While taking pictures last weekend of the "Bristol Bay" in Sturgeon bay, I noticed a coastie walking over to me. I thought maybe I had done something wrong and was going to get shot or something but the smile on his face put me at ease. As he approached I noticed the large star on his collar, it turned out he was an Admiral visiting the station, way cool!!! He said he noticed my Air Force Vateran cap and just wanted to say hi. We were having a very nice chat so I threw the big question at him, "What is going to happen to the Mackinaw when she retires (now moved back a year to '06)???" He assured me that she was not going to scrapped and they had reduced the number of cities wanting her to 4. He wouldn't say which 4 cities were still in the running but he pretty much ruled out Cheboygen and Mackinaw City.

He did say that the new Mackinaw was going to have to fill some big britches and would have to prove itself before they would ever think of retiring 'Ol Mac. He remarked thet the new Ice Breaker was going to be "Big" and "Impressive".

Good news for all the Mackinaw fans out there!!