Update from Denny

[Howard Sprague]

I forgot to mention in my last post that we cut our trip to the Welland Canal short to see the Sykes today. What a great day!

[Howard Sprague]

Well Boatnerds Howard did it again! Sunday we got the Highland Eagle in the Welland Canal and the Salarium and Algoma Strongfield in Hamilton. We made our way back across Canada to Port Huron this morning in time to have a great day on the river and see the Wilfred Sykes for the third time in four days, as well as the Arthur M. Anderson, Wigeon, Philip R. Clarke and Cuyahoga among others.

Last week, from Monday through Sunday, we did something that we've never done before. We photographed ships in six different places in one week - Port Huron on Tuesday, Detroit and Lorain on Friday, Cleveland on Saturday, and the Welland Canal and Hamilton on Sunday. This is a record we may never break as we have never done it before. We have been making trips to the river for 45 years now, except for the year when we lived in the Bahamas. I hope you are doing well, Denny, and had a great day at the river seeing the Wilfred Sykes today! You take care my friend!

[Howard Sprague]

Well Boatnerds, we got up yesterday morning very early and went down to Detroit and we had a great day getting some great shots of the Wilfred Sykes. We then drove onto Lorain and got the Joseph L. Block in great lighting conditions, before we went to a hotel in Cleveland and today we got great photos of the Wilfred Sykes that we will be sure to send to Roger for his KYS book. I'm sure he'll love to have them and beg for more of our photos when he sees them.

Tomorrow morning we are going to go to the Welland Canal because we want badly to see the Highland Eagle downbound through there. We might also stop in Buffalo to get the American Mariner.

Next week will be busy for us after we get back home on Tuesday. We have to go to Mrs. Magruder's house for Thanksgiving Supper on Thursday and then we're going to visit some of the less mobile church ladies with the preacher on Frday.

[Denny]

Hi Marc and thanks for your thoughtful words and comments as they are most appreciative. Yes it is indeed unfortunate that my season had to end so early due mostly to the harsh colder weather and the big snow that we had around here on Veterans Day which fortunately now has about all melted away. This last two November’s if you will have sure not been very nice for the weather. Last year in 2018, I only made the river twice and in some years I’ve made it only once and a few others it’s been twice. My average for November is about four and sometimes I’ve had years with four. The most I ever made in November though was in 2017 when I made 9 trips the most ever for November and the most ever of any month in my history! I don’t think I’ll ever have another Fall and November like I had in 2017 but never say never on that though as stranger things have happened before. As for seeing and getting the Wilfred Sykes this morning on the river, sorry to say I missed her as that was way too early in the morning for me as it does not get daylight here until about 7:30 a.m. and I don’t drive in the dark especially this time of year as I don’t want to encounter any ice or snow especially black ice! You take care my friend and Happy Holidays to you and everyone else.

[MarcE]

Hey Denny. I'm very sorry to hear your season is ending a little early. I hope you grabbed some shots of the Sykes today.
Take care.

[Denny]

Thanks to both Howard and Garbear your thoughts and kind words of encouragement are very much appreciated. Yes it is unfortunate that my season ended much too soon and early as I was really hoping to get out to the water more in November especially since I didn’t make it out too much in October due to my home improvement projects. As for next year though, you betcha I’m looking forward to getting back out there and getting my 500th all time river trip! This winter works out great fir me as now I can get started up on my winter projects as far as editing and working on all my digital photos and then doing a special sign on cardboard like I’ve done before about my 500th river trip which takes a very long time to do as the letters and numbers have to be carefully stenciled in and traced to perfection. Then comes the real job and that’s the painting of both the front and back which requires a day or two to do and dry. Luckily I use fast drying paint and the kit I use I buy from Michael’s crafts as they have great stuff. I would expect sometime in the late summer to early Fall season in 2020 hopefully of getting the 500th river trip. I want to enjoy the road to 500 next year and take it in slow and easy and don’t rush it and miss out on the fun as it only happens once in a lifetime! As for 2019 on the river, Yes I had a great year with seeing 12 of the 1,000-footers something that’s never been done on the river before by me. Also seeing the Tall Ships this summer was lots of fun and enjoyable along with seeing lots of good and new stuff like some of the cruise ships like the Hamburg and the new Le Champlain. It was indeed a great year for me and other than the early November snow and cold weather here and the rain in the Spring we had, those are my only complaints that I have. It was really fascinating seeing the high water this year and getting my feet wet a few times and once actually getting hit by a wall of water in Port Huron. Everyone enjoy the Holidays and have a good and safe Winter and we’ll see you all sometime in 2020!

