Joseph L. Block likely first boat at the Soo Friday; Visitor Center open house Saturday

Sault Ste. Marie, MI – With her late afternoon Wednesday departure from BayShip at
Sturgeon Bay, the Joseph L. Block looks like it will be the first vessel to transit the Soo
locks Friday afternoon to open the new shipping season. The vessel, operated by
Central Marine Logistics, is due at DeTour around 10 a.m. Thursday.

Indiana Harbor looked like it might have taken the inaugural honors, but as of 10 p.m.
Wednesday she was still fueling at the Mistersky dock in Detroit.

The captain and crew of the first vessel will be greeted by Sault Ste. Marie officials who
will present the captain and crew with First Ship caps courtesy the Soo Locks Visitor
Center Association, as well as plaques, a mayoral proclaimation and other honors,
including copies of the 2024 Know Your Ships book. Joining them will be the winner of
a raffle sponsored by the Soo Locks Visitor Center Association.

The Soo Locks open Friday, March 22, at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the Soo Locks Visitor
Center will host an open house from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Visitors can enjoy cookies and
coffee, check boat arrival schedules and share ship stories with fellow Boatnerds.

Special guest Roger LeLievre, Know Your Ships editor, will be available starting at 11
a.m. to sell and sign copies of the latest edition.

NEWS21

Boatnerds excited about Soo Locks opening Friday at 6 p.m.

Sault Ste. Marie, MI – The Soo Locks officially open Friday, March 22, at 6 p.m. in Sault
Ste. Marie, MI, and locals and people from far away are excited. This is earlier than the
scheduled 12:01 a.m. March 25 opening.

For those fans of watching, chasing and taking pictures of the freighters, they are a
special group of people called Boatnerds.

Lifelong Boatnerd Roger LeLievre, author of the annual book Know Your Ships,
explained why opening day is so important to him.

Opening Day is not only the start of the shipping season, but it is the start of my Know
Your Ships books season. It’s a sign that spring is here and it’s time for me to shake off
winter and get back to doing what I love the most, which is chasing boats and selling
books, LeLievre said.

Opening day is also about catching up with friends after a two-and-a-half-month break
from chasing boats.

“I also get a chance to reconnect with Boatnerd friends on Opening Day who are also
happy to see the ships moving again and are willing to travel quite a ways to watch the
opener. The Boatnerd community is like my family and I’m personally excited to be back
in action after winter lay-up, LeLievre added.

Nick Stenstrup, who lives in Minnesota, has been a Boatnerd since he was in
elementary school. Somewhere around 6th or 7th grade. I went from that’s really cool
to being a part of the Know Your Ships team and working with historical societies. It is a
vocation,Stenstrup said. Opening Day is like the second New Year’s Day of the
calendar year. And then we get baseball shortly after! I hope the mariners are excited to
get back to work with good spring weather.

Stenstrup says he loves being part of the Boatnerd community. Every year proves how
large and how connected the community is becoming. It’s great to be a part of it,
Stenstrup said.

Joy Fett, a Sault Ste. Marie resident, is also a Boatnerd who has her own Facebook
page to express her love for the freighters.

My FB page is dedicated to those who are not fortunate enough to see them every day
or who have a huge love and interest in the shipping industry. Bringing the love of the
vessels to those who enjoy seeing them and what they do. Plus with a lot of families on
shore, they will be able to see their loved ones are hard at work and safe. Bringing them
the joy to be able to see their loved ones working hard, helps to ease their minds a bit,
Fett said.

She, too, is excited about opening day on Friday.

Opening day brings a rush of nostalgia for me. Takes me back to the days of my dad
and me watching them sail in and out of port. When I’m out chasing them, a part of my
father is with me. Love seeing the beauty in them but at the same, seeing the hard work
that goes into them sailing from port to port keeping America’s Infrastructure moving.

Work that is not for the faint of heart. Opening day brings a lot. Hard to put it all into
words. Just knowing I’m keeping a tradition alive that started with my father who loved
to watch them. He always said there is an er of mystery about them. A true fascination.

I want to keep alive a memory that my father instilled in me, Fett concluded.

Andrea Guerriero, who lives in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, also has a dedicated
Facebook page.

The opening of the Soo Locks always gets Boatnerds excited because we know all of
our favorite ships and crews are returning for another season. We get to try to figure
out who might be first through the locks, we get to talk about the new ships that will be
coming to the Great Lakes and the ones that have retired, we have to discuss our
favorites and many of us get to plan trips to our favorite locations to watch them, and
attend events that focus on these amazing engineering masterpieces that somehow
float on water carrying tens of thousands of tons of cargo, Guerriero said.

Throughout her years chasing the ships, she has gotten to know a lot of the captains
and crew members of many freighters and companies.

I personally love it because I’m passionate about photographing the ships and crews
and capturing those moments in time that will later become a part of shipping history,
but it’s also another opportunity to meet new people, whether it’s other shipping
followers or the crews that sail. And of course, any opportunity to educate myself more
gets me excited as well. Great Lakes Shipping is an incredibly fascinating industry with
so much about these ships and crews to learn. I am fortunate to know many of the
crews who sail, so I can ask the questions and learn all about what they do and how,
and with the platform I have on Facebook, I can then share all that I learn with everyone
who follows what I do and then we all know more about the importance of this industry
and what it means for both the Canadian and US economies. And for Boatnerds that’s
just as important as the ships themselves. Learning about the crews and what they do
makes it an even more amazing experience when we see them float by, Guerriero
ended.

Ray Bell, who owns several businesses, including Das Gift Haus, across from the Soo
Locks, is happy that opening day was bumped up to Friday.

I do think having the opening of the locks on Friday is a big deal. The opening of the
locks is always a big boost for business especially when it is around a weekend. This is
very exciting for business and personal. I love the freighters and follow the Boatnerds,
Bell said.

Soo Today