This morning on the Princess Wenonah, on our way back to our home dock at Wenonah Park, we passed the outbound G.L. Ostrander/Integrity at the Holcim Cement Dock, right after they turned in the Essexville Turning Basin. Schooner Appledore IV was also just ahead of us.
Today, I had the great pleasure to be a guest on the Mark W. Barker for a trip from the Wirt Stone Dock in Bay City, to the Wirt Stone Dock in Saginaw. The Captain and the crew were amazing hosts! And while I still love the classic boats, the Mark W. Barker is modern technology personified and an amazing boat. Many thanks to everyone for a great day!
There
were a total of 25 commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River for the
month of May 2023, with 11 different docks receiving 37 separate deliveries of
product, accounting for split cargos delivered to multiple docks. This represents three more passages than in
May 2022, and is more than the 5-year average of 22 passages, the 10-year
average of 18, and the 15-year average of 17 vessel passages.
For the total number of commercial vessel passages for the year-to-date, there have been 37. This number is more than the total from last year at this point by four passages. Looking at the averages, it is an increase compared to the 5-year average of 33 passages, the 10-year average of 26 passages, and the 15-year average of 26 vessel passages.
Mark W. Barker made a third consecutive trip to the Saginaw River on June 1st, this time backing into the slip at Port Fisher in Bay City to unload for Bay Aggregates. There are quite a few photos in this series, but it shows the approach and turn to back into the slip and the start of unloading.
It was an interesting visit to the Saginaw River on May 31st for the Laura L. VanEnekvort - Joseph H. Thompson. Approaching the Lafayette Bridge upbound, they were notified the bridge was having mechanical issues and unable to open. The pair had to stop in the river and hold their position until repairs were made a few hours later. They then continued upriver to unload at the GM Dock in Saginaw and were then outbound the next morning through Bay City without incident.
Here are a few more shots of Mark W. Barker on May 30th, upbound on the Saginaw River.
I have a number of photos from the first two visits of the Mark W. Barker to the Saginaw River and will be posting them over the next few days. These shots are the Barker inbound on May 30th at the Lake State Railway Bridge with a split cargo for the Wirt Stone Docks in Bay City and Saginaw. Tomorrow's post will feature the Barker with the sunset.
