• Friday-What'sUP November 20 - 12:53 am

Last week, we climbed on board the Herbert C. Jackson freighter, compliments of Peter Tormala. We revisit this same ship today. The first shot keeps drawing me back, perhaps because of the feeling of being aboard and seeing all the details that only the sailors on deck are usually privy to. Looking at the sign on the stack: Fire Station No. 18, makes you realize what a diversified group of people are needed on a ship this size...pretty much the 'jack of all trades' kind. Lee Rowe caught another unique view of the same ship as she backed into the Marquette Harbor, giving us a better perspective on the proportion of the stack in relation to the rest of the ship, but especially to the size of the man on the docks. That's actually one big floating city!

I like those pictures!

Dad always said a boat was a hole in the water you throw your money into.
So I guess that loader on shore has a bucket full of cash ready to dump into the wake of that bad boy!
Nice views.

When the boats "back in" to the harbor, do they go "Beep, beep, beep"?

At least you have boats. Our lake is so low, they have had to elongate the launching piers.

Does anyone know where this boat is leaving port?

Follow the boats and Know Your Ships with boatnerd.com

Good Friday Morning everyone!

Ahh,

Been on that boat many times, as I said before
My brother-in-law Bill is also on the Jackson.

Nothing like driving to Marquette for lunch
or dinner aboard an ore boat.

Good Morning, Is that a boat or a ship?

Frances GA -- On the ocean it would be a ship. On the great lakes it is a boat.

Chuck,IL -- Very funny!! I think they have a lookout who stands on the fantail and hollers at people to get out of the way cause a really BIG boat is about to run over their rubber ducky. ;>)

Mary says: Down State Dave, that's just about how it works in the Navy! My son tells me they send out an RHIB (Rigged Hull Inflatable Boat) every time his ship leaves or comes into port. The four person crew goes ahead of the ship telling smaller boats to get out of the way, the Navy's coming through! :->

Let's not start the whole "is it a boat or a ship" discussion again!

Answer to the ship or boat question IMO;

Its both. Its a boat due to great lakes tradition of calling them that. Its a ship due to its size. Whatever floats your boat (or ship).

Could you imagine the din if you were standing at "fire station 18" and that horn started sounding off?

troll:
About the same as leaning against the Eagle Harbor fog horn building when it went off....

What cargo goes the Herbert C. Jackson transport? Coal?

Love the "backing up" picture. Now why is it that you can ship something on a boat, but you can't boat something on a ship? Have a great weekend!

Da wife and I were boat on da ship dat trip!

Being the daughter of a sailor,C.C.,we had pictures of boats and more boats. Later in life I found out that people had pictures kids and family. Don't get me wrong, I loved our life with boats and water. So I guess that's a family pic.

in a sense they do go "beep beep beep", the horn signal for a ship about to back up is 3 short blasts, if im wrong about how many im sure some other boatnerd will correct me

allouezandre@phoenix;

The Stmr. Herbert C. Jackson hauls iron ore pellets (mostly marquette to the rouge plant), coal and stone.

She is 690'x75'x37.5' and is owned by the Interlake Steamship Company of Richfield, OH, who she has served for all of her seasons on the lakes. She was built in 1959 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at River Rouge, MI as a stright decked bulk frighter. In 1975 she was converted to a self unloader by Defoe Shipbuilding of Bay City, MI. She is powered by a 6,000 HP General Electric steam turbine. The Jackson can carry 24,800 tons of cargo at mid summer draft.

The Jackson was built in the same yard as the Edmund Fitzgerald, in fact she was the next ship after the Fitz built there. She is the closest remaining relative of the Fitz. Her hull was derived from the Fitz, but shorter. If you compair pictures of the two hulls you will see how close the lines are but will notice the cabins are totally different.

Good morning from Mishawaka IN. Now thats the size boat (ship) I want to be on if I go out on Lake Superior. Great pictures today.

Great pics and tribute to the sailors or the Great Lakes. My brother is the one that took the top pic, I have a lot of respect for him for doing this job, I know I can not do it. I love the land...lol Take care Pete and everyone!

Hey...here's an idea: Pasty does the sunset on the last day of the month for folks that have crossed over. (Beautiful memorial)

How about a sunrise on the first day of the month for announcing births???

Just a thought!

Chuck-
If my sister were backing this boat up it would go "crunch, crunch crunch!"

"are we there yet?!"

I like Donna's idea about a sunrise picture to announce births.

