Throwback Thursday is sponsored by Dresden Meat Packers:
The following article ran in the Sydenham Current 10 years ago in January of 2015:
Icebreakers from the Canadian and United States Coast Guards were in action in the St. Clair River this weekend.
Several freighters were spotted stuck in the ice from Walpole Island and all the way past Sombra.
As the deep freeze came across the region in the past week, the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards started Operation Coal Shovel – a seasonal domestic ice breaking operation in the southern part of Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair and Detroit River systems, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
The mission of Operation Coal Shovel is to quickly reopen the Great Lakes to commercial traffic.
Last winter had some of the harshest ice conditions ever recorded in the Great Lakes, as Operation Coal Shovel started in December of 2013 and lasted for a total of 128 days.
At one point in March last year, 92.5 percent of the Great Lakes were covered by ice; the highest percentage of ice coverage since 1979.
The Canadian Coast Guard is utilizing the Griffon this season to break up the ice.
The Griffon was built in 1970 and is a high endurance multi-tasked vessel based out of Prescott, Ontario.
The vessel is named after a much older ship of similar name, Le Griffon, which was one of the first sailing ships to ever be constructed and sailed on the Great Lakes – back in the year 1679.
The ship travelled uncharted waters throughout Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan in an attempt to locate a passage to the far east, but vanished on its return trip.
Recently, the Great Lakes Exploration Group is believed to have located the shipwreck of Le Griffon, 300 more years after its disappearance.
If so, the ship may prove to be a time capsule of significant importance.
The ice jamming in the river has also shut down both local ferry services – the Walpole-Algonac Ferry and the Bluewater Ferry in Sombra.
We’ll provide more details when they become available.
Photos contributed by Gail Cook:
Located at the south end of Fawn Island on Saturday, January 10.
Freighters stuck in Port Lambton on Saturday, January 10.
The American Coast Guard helping a freighter that is stuck on the north end of Walpole Island on Saturday, January 10.
The Canadian Coast Guard Griffon on Saturday, January 10.
If you have an old photo, or video, that you would like to see on the Sydenham Current, let us know by sending us an email to sydenhamcurrent@gmail.com.
