Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Fishing tug PILGRIM sinks

For the second winter in a row, ice on Presque Isle Bay has claimed a victim of Erie's historic harborfront fleet.

Last winter, the 1884-vintage restaurant/railroad car ferry LANSDOWNE sank on Christmas Day 2005, and was not raised until 2 February.

Recent cold temperatures have left ice on Erie's harbor to be several inches thick to a foot or more. This caused, as I witnessed today, the weight of the snow and ice to begin to crush 1946-built fishing vessel PILGRIM to begin to sink at her dock in the East Basin. The vessel is already sitting several feet lower in the water than normal and unless something is done soon, will likely slip to the bottom as more cold temperatures and snow are expected soon. The vessel is owned by Benjamin Green III of Waterford and was built at Vermillion, Ohio in 1946.

I will post photos of the PILGRIM's present state when I get home this evening.


PILGRIM.

Also, anyone who has visited the site in the past couple of days may have noticed that it can now be linked to directly at http://www.erieshipnews.com . This change is part of bigger plans I have for this blog in the future.

1 comment:

djjoe2506 said...

Hi Jeff, that photo sure shows the Pilgrim in better days! I'm enjoyin' your site-thanks!