For me spring is signaled by a series of events. Canoecopia,
in Madison
WI. This is the largest Paddlesport show
in North America, sponsored by Rutabaga Paddlesports of Madison. The Gaelic Storm concert at
the Myer Theater in Green Bay (http://youtu.be/rB8CuFPMKv8),
and then Ice Breaking, which signals the start of the shipping season on the
upper Great Lakes.
Canoecopia…there is never enough time to listen to the entire speaker
series as well as going to the store. I
did run into several friends, Tim Pflieger who owns the DoorCountyAdventureCenter
and Terrie Cooper who is the Land Program Director for the Door County Land Trust. They gave a presentation about kayaking here
in Door County.
I stopped by the OutwardBound booth to just say hi
and shared my experience about going to Colorado OB in 1976 and how what I
learned then, has been part of my life since…almost 40 years…really that long?…wowzaa!
I walked over to the WoodenCanoeHeritageAssociation exhibit and
admired the skill of a woodworker as he smoothed a paddle made from
sassafras. He was using a nice looking
spoke shave with adjustment screws to fine tune the blade while holding it
firmly…nice.. As I gave it a try it he told me he had found it in the Lee
Valley Tools catalog. It was a VERITAS® Flat Spokeshave-A2. A pretty sweet tool.
Tuesday night I fell asleep to the humming of the diesel electric engine of the Coast
Guard Cutter Mobile Bay, and the
thumping prop wash of the Tug Jimmy L, as they broke ice, softening a path so the first ship could leave town.
During lunch Wed, I could see the CG cutter, Mobile
Bay, the CG Ice-Breaker Mackinaw with several Selvik tugs heading
out into Green Bay.
Mackinaw
They were opening a path in preparation for
the first ship of the winter fleet to leave town.
Mobile Bay
Joseph L Block
By Wed afternoon the Joseph L Block was ready to go and outwardbound into the ICE. Probably heading up Green Bay toward Escanaba, Michigan to pick up a load of iron
ore.
So after work, I ran over to Pottawatomie State Park. The shipping channel runs near
shore there and I could get up close to the ships as they banged their way out
through the ice.
Tug Jimmy L with Ice Shanty
CG Cutter Mobile Bay
The Block was being
lead by the Mobile
Bay and the tug Jimmy L,
who seems to always be in on the action.
Watch Them Working the ICE
Tug Mary Page Hannah
The Tugs Mary Page, Jimmy L and the J L Block
The tug Mary Page Hannah, Jimmy L, another unknown ship in
the distance miles away in Green Bay.
We have had a long cold winter with 55 days below zero and solid ice
since Dec. Today, March 12, it was still
only 10 above. In many places the ice is well over 3 feet thick. These boats will have a long, slow, slog
breaking ice as they head north.
Now I wait for
above freezing temps so my boat can break out!
...and
the time.
