• Friday-What'sUP December 18 - 04:33 pm

Bob Gilreath was in Sault Ste. Marie this past weekend for hockey and you could say he had a ringside seat to all the action at the locks. Bob said they stayed at the Longships Motel, which is right next to the Soo Locks. For any boat nerd, I would think being this close to the boat action would be a must.

During their stay, Bob snapped quite a number of shots…the first one here, shows the camera looking south from Mission Point, with the upbound Baie St. Paul and the downbound Atlantic Patriot. Talk about being right in the thick of things for the comings and goings of these big boats.

In the second photo, Bob captured his wife, Liz, as she was heading out for a run, right alongside the Atlantic Patriot. I wonder if she outran it or just stayed right with it as she jogged down the path. Checking out the rest of Bob's shots, you see the variety of boats that were up and down the waterway all day, including the Sugar Islander, which is the car ferry that takes folks and their vehicles over to and back from Sugar Island near the Soo.

Bob's last boat photo is the Sam Laud as it was going through the locks. Bob said the Captain gave them all a salute and wished them a Merry Christmas as he pulled out. That makes me wonder if these sailors get to go home for the holidays or if they'll be sailing the Great Lakes like it's any other day. If the latter is the case, I hope they have a safe and uneventful passage as their Christmas gift this year.

I so enjoyed all the pics of the Sault Locks. I think
i may have to visit that area again one day.

Our best vacation was when Bob & I visited The Soo!

Enjoyed seeing all the different ships! And the one of the Islander makes me wonder if they have the Ironton Ferry, down by Charlevoix, back running after the fire. Imagine so; it's been a while!

I'm with you, Judy. I must go back. Loved it
there!

I always love any views of The Lakers. The Paul
Tregurtha at The Soo reminded me of a visit 10
years ago when we were helping out with the
hydroplane boat races on the St. Mary's River.
Early one morning the fog was just clearing as
a "ghost ship" appeared out of nowhere. It was
the Paul Tregurtha.

Looks like I need a little practice specifying
photo upload. I had no idea my mistakes were
getting through. I apologize.

Mary says: No apology necessary...I went ahead and cleaned up the previous attempts at posting these. :-)

Here's a closer look.

Keep 'em sailing!

Glad you stuck with it D. A. (Midwested)! The pictures are fantastic!

Looks like photo #1 was taken at Rotary Park. If you go there,
get your lunch to go at Clyde's Drive-in at eat it at the park
when boat watching.

Photos 4, 5, & 6 were taken at the west pier approaches to the
locks. If you go there, get your lunch at the West Pier Drive-in.

Either way you get a good meal and good boat watching.