Cuyahoga moored at Pier 25 to take on a load of grain.
Cuyahoga arriving at Pier 25 in Hamilton, August 12th, 2009
Rudder
Crew change
The ship took on a load of corn. Loading started almost immediately upon arrival.
Self unloading boom out of the way, let the loading begin.
Empty hold with conveyor belt (for unloading) at the bottom.
At 6:00 the next morning, all loaded up, we left Hamilton, crossing under the James N. Allan Skyway and the lift bridge out into Lake Ontario.
Now in Lake Ontario, we look back to Hamilton Harbour and the bridges.
Getting up to speed, about 11 kts, that's about 20 kmh.
The liftbridge has been lowered again.
The City of Toronto can just be seen through the slight haze.
As soon as the ship is 12 miles off shore, the cleaning of the deck begins.
Even our cabin is getting the once over.
Doug and Travis are collaborating on getting the satellite receiver to work in the crew's mess room.
There we go! Having lunch and watching sports.
Doug (the cook) making lunch.
Still cleaning the deck out on Lake Ontario.
Lower Lakes Towing logo.
This contraption hides the satellite dish and the satellite tracking mechanism, which allows for internet connection via satellite. Very nifty!
Another ship heading west on Lake Ontario.
Doesn't this look like the Caribbean?
Shooting the breeze with the deckhands.
Steve in the wheelhouse.
Captain Colin checking his BlackBerry.
Overnite, we arrived in Cardinal for unloading the corn. Dust everywhere. First thing out of our cabin I spotted this dust covered spider web.
At the Casco plant (the unloading site) there are seagulls everywhere. They all seems to be evenly spaced. When a new one lands in between others, they all move over a little bit to yield the same distance.
And then, as if given a secret signal, they all take off at once.
Can you say dust? Better still corn dust?
Dust protection worn by Duane.
Self unloading boom centred over the corn elevator receiving hopper.
When unloading corn (and some other products as well) a contraption, affectionately known as the Stanley Cup, gets fitted to the bottom of the discharge end of the self unloading boom, which a) guides the product into a smaller hole and b) keeps some of the dust down.
We left the visit downtown Cardinal, a very friendly community. Already dust, like snow, is starting to accumulate on the grass.
While in Cardinal on the waterfront, we met this fellow from Quebec, who drives a miniature White Star truck, actually a fully customized Toyota Highlander 4x4.
Fully functional sleeping quarters, airbrakes, air suspension, dual rear axles, dual fuel tanks, air horn, it is all there.
Downtown Cardinal.
The heart of all the action in Cardinal, the 'Boars Nest'. Where's Boss Hogg?
Meanwhile, back at the ship, the dust continues. Corn unloading (at this site anyway) is very slow, due to the fact that the receiving hopper can only 'digest' so much. Total unloading time approached 35 hours.
Dust in the wind. Fortunately for us, it blew away from our cabin the entire time. The digital read out tells the operator on the ship what percentage of the hopper is filled up. It wasn't all that reliable.
Seagull in flight. Those eyes would scare a scare crow.
Seagull in flight.
Unloading right through the night.
Carlos in dust.
Carlos checking motor and bearing temperatures.
Tourists have a leisurely lunch in the officer's mess room. Notice the internet connected computer in the back ground.
Dust.
Overflow of the hopper, due to readout malfunction.
Cleaning the last bits of corn out of the hold.
Brody, Steve and Bob.
Almost done.
Brody and Bob
Jay does his part.
Once again Jay is at it while Ralph supervises...
John, Chief Engineer, making repairs to the hold after a hole was discovered.
Spillover accumulated below the hopper after all corn was unloaded. The white stuff is not snow, it is corn dust.
Expressing amazement.
Leaving the Cardinal dock, headed for Prescott, just down the road.
Bow thruster at work.
Captain Colin surrounded by navigation equipment.
First mate Duane and Cadet Mike in the wheelroom.
Computer readout on the way to Prescott from Cardinal.
Bridge at Prescott.
Immediately upon arrival at Prescott (Saturday nite at 9:00), loading of stone started. Four front end loaders worked throughout the nite, feeding two stackers, which in turn deposited their load into the hold. This shot was taken at 6:30 on Sunday morning.
Self unloading boom moved out of the way, in order to allow the stackers room to work.
Access hole to the holds.
Mike running the deck crane.
The last little bit is loaded.
Bob controlling mooring cables.
Running to get to the ladder.
Bridge at Prescott, looking east.
Brockville.
From one extreme to the other: a seadoo meets the Tim S. Dool on the Seaway.
Watching the action from the wheelhouse.
Very narrow channel on some points of the Seaway.
On a sunny and warm day, there is a lot of pleasure boat traffic.
Lighthouse.
A very small island.
Bird tree
Part of a castle on The 1000 Islands portion of the seaway.
On the plus side, there isn't a lot of grass to cut.
Bird. Does anybody know what this is?
Loads of money. No brains.
Seadoos are a dime a dozen these days.
Lots of boat traffic.
Bridge near Gananoque.
Sunset over Lake Ontario.
