Today’s photos come to us from Peterson’s Fish Market, showing us how difficult it is to break through the ice in the Spring to get their 1946 Burger built commercial fishing boat, the Three Sons, loose from the dock. The dock is at Kauppi’s Dockside Resort, out in Gay where they park it this time of year. It was quite a job to break the boat loose from the dock using a bubbler in the water to make that happen. Then the daunting task of breaking through ice that is five feet thick to get out on Lake Superior and back to bringing in fresh fish. I’m not sure exactly how many days it took to finally get the fishing vessel free of the ice, but it was just under a week of progress each day, slow but sure, powering up the boat to use the 50 ton weight to break the ice in front of the boat. Then finally, they made it through the last of that thick ice and they were “free at last” to get out there on the Big Lake and bring in fresh Whitefish and Lake Trout for their customers. I can’t imagine having to go through all that, they have a good crew on their fishing boat for sure!

The Peterson’s could have used an ice breaker like the US Coast Guard Biscayne Bay in today’s video from Andrea Guerriero over at DRE Designs-Great Lakes Marine Products. Video credit goes to Jamie Metro and Andrea, as she put together the clips from Jamie to make one video. The Biscayne Bay is pushing ice in Sault Ste. Marie near the Sugar Islander Ferry Dock. The lead-in says: “Icebreakers are doing their thing here in Sault Ste Marie right now getting the Harbor and St Marys River ready for the ships... Right now the USCGC Biscayne Bay has been hanging around to assist in making sure that the Sugar Island Ferry can function between the island and the mainland... They have had some issues the last few weeks so it's good that the Coast Guard is here to help! A big thank you to each and every vessel out there from both the US and Canada for working so hard this winter to ensure safe passage for the ships that remained out on the Lakes delivering road salt to ports on Lake Michigan... In a couple of weeks we'll see a few of them head this way to lock through and ensure the upper Harbor and all the way out to Whitefish Point can be navigated by the ships as they make their way here when the season begins on the 25th.”

Hi
Great video, though I wonder if it was sped up a
little.

I saw on TV that the Coast Guard had to rescue a man
whose snowmobile went through the ice near Mackinac
Island. It was just a quick blurb, no details.

With regard to bubblers, a man on an inland lake near
here put a bubbler near his dock. He'd put in a
permanent dock that couldn't be taken out for winter
& thought it needed protection. The problem was that
this made the ice unsafe for his neighbors who wanted
to skate or go ice fishing. They went to court & the
judge ruled he had to stop.

I think you may be right about the video, Kathryn.
It looks sped up to me. Very cool, though.

It takes dedication to work that hard to get that
boat out on the lake. With prices skyrocketing, I'm
hoping their fish isn't going to go up in price too
much. It's so good.

Can't tell if that video is sped up, but since the ice doesn't appear to be solid ("fast) the CG boats will usually go thru more rapidly; no need to let the bow ride up on the ice to let the weight of the boat crush through.
Interesting story Kathy about that bubbler! Maybe the judge is an ice fisherman.

BTW, HAPPY ST URHO'S DAY!!

Hi
George, with regard to bubbler guy I don't know how
much the dock was at risk. My grandpa had a permanent
dock on a small lake that made through winters just
fine. On the other hand, thin ice is a hazard, both for
the neighbors and any other people who weren't familiar
with the area.

Awesome video! Would that be a ride!

Well, our storm sure turned into a dud. BUT, I
called my niece in Escanaba...the Banana Belt got 4
FEET of snow~ Even the plows got pulled off the
roads~ My brother sent a pic of his snowblower,
and it's not high enough to see over the snow in
the driveway! They got our snow!

Good Luck Peterson's....get lots of fish.