[garbear]

Sorry to hear that your season is over. I'm hoping you had a good year. You have next season to look forward to. All the best my friend.

[Howard Sprague]

I am sorry to hear that your season came to such an abrupt end, Denny, my friend. I too wanted to get out to the river on Monday, but alas, we imbibed too many adult beverages on Sunday while watching football with Jubal, Rafe and the boys and just didn't feel like going out.

We did go out today though and saw several ships, including Sarah Desgagnes which we hadn't seen this season.

Perhaps now that you are in winter layup you will learn to share some of your photos with us as I'm sure we are all interested in seeing them. You take care my friend!

[Denny]

Another update for all of you folks out there and especially for my good and close friends here such as Howard, Garbear, MarcE along with many others here such as Bookworm and Mopar Tim along with many others as well. I regret to inform you all that it’s over for me in 2019 as I have now officially decided as of today to throw in the hat and towel and to call it a year! Unfortunately the November weather this year was just too much to bear and deal with especially with all the snow last week and below normal temps for nearly two weeks! We went 13 straight days of below normal here for November standards in the Detroit area. Was hoping to make a run at it today with the Bradley anniversary as I’ve never been to the river on that day. However, the Monday blues and blahs got me down today and with it being a slow day from the AIS maps as well up there. Was hoping to make a run tomorrow but again weather is a factor as they’re saying fog and freezing drizzle which I definitely do not drive in and not accustomed to doing and that’s why I am usually done at the river in November because of the issues with the weather. As I’ve mentioned before I got to the river 20 times in 2019 and saw lots of good stuff. As for what I didn’t see in 2019, hopefully I’ll see it in 2020 if it’s still around at least. Thanks everyone for all of your thoughts and words of encouragement as this was a challenging year for me with lots of learning and hopefully changes in store for next year. Looking forward already of getting back to the river in 2020 as I got so much to see and do. Hopefully the weather in the Spring and Fall will be better as those two times of year is where I do my best as October and May weather permitting of course are my two best months at least on the river for me. So take care everyone and we’ll see you all hopefully sometime in 2020. Happy Holidays and have a good, safe winter also.

[Howard Sprague]

Very interesting, Denny, my friend. Some of us would be interested in what vessels you saw on those special 20th trips, especially in 1994. You had quite the day and I'm sure at least some of those vessels aren't still with us. Things have changed a lot over the years.

I hope you're doing well and managing with the lousy weather we've been having. Did you do anything to commemorate the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Sunday? We watched a videotape about her sinking and also listened to the Gordon Lightfoot song. That got us to thinking about seeing Lightfoot live a few years ago when we went with Mother and her friend Mr. Merriweather to see him in concert. You take care my friend, and stay warm.

[Denny]

Here are some more statistics to add as far as my getting the 20th trip this year to the St. Clair River. Listed below I have comprised a list of day, dates, years as far as when the 20th trip took place in prior years and also included is the amount of ships seen on that date. I will also provide a separate list of how many trips I made to the river in the years at least when I got the 20th trip if all of this is making any sense here to anyone? You will find my lists below.

Sunday, October 16, 1994 = 11
Monday, November 24, 1997 = 9
Saturday, September 25, 1999 = 12

Friday, December 7, 2001 = 6
Monday, November 22, 2004 = 16
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 = 6
Saturday, October 13, 2007 = 10

Friday, October 8, 2010 = 7
Monday, September 17, 2012 = 10
Saturday, September 21, 2013 = 12
Monday, November 27, 2017 = 3
Monday, October 28, 2019 = 3

Of note here that during the decade from 2010-19 if you will, I had five out of ten years where I made it to the river 20 or more times which had never happened before in a decade to have that much.

