Thunder
Bay Coast Guard Base.
Thunder
Cape on the left
and
Cape Lambton on the right.
We
had delivered the Thunder Cape to Thunder Bay. After a 2 day wait
the Cape Lambton was ready to be relieved and to proceed to Hamilton
for refit.
The
Cape Lambton had one final SAR call in the hours before all the
equipment was moved and the boats were officially exchanged.
A
lot of materiel had to be moved to the Thunder Cape to make it operational.
The
final day was a windy one and Ed had a difficult time hanging onto
his hat.
Click
on photo to see
full-screen
view.
Preparing
for a weather broadcast.
Oooh,
I moved while taking this.
It
does give you a good idea of the radio station layout, though.
Thunder Bay Coast Guard radio.
Their transmissions are available all over Lakes Superior and Huron as well as Georgian Bay.
They also cover Hudson Bay and may soon expand into the western Arctic.
There
is nothing out that window except for an elevator!
During the summer there are normally two operators on duty.
They do all Safety broadcasts as well as weather and an unofficial Traffic call-in for their coverage area.
Even
though it looks smooth a 47 foot boat at 27 knots makes this type of
day a rough ride. Consequently I didn't get her name.
When the Cape Lambton left Thunder Bay the weather was a bit rough all the way to Marquette. We went across the lake instead of through the Keweenaw to save time. After a night in Marquette we went across Superior to the Soo. We stayed under the lee of the U.S. shore and had a decent ride until we arrived at Whitefish Bay. It sure got rough there but the day's run was nearly over.
Looking
upbound in the Rock Cut.
After
a night in the Soo we found the forecast unfavourable, so we spent a
second night there.
When
we did leave the Soo there was only one other ship in the system for
us to watch.
Martin
drives the Cape Lambton down the Rock Cut. The tempation to do 27
knots in here was very strong - but there was another ship ahead of us.
The ship ahead of us was the Middletown.
These photos show her just before turning into the Rock Cut down bound and just after completing her turn.
Click
on photo to see
full-screen
view.
At the bottom of the Rock Cut was a tug and dredge busy moving stuff from the water to the shore.
Or, maybe it was the other way around.
Once
below the Rock Cut we made the decision to pass the Middletown - on
the sunny side, of course, to get better shots!
From there on we saw nary a ship all the way to Lake Huron. And even then there wasn't much. We went to Tobermory for fuel (remember the 200 nautical mile rule) and then continued on to Sarnia where we arrived late at night.
Mississagi
upbound on Lake Huron.
CCGC
Sora returning to Amherstburg base.
Even the St Clair and Detroit rivers were nearly empty.
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