Colorful Cutter

Usually at seasons end, the navigation season is kept open through the hard work of the USCGC Spar assigned out of Duluth, however this year instead brought a change in requirements that gave photographers an uncommon treat. While the Spar would have been acting as an icebreaker here, her sister ship USCGC Sequoia was having issues on the lower lakes and would therefore have to call on the Spar to perform the last ATON missions down there.

 

With the Spar out of town though, it would be up to the heavy duty USCGC Mackinaw to hold down the fort as she sailed up from Cheboygan, Michigan to keep our harbor channels open until the season ends. Normally assigned to her namesake region, this heavy icebreaker is really one of a kind with her dedicated icebreaker status instead of being mixed use like the Juniper class cutters like the Spar and Sequoia, so the Mackinaw’s bright red hull sure is a nice treat on an otherwise overcast day.

Done