The July 9 report shows she had returned to Amrize at Marblehead to load limestone; if that reload went as reported, limestone is the likely cargo on this leg, though the July 10 entry does not confirm it.
Archived NOAA station observations: Lake Superior, Sault Ste. Marie (NOAA station 9076027): 1.808 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-07-09 23:54 local standard time. Lake Michigan, Chicago (NOAA station 9087031): 2.474 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-07-09 23:54 local standard time. Lake Huron, Harbor Beach, MI (NOAA station 9075002): 2.175 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-07-09 23:54 local standard time. Lake Erie, Cleveland (NOAA station 9063053): 3.291 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-07-09 23:54 local standard time. Lake Ontario, Rochester, NY (NOAA station 9052030): 3.816 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-07-09 23:54 local standard time. These are individual gauge readings, not lake-wide averages or channel depths. They do not establish vessel clearance, cargo limits or comparative navigability.
A weak cold front pushed south of Lake Erie today; high pressure at 30.10 inches returns through the weekend and holds into early next week, Erie waves near one foot. Lake Huron carries a lingering chance for showers and thunderstorms near Lake St. Clair and western Erie through this morning as the front stalls, waves near two feet. Lake Michigan has turned northerly with patchy dense fog possible across the southern half, waves near one foot. Superior is the calmest corner: a 30.0-inch high building toward 30.1 to 30.2 inches by the weekend.
Steve Hughes grew up in Marquette watching ore freighters work the docks while his father John, then an NMU geography professor, pointed out what was moving and why. He could not have guessed he would spend three decades at sea and retire as captain of the M/V Paul R. Tregurtha, the longest vessel on the Great Lakes. Hughes, who lives in Duluth, plans to step down in December. His father is 97. "The distinction is more symbolic than operational," Hughes said of the Tregurtha's record length: exactly the kind of remark a man raised on a watching dock eventually makes.