Listed below are the years after making the 20th trip to the river the season total for that year of St. Clair River Trips.

1994 = 28
1997 = 20
1999 = 28

2001 = 20
2004 = 20
2006 = 21
2007 = 25

2010 = 26
2012 = 20
2013 = 28
2017 = 21
2019 = TBD

[Denny]

Remember this date everyone of October 28, 2019. That was the last time that I was at the St. Clair River before the weather turned and got worse and then we got socked yesterday with a foot or more of snow in some places. So now I hope you all see, recognize and understand just what I was referring to just a few short weeks ago when I was talking then about getting the 20th trip to the St. Clair River and how important it was for me to get it in before the weather changes. Although it may be unfortunate if I don’t make it back to the river this year due to the snow and cold weather, I don’t have nothing to complain about as I got my 20 runs to the river this year and saw lots of great stuff this year at the river including the Tall Ships, Cruise and Passenger Ships and also seeing 12 of the 1,000-footers on the river including the Big Paul also. So 2019 was indeed a great year at the river for me but there’s also room for improvement next year as well. This year although I made it to the river 20 times, there were still some mistakes and errors I made and those cost me dearly. Next year my quest is on for my 500th all time trip and my goal is to have it before October and any changes that may happen with the weather at that point. Hope to get back again in 2019!

[MarcE]

Hey Denny. You are a busy man! Ive been curious, what city do you live in?
Im partial to Marysville where I saw my first freighter up close in 1998. I still remember that first feeling of excitement watching it glide by our boat at night. I was so happy to board my first freighter, the Buckeye two years later. I remember that feeling when I got onboard.
Im still hoping to move from Buckeye, AZ back to Lapeer in the spring. Ive been battling this acute MS, but Im gonna spend as much time at the river as I can when I finally get home.

[Howard Sprague]

I completely understand being busy, Denny, as we are quite busy ourselves with our home improvement projects. We got back yesterday from Florida and went to the river for a couple of hours in time to see the Tim S. Dool and two VanEnkevort tug and barges. It was a good day even though we didn't have nearly enough time and now with the days getting so short we are not having as many opportunities to get to the river. We also need to get all of our home improvement projects done by mid-January because once the season ends we are going to go down and see mother for a few weeks.

Mother is doing well in her new condo community and we enjoyed meeting her new friends while we were down there. She and Mrs. Mendelbright get along because they both once were landlords, and Mrs. Lesch and my late father both worked at auto dealerships so Mother and Mrs. Lesch have cars to talk about. You take care my friend and we'll see you at the river soon!

[Denny]

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post and will repeat it once again to all that read this post, this week I’m in catchup mode yet again with work constantly on the three main shipping websites that I go to everyday and they are Marine Traffic along with the Seaway and Montreal and unfortunately for me the work I do has to get done or else since they don’t keep the information up on their sites for very long. I still have tons and tons of paperwork and sheets printed out from the websites and as mentioned yesterday, my house is like an office now with so much paperwork to sort through. That plus the fact of trying to find time to make it to the river and running a house and organizing it and having to get things when I need it makes for a very busy and difficult schedule for me since my Mom and Dad are both gone. So now you can see I hope to a point folks, why I’ve given up and cut way down and back on how I used to send in news for the news page here. It’s not that I don’t have any news to report as I can always find news but, when do I have the time to send the news in and edit my photos other than during the winter time when things shut down. Still hoping to squeeze out yet a few trips to the river this month. Stay tuned as well at some point when I have more time, I’m hoping to put together more information and a write up history about me making 20 or more trips out to the river!

