Boatnerd News

Boatnerd News – March 17, 2025

March 17, 2025

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text single_style=”” css=””]

Fundraiser launched to restore
Neebish Island Lookout Station #4

Neebish Island Lookout Station #4, located on the mainland across from Neebish Island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is a former Coast Guard lookout tower that is now in a state of disrepair, with hopes for restoration through a public-private partnership. 

Lookout Station #4, built in 1908, is located near the mainland ferry dock. With growing vessel traffic passing by Neebish Island, the Coast Guard established several lookout stations on the island and across the river on the mainland. Due to technical automation, only this one lookout station remains standing. The purpose of the stations was to report vessel traffic to the Soo Locks.

This building has become an iconic landmark with a picture of the station often used in Neebish memorabilia.

See the poster in the gallery or find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/people/Shipmates-of-Lookout-4-St-Marys-River-Barbeau-MI/61572991441659/

Soo Locks to open Friday for 2025 shipping season

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District will open the Poe Lock, part of the Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan early to all marine traffic at 8 a.m. on March 21, marking the start of the 2025 Great Lakes shipping season.
The shipping industry requested an early season opening based on the understanding that “the 2025 winter lock maintenance will be completed by this date and an early opening will not impact U.S. Army Corps operations this season,” said Lake Carriers’ Association President James Weakley.
“Opening the Soo Locks on March 21 will provide relief to the increased pressure that the Great Lakes Navigation System will face with the influx of foreign vessels including the Canadian domestic fleet on March 22 when the Seaway opens,” said Weakley.
“Our winter maintenance period is a critical time for us to execute strategic asset renewal investments in our aging locks,” Soo Locks Operations Manager LeighAnn Ryckeghem said. “This year, a number of factors worked in our favor that allowed us to safely deliver this critical maintenance and also open to navigation traffic a few days early.”
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District

 

Enter Duluth’s 42nd Annual First Ship Contest

Birds chirping. Snow thawing. Groundhogs emerging. There are many signs of spring across the country. In Duluth, it’s when the season’s first oceangoing vessel, known as a “saltie,” enters the city’s harbor. Begone ice! The ships are coming in. 

To celebrate the occasion, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Visit Duluth are partnering for the 42nd Annual First Ship Contest. Correctly guess when the season’s first saltie sails into our seaport and you could win an epic prize package of Duluth goods and experiences. The second-place winner will also receive a prize package.

Here’s the link: https://visitduluth.com/first-ship/

2025 “Know Your Ships” launches

The new shipping season is at hand, and so is the release of the 2025 edition of Know Your Ships, the popular annual field guide to boats and boatwatching on the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway, now in its 66th year.

Preorders are now being taken. As usual, standard and spiral bindings are available. Preorders will be the first to mail out when the book arrives from the printer around March 23.

New this year is the ability to preorder the midsummer EXTRA magazine, which will feature a 50th anniversary tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald and her crew,  when you preorder the book.

To mark the opening of the Soo Locks, Editor & Publisher Roger LeLievre will be at the Soo Locks Visitor Center Saturday, March 26, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., to sign copies of the new edition. Buy them right from him, or from Das Gift Haus and Island Books and Crafts in the Soo, bring them to the Visitor Center and he will sign them.

Preorder at this link: www.knowyourships.com

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]