In lower Green Bay now for ice trials, and then as the skipper puts it, the real work begins in the Straits of Mackinac and Lake Superior in late March.

Cutter Tackles Ice

Judy

Sounds like they are going to be very, very busy for a while. When a group of us visited the MACKINAW in Chicago in early December, CDR Little made the comment to us that he saw himself as a "student of the ice". He went on to explain that each year the ice is different, and might be different from area to area. What worked last year might not work this year.

I would imagine that the only way to gain skills in ice breaking is to do it OJT. From the time I have been around CDR Little, I bet that he is working hard to train the next generation of skippers of ice breakers. He is proud of his ship and crew and the work they perform, and this comes thru in what they do. Hopefully all will go well with the testing.

If there is someone in the CG who is going to make it work with the smaller MACKINAW I believe it will be John Little. I know this is what he has been waiting for - the time to go crunch some ice!

Can the new Mack break as much ice as the old Mack?

Posted on the Green Bay Press-Gazette Saturday, March 10th... New Cutter Mackinaw Getting Workout as Icebreaker

Be sure to watch the video (turn up your sound) and check out the photo section (both contained in green blocks on the right of the news clip)

Judy

Really enjoyed the video! It was very interesting to see and hear. Also enjoyed the still pictures and the article.
Even though we don't live that far away from Green Bay...if it wasn't for you Judy, I wouldn't have known about the ice trials. Would've been cool to have known in advance and gone up and maybe have gotten some photos!
Thanks Judy!

Pretty neat video! I thought the shot of some crew measuring ice while the ship was stopped was surreal. Kind of like a North Pole Exploration scene.

Yeah, I thought it was a neat video too, and neat stills. I liked that scene of the crew measuring the ice too, and I also liked the porthole shot.

Wish I knew how to save the video. Does anyone know if that is possible?

Judy

Finally got a chance to watch the video. Great stuff !!!

And the real work begins...

Ice breakers help keep ships, economy sailing
(same video & photo album attached to this article as was in earlier post, but maybe worth viewing again?)

Cutter begins breakout work at locks

Judy

More great info, Judy! Thanks!!

I was checking out campsites at Potawatomi State Park (Sturgeon Bay, Wi) and came across a link for current conditions. I clicked on it and found this picture of the Mack breaking the ice so that ships can get into and out of Bay Shipbuilders!
dnr

Judy, Great reading, Thanks!!!

Debbie, Nice photo of the Mac!!!

Here is the latest on the Mackinaw. I have a local website that I can check on the Soo Locks. Today when I checked it....much to my suprise was a picture of the Mackinaw tied up on the west side of the locks. It had gone through the MacArthur Lock along with the Biscayne Bay. The website for the article is www.sooeveningnews.com/articles/2007/03/12/news251.txt
The website for the soo locks is as follows

https://webcam.crrel.usace.army.mil/soo/camera1.html

If the Mackinaw is at the Soo then spring isn't far off......HOORAY.

Mary

I had checked in the morning but the cameras were frozen- just showing night pictures! I didn't get time to check back.
Thanks for sharing that with us! The locks open in 9 days I think.
Come on spring!

Debbie, thanks for that neat photo.
Mary, the webcam is cool. Thank you.

Judy

Thanks, Judy-I thought it was worth sharing!

If you go to Mary's link...make sure you check out the videos of the day before link at the bottom of the page.

Camera 1 video from 03/14 & 3/15
You can watch the Mack come, go, and dock.

The only thing that kind of sucks is that you can't slow down the speed of the video.

Thanks everybody for posting all these links. great stuff!!!

Report from the Mackinaw skipper at the Soo Locks, scheduled to open Saturday for the 2007 shipping season... Cutter slices through thick fields of ice

The pod technology available on the new Mack is allowing the ship to actually back though the ice instead of ramming into it forward...a first on the Great Lakes.

The Michipicoten will be the first upbound ship through the Locks Saturday.

USCG Cutters Neah Bay and Mobile Bay are assisting in the Lower St. Mary's River at this time along with the Canadian icebreaker Samuel B. Risley.

The Mackinaw will be in Whitefish Bay through part of next week.

Judy

Thanks for the update Judy!

Thanks for the update. I'm addicted to anything Mackinaw at the moment.

Here's a recent story of what the Mac is up to:

http://www.sooeveningnews.com/articles/2007/03/30/news/news219.txt

Thanks, Brindfan for that article. Those twin pods and the backward & forward ability of the new Mack really showed their worth once again.

Judy

Interesting article-hard to imagine ice that thick! Thanks, Brindfan!

The Mackinaw arrived back in homeport, Saturday, March 31, almost two weeks earlier than predicted, but mission accomplished...
Cutter back home from ice mission

Now they prepare for the next mission...setting bouys.

Judy

Delayed one day by Monday's high winds, the Mackinaw leaves Cheboygan today to commission bouys on the Lake Michigan side. They'll be gone about a week, and then back to Cheboygan for a short time before heading down the Lake Huron side.

Cutter Sets Sail on Bouy Run

Photo of the Mackinaw loaded with bouys.

Judy

Thanks for the update Judy! Nice article and photo. Although I wish it would've been a little bit bigger picture showing all the ship and buoys!

The Mackinaw was in Milwaukee on Friday. I was on the lake Saturday morning but she was already gone. It must of been a quick stop since I didn't even see her on the webcam Friday night.