Boatnerd Discussion Forum

I watch the Blue Water Bridge cam and see a boat go past and I wonder "where is the galley?" "where are crew quarters?" ... Are there any sources for the deck/cabin layouts for lakers? I googled numerous variations of "deck/cabin layout for MV "XX"" and got lots of hits for plans for build-your-own ...

Good information. Thank you.

The posts on welding steel hull plates are very informative. Thank you. Roughly, how thick are hull plates? 1/4-inch? 1/2-inch? 3/4-inch? Are hull plates below the waterline thicker than plates up near the spar deck?? How thick are plates in the cargo hold? I would assume steel at the bottom of the ...

Good to see the St. Clair out sailing this season. Of the wide-beam boats, only the Blough and St Clair have single propellers ... all the 1,000 footers have dual props. Why were the Blough and St. Clair singles?

Why did the St Clair (and the Roger Blough) have only one propeller and all 1000 footers have 2?

CLIFFS VICTORY -- I was second cook in 1969 & 1970, earning $$ for college. Victory was unique looking, fast and pretty smooth sailing. The galley was a good set up for work. I cooked breakfast for the crew while tending my baking as I had the ovens until about 10:00 am. We carried company guests ...

Interesting discussion on the St. Clair. Agree the St. Clair is a good-looking boat, but not sure I would call it the "best" looking.

Another slightly off-topic .... Perhaps this has been discussed before, but what was the rationale for building the St. Clair at 770x92? The Blough was out, why not ...

Not a Great Lakes vessel, but .....

Today, the largest container ship to pass through the new Panama Canal made its initial visit to Savannah.

The brand new CMA CGM T. ROOSEVELT (1200 feet long by 158 feet beam) came up the Savannah River to the container ship docks.

Two tugs assisted.

They are ...

In discussions about boats fitting-out or going to scrap, I often see folks indicating a boat needs a 5-year inspection which is expensive. I assume this involves dry-docking and hull and machinery inspections. Since there are over 100 US and Canadian lakers and only a handful of dry docks available ...

Typo .... 826 feet. My fingers are faster than my brain.

Photo #108 from July 11 of the AmShip Yard in Lorain. The 1,000 footer under construction is the James Barker. In front of the Barker is the Walter Sterling (now Lee Tregurtha). At the time she was in Am Ship for lengthening from 730 to 806 feet.

Curious as to why the GREAT REPUBLIC seems to fit-out later and lay-up earlier than other River Class vessels. It looks like she has comparable Net Registered Tonnage, so her carrying capacity for stone, coal etc would make her competitive and her maneuverability would seem to make her desirable in ...

Ralph Misner (later Gordon C Leitch) in lay-up in Welland Canal, mid-December 1969 when she still had the big unloader.

I was aboard Cliffs Victory on last trip of season, coal from Sandusky to Hamilton, then to Toledo and lay-up.

It was the only time I transited the Welland Canal.

My whole ...

I was just 18 and shipping out for the first time on the Wm G Mather in June 1967. Our first trip was up to Marquette and the crew was still talking about the Nordmeer and Morrell sinking previous Fall. We steamed past the Sylvania sunk at the dock and I started thinking "I thought these boats were ...

Regarding the photo of the William G. Mather licensed crew members taken in March of 1941, the 2nd Engineer, Ed Crehan, was Chief Engineer on the Mather for the 1967 shipping season when I was sailing as a Porter. We laid up in Buffalo and after they paid off the deck crew, Ed gave me a few more ...

I keep a spreadsheet of Lakes vessels. I show 94 (51 Canadian, 43 American) bulk cargo carriers on the Lakes ... this includes the ATB like Lakes Contender, Pathfinder, but does not include cement carriers or tankers or passenger vessels. CSL St Laurent will be added to the list when she arrives in ...

I was on Cliffs' Wm G. Mather in 1967. We made quite a number of trips of Marquette to McLouth Steel. Not a bad trip, but not a great place to go up-the-street.

I was on the Mather in 1967 when Capt Harry towed the disabled Bethlehem up Lake Huron to DeTour. It was pretty rough seas, the Bethlehem had engine problems, Capt Harry maneuvered the Mather close enough to toss a line and then run a cable. They did not let anyone go aft for fear the towline might ...

I believe most of the refined petroleum products were moved from the refinery via pipeline and/or tank truck. In the late 1960s I was on a couple of the smaller Cliffs' boats and we took ore and/or pellets to the Wickwire steel mill at North Tonowanda. I remember seeing small tankers and barges ...

I think that the Buffalo area refineries all received crude oil via pipeline.

Look at: http://www.pipeline101.com/overview/crude-pl.html

My recollection is that not much crude oil was ever shipped on the Great Lakes, virtually all the tankers were for refined pertoleum products.