Alpena breaking ice bow detail at Saint Clair
A few of my friends and I were watching the progress of the Steamer Alpena as she made her way from Sturgeon Bay, WI to her winter berth in Cleveland in later January. This was a journey that required that she navigate through very poor ice conditions at the Mackinaw Straits as well as the Saint Clair River, across the top of Lake Michigan and the entire length of Lake Huron which was also badly ice choked. The time of her arrival was up in the air for us as she had to check down at several locations due to ice conditions. It didn't look promising when I went to bed the night before so, when I woke up early the next morning I checked to see how she'd done. Since ice breaking operations are rarely done at night because of the danger involved, I was happy to see she had checked down to a few knots at Lakeport (North of Port Huron) which would allow for photos of her in the river. She was accompanied by USCG cutter Hollyhock and eventually the CCGS Samuel Risely which was working her way up from Detroit, breaking a path through Lake Saint Clair and the lower Saint Clair River.
The SS Alpena is our oldest (1942) classic laker operating and remains one of a very few steam powered vessels on the Great Lakes. She is truly a classic in every respect as well as a hard working vessel who quite often is the first out in the Spring as well as the last to be laid up for the season at the end of the year. These photos were all taken at various locations on the Saint Clair River as she made her way down in all kinds of lighting conditions which kept the small group of photographers busy that on this bitterly cold day.
Alpena breaking ice bow detail at Saint Clair
A few of my friends and I were watching the progress of the Steamer Alpena as she made her way from Sturgeon Bay, WI to her winter berth in Cleveland in later January. This was a journey that required that she navigate through very poor ice conditions at the Mackinaw Straits as well as the Saint Clair River, across the top of Lake Michigan and the entire length of Lake Huron which was also badly ice choked. The time of her arrival was up in the air for us as she had to check down at several locations due to ice conditions. It didn't look promising when I went to bed the night before so, when I woke up early the next morning I checked to see how she'd done. Since ice breaking operations are rarely done at night because of the danger involved, I was happy to see she had checked down to a few knots at Lakeport (North of Port Huron) which would allow for photos of her in the river. She was accompanied by USCG cutter Hollyhock and eventually the CCGS Samuel Risely which was working her way up from Detroit, breaking a path through Lake Saint Clair and the lower Saint Clair River.
The SS Alpena is our oldest (1942) classic laker operating and remains one of a very few steam powered vessels on the Great Lakes. She is truly a classic in every respect as well as a hard working vessel who quite often is the first out in the Spring as well as the last to be laid up for the season at the end of the year. These photos were all taken at various locations on the Saint Clair River as she made her way down in all kinds of lighting conditions which kept the small group of photographers busy that on this bitterly cold day.