Also, who can add a sound file to today's pix, so we can hear the what a laker whistle (horn) sounds like up close & personal! -;)

Boy I sure do wish I could be sitting in the exact spot these photos were taken.
AWESOME SHOTS!

PS Safe travels to all the Techies heading home for Thanksgiving break.

Roudy MI Boata you were on dat ship trip?

To Scott-MI
thanks for info. From the picture angle, didn't look like LS&I dock to me.

allouezandre@phoenix;

No, that isn't LS&I. That is the lower harbor, they get loads of coal and stone there. She probably would have unloaded there and then shifted to LS&I at the upper harbor to load ore.

Yup,dat vas a dime ago doe. She vas dirty an I vas dirty two den.

but why is it a ship carries cargo and a truck carries a shipment

Thanks Dave for clearing up the diffance between a boat and ship.

I saw that boat in marquette last week in the habor. I never knew that a boat so big could go in reverse! that's amazing! I wish I could have gone on that trip.

Amazed,

Without reverse lake freighters would be up you know what creek without a paddle. They often have to travel through the tightest of waterways and must have a great degree of control. Great Lakes ore boats are considered to be highly manuverable for their size and their captains to be the best shiphandlers in the world. Besides, with no reverse it would take them forever to coast to a stop.

As an example, a 1,000 foot laker at full speed takes around 5 ship lengths to stop if thrown into full reverse.

One laker, the American Republic, was designed to go in reverse as well as it goes ahead. This boat is equipped with twin controlable pitch props, kort nozzels, bow and stern thrusters, 4 standard steering rudders behind the props and 4 flanking rudders infront of the props. This was done to allow her to travel Cleveland's Cuyahoga River with ease and to avoid having to turn around to get back out to the lake after going up the cuyahoga river.

Scott, with all of the boat knowledge you have, please help us boat nerds out with just one more thing: What is the best lure successful laker crews use when trolling for King Salmon while enroute?

I would think it would have to be a very bright spoon that the fish could see through the propwash. I know the shipping companies don't approve of this, but there are some whoppers swimming around in gitchee gummee!

Can someone send me to the Tech cams. I seem to have lost them

http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/cams/

off you go Steve...

Calumet and Houghton Girl's basketball goes into overtime, with 40-40 at the end of regulation play. An exciting game tonight over at Pasty.NET

thats my uncles boat. its fun to go on the boat and eat lunch. its so big!! and ive toured it many times.

Great picture by Lee Rowe!

thanks for the info scott. anyone here the final score of the Calumet- Houghton basketball game?

anyone hear the final score of the basketball game?

Houghton defeated Calumet 52-46

Have a good weekend all yoopers and trolls of the
great State of Michigan.

Gee, downstate don, how about us out-of-state wannabes? You ALL have a good weekend. :>)

Sorry Ms.Kate...I include all of the out-of-state
wannabees also...Have a great weekend. Everyone of
you from California to New York and out of the
country and out of space creatures too! Don't want
anyone feeling left out!

Thank You Again Pasty.net for these Fabulous photos!!! Living downstate while your spirit lives in the UP Marquette and Keweenaw - the spirit jumps for joy to see pictures and be transported home... The ship was my screen saver all day at work Friday and some of my social work students (difficult to engage problem middle school boys asked questions about the ship) and we had a great session..... I use the pasty.net daily pictures for my screen saver every day at work...

I worked on the Herbert C. Jackson; just a relief job in Dec. of 1986, laid her up in Ashtabula, OH on Christmas Day. A great boat to sail on.

Dave in Mohawk or someone else who knows -

What is inside the "Stack"? Obviously an exhaust for the engine and a set(?) of air horns mounted outside. Are those vents in the picture the air intake for the engine and or air ciculation system of some sort? What's inside the partially open "panel" seen in the top pic?

Hey, hey lets not name call here i'm a floridian whose making good money and i dont like that kind of name calling, troll? what is that?

Sam McCall, FL
...troll? what is that?
Well that's easy -- a Troll of course is one who lives below the bridge, and one who lives above the bridge, i.e. in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P. for short) is a "U.P.-er", or Yooper.
Where the bridge in question is Michigan's Mackinac Bridge, of course.

Sam I am glad you are making good money BUT what does that have to do with anyythiinnnggg??

I guess as an ex-troll and an ex-yooper and now a current southerner, its only natural that I get a complex when the terms start flying around! Another round of terrific pictures! I sure do love the boat pics, reminds me of the days when thats what I wanted to do when I "grew up" But I haven't grown up all the way yet so maybe there is still hope for me yet!