Aune-Osborn Campground, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the LORD, His wonderful deeds in the deep. Psalm 107:23-24
This morning, we went on the Soo Locks Tour boat. Outside of the early morning dreariness, and my brief misunderstanding as to where we were headed, it was a wonderful tour! Since they began in 1934 (plus they’re the only company), we figured they’d do a good job. “He (the Captain who began the company) believed that the only way to truly experience the Soo Locks was by boat. He believed that all visitors to Sault Ste. Marie deserved the opportunity to experience the Soo Locks by riding through them.”
The tours are approximately two hours long and we settled on the first tour, which left at 10:00am. Because they are at the mercy of the lock schedule and operation, they advise that the tour could be longer. One of the Tripadvisor reviewers said their tour ended up being four hours and their kids were hungry. Well, sorry about that, but there IS a snack bar on board. Maybe they didn’t have any money? Anyway, I feel more sorry for the tour guide who had to fill all that time with talking. 😊
That’s our boat – the Nokomis
Our tour was the designated two hours, and Blaine secured us the best “seat” in the house! Standing at the bow! Besides the great viewing spot, the seats were really uncomfortable because they tilted back.
Fantastic!
We saw some interesting things, went into Canada without a passport, and got to ride in the MacArthur lock – but not with a ship. Darn! It was still interesting and fun and I had the pleasure of explaining things to a little girl about 8 years old named Lulu.
On our way . . .
This is a repair shop. : )
The dock is underwater, the ship docks, then the platform is raised so the ship is above the water.
The Canadian Coast Guard
This is the Edison Power Plant you read about yesterday.
It’s huge!
The pilings were designed to look like lighthouses. Pretty cool, huh?
The ever-present Tower of History
That’s neat!
Or at least we thought so.
The International Bridge and the smokestacks in Ontario
This is the Valley Camp Ship Museum.
We’ll be going there later today.
Approaching the Locks.
They go slow because they have to wait for permission.
Entering the Lock.
Look at all the spectators!
A few waved, but not as many as you might think.
We’re tied up and waiting for the water level to rise.
They had to take extra time with us because of a small tugboat outside the lock that some men were working on
If they release the water into the Lock too quickly (as fast as normal), that pulls on the boat outside the lock.
Makes sense, but who knew??
The power of water is incredible!
This is the camera’s eye view, without the zoom.
Looks really far away, doesn’t it!
The gate is going up, which means we can leave the Lock.
We thought this was a great picture!
This is the Roger Blough.
You’ll see a painting of this ship later, but it’s not painted the same way. Hmmmm….
I was nervous taking this one! I had to hold my phone out over the open water!
No whooops allowed!
There we are – just like Titanic! : )
My misunderstanding came when I realized our time was half over and we had yet to sail past the Point Iroquois Lighthouse. I didn’t realize that that’s a separate “lighthouse” tour. Once I got over that brief moment of disappointment, I was fine. 😊 Our next site was a working steel mill on the Canadian side. It had huge piles of lime stone, taconite, and Coal. All used in the steel making industry.
Taconite
We went right up close to it!
That was interesting!
This is the Canadian Lock.
I’m pretty sure this is the only one they have, and it’s not very big.
They have a swing train bridge that they use fairly regularly.
It’s the one we see beside the International Bridge.
We tried to get a picture of the tracks, but neither of us were tall enough. : )
Pretty buildings!
I forget when they were built – somewhere around the 1900’s when the lock was built.
Going down . . . .
Canada actually allows people to cross over the top of the their Lock!
Open sesame!
I forget how tall they said this cross in Ontario was, but as you can see, it’s REALLY tall!
As we leave Canada and re-enter the US – somewhere along this river – we can see the River Rapids, the US hydropower plant, the Canadian train bridge, and the International Bridge.
Back home for a quick bite to eat, and guess who we saw?
Looky there! It’s the Roger Blough! The ship that was coming in the Locks as we were leaving them.
So it took them about two hours to get through the lock and sail the short distance to our campground!
After lunch, it was off to the Valley Camp Maritime Museum. This one was interesting because it’s actually on an old freighter like the thousand-footers – only smaller. If you remember from yesterday’s post, the Valley Camp ran from 1917 – 1966. The cargo hold is 20,000 square feet, once housed a crew of 29 and is only 550’ long. That’s about half as long as those freighters we’ve been watching! Believe me, it was plenty long enough to walk on – in fact, we were pretty sure it was longer than that.
They, too, had some interesting information, and some that just wasn’t interesting to me (or both of us) at all, being as how it’s a maritime museum and we’re not sailors. But that’s okay. There was plenty to read and look at.
From the time we entered the ship, we could feel the list to the side. I don’t know, but I’m thinking maybe they did that on purpose, to give us a feel for being on a ship.
See next. picture for description
We thought these salaries were pretty low and were very surprised to see they were from 1965.
A picture of the David Dows
Some of the things they found from the Independence.
Remember, we’re on an actual ship, so this was pretty cool!
This is an ax-sharpening seat.
These are taffrails.
Description in next picture.
Sorry. I cut off part of the description. : (
Hey! That looks like my first washer! My grandma gave me hers. : )
Sponges???
This is a lighting contactor.
Someone made a lot of models!
But it’s a good comparison.
It’s probably hard to see, but this display shows the route we took on the Soo Locks Boat Tour this morning.
This is the lighthouse we visited the other day.
That’s an old light station rescue boat.
US life-saving service surf boat station in Ludington, Michigan – 1890
These guys are removing ice from the bottom of the old lock that was built in the 1890’s.
The picture was taken on April 11, 1907.
“Note the fine masonry work of the lock wall!”
That’s an art gallery down there. We’ll get to that eventually, but it wasn’t very interesting. It was all ship “portraits” by the same artist.
An electricians nightmare!
As the position of the men improved, so did their rooms – they get more windows and the decor improves too.
There were some things on this ship that we thought should have been cleaned up.
Not only this desk, but there was lots of what looked like trash in this area.
There was a sign that said each of these anchor links weighs 25#!
I told you we learned some interesting things! : )
Just in case you ever wondered . . . .
These guys actually had springs under their mattress!?
See the stairway in the back?
And the trash on the floor? Why???
Another view of the captains quarters
The galley
The galley was open 24 hours a day and the crew could eat when and as much as they wanted at no cost to them.
Maybe that explains the lower salaries? : )
The officers dining room.
Not a good picture, but I was trying to capture the perspective. Eh . . . not so much.
Look at these floors!
No one told us you had to be sure-footed to walk around this museum. . .
I only took a picture of this ship, the Roger Blough, because we’d seen her this morning.
Notice how she’s painted differently?
They had two giant Indian portraits.
These washing machines were used on Great Lakes freighters from the early 1800s to the early 1900s.
And more interesting information! : )
I just liked this door. : )
I got curious about the Edmund Fitzgerald and why its demise has been so immortalized when other ships have perished on Lake Superior. I found more information than I want to put in this post, so I’ll do a Special Edition at some point.
Some of these pictures may resurface (no pun intended) when I do my Special Edition.
Can you believe this!?
Thus concludes our day “on the water”.