Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Oh, Oh, I made a mistake ! You are right garbear we hauled grain out of Saginaw. Thank You for bringing that to my attention.

That was the first I'd read that grain was hauled into Saginaw. I'm assuming you hauled grain out of Saginaw also? Love your stories.

Thank you! Wasn't sure, I'd heard there was a bridge there, but being born in '77, I'm too young to remember the drawbridges in Saginaw, and barely remember the grain ships going thru

I assume that was the 6th Street bridge in Saginaw. The old Huron Cement/later Lafarge Carrolton terminal would be just out of the photo to the left.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishpo/3862671496

does anyone know where on the Saginaw River the photos were taken, Bay City's swing bridges except for the railroad bridges were gone in the '70's. Very much enjoyed the pic of the Keller seen her all the time as a kid growing up on the west shore of the Saginaw river along wirt stone dock

Oh wow Lakercapt that sounds like a nightmare trip. I cant amagin backing down the river with all the turns in it was any fun at all. Then to have to deal with the bridges and river current. Im sure your company was happy that you even decided to leave without waiting for a tug to come from Port Huron or the Soo to help turn you in the turning basin. While growing up in Saginaw i saw a couple boats back down from Zillwaukee a couple of times to the Bay and thought it was very impressive. Thanks for the great story sir.
Dan McNeil

During my time on self unloaders we were often up the Saginaw River and many times with split loads.
Up to and past Zilwaukee which was an interesting trip.
On one occasion the current was too strong to turn round ( we would stick the bow in a soft part of the river bank and turn using the engines) I elected to back down the river and that was a challenge using the bow thruster with the mates "spotting" going through the bridges.
One bridge wanted me to stop and wait till traffic cleared My reply to him was you have two choices, open the bridge or start running as I cant stop.
He opened the bridge.
The wheelsman kept me supplied with coffee and the result was I badly needed a pee but could not get the toilet so he had to bring a bucket.
Backed out past Essexville out to the bay and turned there.
A long stressful trip.

The "Bay City Navy" Kellers, and Niagara.

Thanks so much for such a wonderful story Captain. I was still just a child when the Keller Tugs were in Saginaw but remember they were neat looking tugs. Even to this day the boats still need to let the bridges know ahead of time when they are coming and going. Upbound boats can go threw anytime but when downbound they have bridge hours and wont open for boats during certain times of the day. I bet turning around in the river even with the tugs assistance could be a heck of a thing to do at times especially with wind and the strong under current. Thanks again for such a wonderful story. I always look forward to them during the winter months when the boats are in layup.
God Bless and i look forward to reading your book when it comes back out this winter.
Dan McNeil

Years ago, the Soo River Company had a contract to haul grain into Saginaw, MI. I have been in Saginaw for many trips with the S/S Soo River Trader; her length was 550 ft. just the right size for going up the Saginaw River. We always had to call the tug office 12 hours in advance of arrival. The tug name was Frederick T. Keller’s, she was an old tug and the captains name was Brownie, out of Bay City, MI. On the way, up the river was the Michigan or Farmers Elevator where we had to discharge our cargo. Back in 1981 we had to go through many bridges like Detroit & Michigan Bridge, Belinda St, Penn Central, 3 St Bridge, Memorial, Zilwaukee just to name a few. At the upper end of the river was a turning basin and we had to turn the ship around and that is where the tug came in handy. We would throw the tug our tow line and the tug would pull the bow around facing downstream it was a tight fit, if the bow got too close to the bank I would have to put the engine slow astern and when I did that I would pull the tug backwards! The old girl did not have much power but that is all we had. In those days sailing was fun and unloading time was about two days and the crew use to go up town, it was a fun port. My first mate had his 21st birthday party at the Plantation Dinner Club and the crew all came to the party. My mate got kind of feeling very good and my chief cook and I carried him back to the ship. A good time was had by all. When the ship was unloaded, we had to call all the bridges outbound, most of the time we got the bridge to open and we went through but sometimes a train was on the bridge and we had to wait it out, although the ship had the right of way. On one trip the bridge called and said the train was stopped on the bridge and I would have to wait until it cleared. I called back and said, “You better get it off because I am too close to stop." The train got off the bridge. I still think the bridge tenders made it hard for the ships because of competition between the railroad and the ship companies. Another hassle was the old and slow sand suckers dredging the river; they knew we were coming but they were always in the way. I think the captain of the sand sucker was related to the bridge tender. One night while out bound in Saginaw Bay I saw a red parachute flare up in the sky. I took a bearing of the flare and distance off and reported to the USCG. Now you would have thought they would have been in a hurry to get to the site to help or to save lives but no the young man I talked to had to go down a long list of questions first, like the name of my ship, color, length, position, where from and where to, in ballast, cargo, course, and speed. Do I have radar and many more questions? Finally, I could not take it any longer and said you have the bearing and distance go out there and find the boat in distress and hung up the phone...We sailed out into Lake Huron north bound and I never heard anything more about the distress single,that was my last trip into Saginaw MI.