• Thursday-What'sUP December 20 - 08:43 am

Brenda Leigh headed into town at the Sault recently and noticed there was a lot of shipping traffic going by, so she headed to the Soo Locks to get some wintry photos to share with us all.

Interesting how the ice coats the entire ship like that this time of year and then breaks off for whatever reason in places like on the American Integrity, so you can read her name better. I can't imagine sailing on Lake Superior during these snowy months. The visibility has got to be at its worst and the cold must be even more frigid when you're out on the open water.

Kudos to the folks that sail these big boats, hauling all the necessary cargo that we need to and from the U.P. to other parts of the Great Lakes. It's usually around January 25th or so when the locks close for the season. I wonder since we've been having such snowy weather and cold temps, if that date will be sooner this year?

FOOTNOTE: Yesterday's shots from Judy Byykkonen showed us some snowfall accumulations. If you missed them, just click here: Wednesday, Dec. 18th, to take a look at them!

Speaking of shipping, today was the final day of shipping pasties for 2013. If you follow the pasty counter on the home page, you saw a big jump in December, as hundreds of displaced Yoopers everywhere ordered up the UP's favorite comfort food in time for Christmas.

We have been working every waking moment the past few weeks, to keep up with this demand. As a result, the Pasty Cam has appeared later in the day lately. Tonight we get back on track, with Dec 19th appearing less than a half hour after the 18th.

By the way, the January shipping schedule is now available, so if you didn't make it before the Christmas cutoff, just remember that old slogan, "Promise her anything, but give her PASTIES" (with our apologies to the Arpege Perfume folks).

I actually shivered when I saw that last photo. I can't imagine working on the deck of a ship when the weather is like it is now. As much as I grumble about my job, at least I'm sitting in my office with the space heater at my feet!

Thanks Mary for my morning fix. Having sailed on 3 different freighters in days gone by I can recall seeing a few ice covered ships. On the OGLEBAY we had Christmas dinner aboard and were home by New Years Eve so didnt get ice covered as bad as your great pictures today. These views were seen by hundreds of "copper country men".

It does look frigid, for sure. Our local morning news showed a freighter (unnamed) that had been stuck in ice on the Saginaw River. The Coast Guard had to come in and break up the ice, so they are warning people to stay off the ice until it refreezes enough to become safe again. That is really early for the Saginaw River to freeze over. I wonder if they will have to close the Soo Locks early this year? And maybe the Great Lakes might freeze over?

Nice pix and good work Charlie...I take back everything I said :-)

Just a quick THANKS to Charlie and the entire pasty-making crew for doing double duty to get those extra orders out and on their way (mine included!!) I wish all of you a very happy and healthy holiday season.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Stay safe Sailors!

Charlie, you and Mary are my heroes. The record remains unbroken! The Pasty Cam is better than 1-A-Day and the mail delivery. The spiritual and emotional refreshment you bring every day, with the help of all your contributors UP there, cannot be thanked enough!! We are blessed to have you. MC and HNY, everybody!

I'm doing the same thing Martha Kirk. Thanks for the photos Brenda and PastyCam. The last one really puts things in perspective. I love them all however.

I'd say those Lake freighter sailors certainly possess "American Integrity"! God bless 'em!

Great photos, thanks Brenda.

On Monday of this week, the one of the American Integrity's sister boats, the Buffalo, needed some help from an Andrie tug vessel to get turned around in the ice on Muskegon Lake so she could deliver coal to the BC Cobb power plant. We had heavy shoreline ice form on the Lake Michigan shoreline on December 12, and that's as early as I remember seeing it in the last 20 years.

When I took my routine stop at Marquette Park in Savanna it was rather unusual for the Mississippi to be ice covered almost completely. Guess the tugboats are now all snug in their ports. There's already one fisherman lost under the ice down river near the Quad Cities. Visited with a family friend who lost her husband 6 years ago. His body wasn't recovered until spring. I don't think I could handle being on a ship like the above for very long. I'm ready for another trip to The Sault again. Neat place.

I wish I were there. But, I am not so click on pasty.com everyday. Thanks so much for the wonderful site.

Marianne & Dunerat, I remember past news stories about ice fishermen going out on Lake St. Clair or Muskegon Lake and taking unexpected voyages when ice floes formed, either due to ship traffic or changing conditions.

Due to ice conditions The Coast Guard crew will be
escorting the tug Samuel de Champlain pushing the
barge Innovation from the Saginaw Bay area to
Essexville, Mich.

The one year I worked full season on the Steamer Cason J. Callaway we'd picked enough ice from spray to give us a four degree list to starboard after crossing L. Superior and reaching Whitefish Bay. We put bigger nozzles in the furnaces to handle the fuel needed to heat water flowing through the fire suppression sytem at 120 psi from the lake to the deck crew hosing the ice off the hull and superstructure on the bow end, the stern being ice free.

Oh my, what an experience, Richard. Thankful you're still here to tell about it, and the Cason Callaway is still sailing the 'high seas'!

All I can say is BRRRRRRRRRR! Great pics though!