The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at; https://boatnerd3.jasonbowlerdesign.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026/
Merry Christmas to all from Boatnerd and all please have a safe holiday
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Miedwie season’s last saltie at Duluth
DULUTH, Minn. – It’s the time of year when shipping season comes to a close on The Great Lakes. And Tuesday night, the last ocean-going vessel of the 2025 season left the Twin Ports.
The Maltese-flagged vessel Miedwie left the Duluth-Superior port after 8 p.m. with a farewell salute blown by her Great Lakes pilot, Capt. Eric Treece. She’s carrying durum wheat and headed to Algeria. This ship is the last in a group of six ocean vessels leaving Duluth with grain since Dec. 13.
The Miedwie is part of the Polsteam fleet and is named for a lake in Poland.
“This is the third consecutive December that the port of Duluth-Superior has welcomed nine oceangoing vessel arrivals, and that’s a really strong number. In fact, it was actually the most ocean-going vessel arrivals in a single month this season,“ said Jayson Hron of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
All ocean-going vessels must exit the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence seaway system by Jan. 5th.
Northern News Now
Watch a Duluth Harbor Cam video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHTzVoNC6Zs
Cruise ship visits to Lake Superior lighthouse on hold due to First Nation’s land claim
ROSSPORT, ON — A historic lighthouse on Lake Superior’s north shore has been removed from the itinerary for visiting cruise ships after the federal government suspended an agreement with a registered charity that’s worked for years to improve facilities on the site.
The decision is tied to a land claim by Pays Plat First Nation that includes Battle Island, about nine kilometres south of Rossport, ON.
“This thing boiled up…and they said we are suspending your licence,” said Andre Nicol, spokesperson for the Friends of Battle Island Lighthouse (FOBIL). “We can’t bring any cruise boats on at this point.”
In 2025, Viking Octantis had Rossport on its itinerary. Some one-hundred and fifty guests and 10 crew were shuttled to nearby Battle Island. Mainly comprised of visitors from the United States from places such as California, Mississippi, Michigan, and Virginia, the group explored the island and learned about its history and rare plant life. Guests were also treated to storytelling by local Indigenous interpreters.
A spokesperson for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans confirms a decision was made at the end of July to suspend an agreement that allowed the group’s volunteers to work on the island, make improvements, and facilitate visits to it.
In an email to Newswatch, DFO said the suspension was imposed “to allow for a review of activities taking place on the island.”
Pays Plat Chief David Mushquash said his community is concerned about what’s been happening on the island, a spot that he described as sacred land for the First Nation.
“The Friends of Battle Island are supposed to come and talk to us, and they don’t, and they’re doing things on the island…Certainly it’s a tourist attraction…They have these people out there. I’m not quite sure what their intentions are, but they don’t want to talk to us,” he said in a recent interview.
Superior North News
