Great Lakes photo essay

Recently returned from a couple of weeks sailing with the crew of the M/V Paul R. Tregurtha, longest vessel on the Great Lakes, as she set out on the first voyage of the new shipping season. Headed out of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, bound for Duluth/Superior and then St. Clair (near Detroit). Conditions on the lakes were somewhat extreme, with two and three feet of ice stopping the Tregurtha dead in her tracks several times, until icebreakers could arrive to assist. Cold, icy, tough work for the crew, and a reminder that working on the Great Lakes is no pleasure cruise. Some images from the trip:

The ice-strengthened bow of the Tregurtha

Entering Lake Michigan from Sturgeon Bay

Capt. Timothy Dayton and helmsman Mark Salgy

Icebreaking tug Erika Kobasic clearing a lead

Ice track aft of Tregurtha, Lake Michigan

Second Mate Steve Nevin, entering Poe Lock upbound, Sault Ste Marie

First Mate Daniel Culligan

Clearing deck ice, Lake Superior

Inside No. 2 hold

Deckhand Daniel Prevost and Second Mate Steve Nevin, leaving Duluth/Superior

Capt. Timothy Dayton and Chief Engineer Lorne Warczinsky

USCGC Mackinaw and CCGS Samuel Risley clearing tracks in Whitefish Bay

Sunset on Lake Superior