Late June, 2009 - The maritime traditions run deep in the Great Lakes,
and after visiting the Hessel area and its many reminders of the wooden
boats of old, we took a trip to the Soo Locks where modern freighters
transit between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.
The Great Lakes offer a relatively easy way to transport goods from one
region to another. Some 11,000 freighters ply the waters each year,
moving tons of raw materials, mostly iron ore, coal, stone and grain (in
2008 shipping was down 45%). Lake Superior sits a little higher above
sea level than all the other lakes, and in the early days of the fur trappers,
the only way to get your canoe from Lake Superior to Lake Huron was to
carry it past the rapids of the St. Mary's River. This method of "jumping"
the river is said to have inspired the French to name the area "Sault Ste.
Marie" ("sault" meaning "jump"). In 1797 the first lock system was built
(on the Canadian side) so that ships could float between Lake Superior
and Lake Huron, and eventually the French "sault" morphed into "Soo."
There is a fantastic visitors center and large viewing area at the Soo
Locks. As we stood there waiting for some action, suddenly a small open
powerboat with four people in it drove into the lock.
We watched with fascination as the doors slowly closed behind
the little boat and a line handler gave them a line to tie onto their
boat.
Slowly the water in this bathtub-like lock began to drain out and the little
boat disapeared from view. The locks operate entirely on gravity, as
water either pours into the lock from Lake Superior or drains out of the
lock into Lake Huron. Eventually the gates opened at the other end of
the lock and we caught sight of the little boat motoring onto Lake Huron.
What a cool excursion for them! It had taken all of 15 minutes or so, and
we found out later that for recreational boaters transiting the locks doesn't
cost a dime. Just show up and the magic happens!
We were satisfied to have seen Soo Locks in action, and we
were about to leave when the lady at the visitors center said,
"You really should stick around. There are going to be two
huge freighters in these locks at the same time in about an
hour." One of the ships would be the 32-year-old, 1,000 foot
freighter Walter J. McCarthy, one of just forty ships of that size
that works the Great Lakes.
Before long, the McCarthy showed up in the distance, gliding towards us
from Lake Huron. It would be entering the Poe lock, the largest of the
locks and the second lock out from our viewing area. It was traveling
from Lake Huron into Lake Superior, so it would be riding the lock
system's "elevator" up 21 feet to the level of Lake Superior.
It fit very snugly into the lock, and the handlers took an
especially long time getting the ship situated before they
closed the doors behind it. It looked to me like there
was barely a foot or two to spare between the two ends
of the ship and the doors at either end of the lock.
Meanwhile, the Maritime Trader, a smaller ship of just 594 feet,
showed up in the distance coming in the opposite direction from
Lake Superior. The gates opened and the ship slid into place.
The line handlers on the ship and on the shore loosely looped the lines
around enormous cleats. It all seemed very casual and easy for them, but
the hundred or so people in the viewing area were all hanging over the
railings, excitedly snapping photos every few seconds.
Once positioned correctly, the doors of the locks were closed
behind the Maritime Trader, the water began to drain out of the
lock, and the ship slowly descended to the level of Lake Huron.
Looking across the deck of the Maritime Trader, we could
see more and more of the McCarthy in the next lock as
water filled that lock and the ship was raised to the level of
Lake Superior.
Eventually, the water in the
lock holding the McCarthy
was even with the water of
Lake Superior, the doors of
the lock opened, and the
freighter steamed out.
Simultaneiously, the Maritime Trader had descended all the
way down, and the doors of its lock opened onto Lake Huron.
The water in the lock churned behind it as it started its engines
and moved out in the opposite direction onto Lake Huron.
A few days after we left the Soo Locks, construction crews
broke ground on a pair of dams that will hold back the
waters of Lake Superior for the next few years while the
two oldest and smallest locks are rebuilt into a single
brand new big one. Only one of the three currently active locks can handle a 1,000 foot ship (the lock where the McCarthy had
been), so this new lock will allow more of the 1,000 footers to get between the two lakes. Interestingly, the same thing is happening
at the Panama Canal. Rather than three single lock systems like the Soo Locks, the Panama Canal is a huge system of three
channels that moves ships through a series of 26 locks separated by a lake. It takes the ships up 13 levels through the first 13
locks, sends them across the lake under their own power and then lowers them 13 levels through 13 more locks to the ocean on
the other side. In Panama, a new lock system is being built parallel to the other three to support the mammoth modern
supertankers that ply the world's oceans today.
Our visit to the Soo Locks capped off our time in the Upper Peninsula. It was time to make our way south again, this time along
Michigan's eastern coast where we visited some choice shoreside spots along Lake Huron.