[Denny]

I still haven’t figured out or learned yet how to shrink a photo file down to the requirements that boatnerd wants. Also, none of my photos so far have been edited yet as far as straightening and brightness along with color adjusting. Basically my time is occupied and I’m very busy with a very limited time base from now right until the locks at the Soo close up in mid-January. Every day is just a constant battle, fight and war with both the Marine Traffic website along with the Seaway and Montreal as these three constantly keep me on my toes with no breaks or let ups. Don’t mean to say it folks but, I’m definitely looking forward to winter and the time off to get caught up as I need it badly with so much to do! You should see all the stacks of paper work as far as print sheets that I have printed from Marine Traffic and the Seaway as my house looks like an office right now! Hopefully sometime this winter when I have the time I’ll try to send in photos. In the meantime my suggestion is to go to Duluth Shipping News’ website. There if you look for the following ships Algoma Equinox, Algoma Harvester and the Thunder Bay you will see some of my photos posted there. Also, here on boatnerd I’ve had photos in March 2013 of the PRT on its first downbound trip of the year and on December 7, 2013 I got the Algoma Equinox on its first ever trip up the St. Clair River then at least. My photos are on the web though!

[Curious 1]

Pictures? I'm a visual person.

[Denny]

Hi Howard and glad to hear that everything is going okay as far as with your Mom down in Florida. Hope that you and your Mom are both doing well in spite of the cold weather that we've been having up here in Michigan this week. When I made Trip 20 at the river on Monday, it was so nice and sunny as the temp was in the 60s and it felt so good. Now, we've really dropped off and over average high temp should be 55 and we're not even close to getting there anytime soon. This surely doesn't feel like November and it is a bit of a concern for me as we are now starting November. I'm hoping to get a few more late season trips to the river in but right now it is all weather dependent as I don't go out in November if it's rain or snow, sleet or anything of that nature and I don't try to drive in any of that type of stuff either as I have know experience in that type of driving. It just seems good though to get Trip 20 out there. You take good care of yourself and your Mom my friend and hope to be back up on the river soon one of these days for some fun!

[Howard Sprague]

That's fantastic news, Denny, and we are so glad to hear you achieved trip 20!

We were out four days last week, including a trip to Detroit on Wednesday that we made after taking our friend Mr. O'Malley to the airport. There we saw the saltie San that we'd never seen before.

Mother closed on her new condo in Florida yesterday so we are about to fly down to Florida on Tuesday to help her get moved in. That will put a damper on our river trips for about a week or so. You take care my friend!

[Denny]

Well everyone you will all be happy to know that it Finally came and happened this week as recently as Monday. With that news I can now officially say to all of you that I have reversed course from last year and have now turned the ship around and got her on par and a new course setting and heading. Yes indeed folks as 2019 I have made it to the St. Clair River 20 times marking the 12th time in history since 1994 which was the first time I had ever made the river 20 times or more. Although it was a very slow day on Monday with only three boats to see, there was enough boat action to see and also the Indiana Harbor made its own history to add to the fun as well with the largest coal load ever to the St. Clair Power Plant at a mind boggling and whopping 70,949.5 net tons and Yes I was there on the river and saw and witnessed the Big Indy passing by on the river. We did not get any salutes from anyone but that's not a bad thing either especially when you take and consider that your memory bank on a digital voice recorder was full and knowing me of course and how busy I've been all year, I forgot to transfer the files to a stick drive and preserve space. At some point I'll have to do that with my digital camera as well before I forget about that one as well. So, the historic 20th trip started out at Marine City with the 1,000 footer Edwin H. Gott downbound for Nanticoke as it was only the 2nd time I've seen the Gott this year. Just below at Marine City she passed her fleetmate the Arthur M. Anderson and each one exchanged an awesome salute. Later I got the Andy at Marine City all the way up the river to Port Huron. The lighting for the photos weren't the best especially the bow photos during the early morning sunlight at that time. Later in the afternoon I got the Big Indy and it's record breaking coal load and got outstanding pics of her and I'm definitely gonna try and send one into Roger for next year's KYS book especially since the Indy now has and holds two cargo records from the 2019 shipping season. So I am now at 475 total river trips since April 14, 1992 when I first started out there and now have 25 to go for my 500th all time trip which I'm sure will take place sometime in 2020 probably late summer into the early parts of the Fall season. As expected the PRT was not to be found on the river during my 20th trip on Monday as they were in Monroe unloading coal then. So, I finally got the monkey off of my back and the burden lifted off of my shoulders now for making the river 20 times this year. I'll have more information to share and to add later in the week. Until then Happy Boatwatching all!