After two months in drydock at Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair for engine work and an owner's inspection, OLIVE L. MOORE departed Erie this morning at 0900 bound for Toledo, Ohio. The MOORE will mate up with her barge, LEWIS J. KUBER, in Toledo and begin another season on the Great Lakes.
VICTORY/JAMES L. KUBER are still expected in Erie at around 0500 on Friday morning, weather permitting.
OLIVE L. MOORE turns enters the channel.
In between the piers.
The raised pilot house on OLIVE L. MOORE was added in 2006 in Escanaba, Michigan before the tug returned to Erie to mate up with LEWIS J. KUBER for the first time. The 1928-built MOORE has been modified numerous times over the years and this will likely be her last configuration.
Tug VICTORY backed away from her barge in the graving dock at Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair this afternoon at around 1445 hours and moved to the east side of the dock. VICTORY's crew spent about three hours working on the tug's engines before the tug backed away from the graving dock and turned circles in the bay to test her engines.
VICTORY docked at the West Slip, where she remains, at 1755 this afternoon.
VICTORY/JAMES L. KUBER, in for her five-year survey and other repair work, should be departing later this week. OLIVE L. MOORE, which had been in for engine work, should also be departing to return to Toledo later this week. MOORE will pick up her barge, LEWIS J. KUBER, there.
VICTORY in the graving dock this afternoon.
Turning in Presque Isle Bay.
Stern view.
VICTORY, finished with trials, turns for the West Slip.
Frequent Erie visitor VICTORY/JAMES L. KUBER, and the unit's fleetmate, OLIVE L. MOORE/LEWIS J. KUBER, have been sold to Lower Lakes Transportation in a $40 million dollar transaction. This means that the next time the duo visits Erie they will sport the familiar gray of the Grand River Navigation fleet of vessels.
This also means that frequent Erie visitor MAUMEE is probably headed for the scrapyard; however, that remains to be seen.
At 0830 on Sunday, December 4, 2005, the OLIVE L. MOORE, assisted by the Ashtabula-based Great Lakes Towing tug NEW YORK, towed the BUCKEYE into Erie harbor to Erie Shipbuilding, where over the coming months the vessel would be converted into the barge LEWIS J. KUBER. Below is video of that event.
Over the next few weeks I will be posting more video from years past as I get it converted and uploaded. Next up will be a video from April 5, 2002 of the tugs IOWA and RHODE ISLAND moving the RICHARD REISS from the Mountfort Terminal to the West Slip. I hope to have that up by sometime next week.
In addition, I will be posting videos from as far back as 1993 as I get them onto the computer and edit them.
OLIVE L. MOORE tows the BUCKEYE into the channel toward Presque Isle Bay, December 4, 2005.
Another view.
Close up of the tug OLIVE L. MOORE.
Close up of BUCKEYE. In a few months, the cabins will be completely removed and the barge will be unrecognizable as the same vessel it is on this day.
Great Lakes Towing tug NEW YORK, out of Ashtabula, Ohio, assisted the tow.
Stern view of the tow.
Close up of the BUCKEYE.
A few minutes later, on this cold December morning, the tow is in the West Slip.
NEW YORK holds the BUCKEYE alongside as Erie Shipbuilding employees moor the vessel.
Today's entry in the BUCKEYE conversion gallery takes us from July through September 2006, when the barge LEWIS J. KUBER and tug OLIVE L. MOORE departed Erie Shipbuilding on their first trip.
LEWIS J. KUBER retains the Oglebay Norton name and colors on August 2, 2006.
On August 8, the name is painted on the port side of the barge for the christening ceremony that took place the next day.
The starboard side, however, did not receive the markings for some time.
Workers perform some welding on the stern on August 9.
By the morning of August 15, the name LEWIS J. KUBER had been applied to the bow; however, the Oglebay Norton fleet logo remained.
That afternoon, the markings were painted out.
Done working, a shipyard employee is hoisted back over the barge.
Mated with tug OLIVE L. MOORE on September 9. Four days later the vessel would sail in the middle of the night.
On December 4, 2005, Erie Shipbuilding's first project arrived in Erie. The former Oglebay Norton steamer BUCKEYE arrived under tow of the OLIVE L. MOORE. The steamer, over the next nine months, would be converted to a barge at the shipyard. This photo essay will take a look at the first months of her stay in Erie.
OLIVE L. MOORE tows the BUCKEYE into the channel toward Presque Isle Bay, December 4, 2005.
Another view.
Close up of the tug OLIVE L. MOORE.
Close up of BUCKEYE. In a few months, the cabins will be completely removed and the barge will be unrecognizable as the same vessel it is on this day.
Great Lakes Towing tug NEW YORK, out of Ashtabula, Ohio, assisted the tow.
Stern view of the tow.
Close up of the BUCKEYE.
A few minutes later, on this cold December morning, the tow is in the West Slip.
NEW YORK holds the BUCKEYE alongside as Erie Shipbuilding employees moor the vessel.
Conversion on the BUCKEYE is well underway by the time of this January 12, 2006 photograph. The stack has been removed and crews are cutting into the stern of the ship.
BUCKEYE is shown in this photo on January 19, 2006.
Stern view on January 19.
Stern of the BUCKEYE on January 28, 2006.
Conversion progresses on February 15.
On the morning of February 20, Lakeshore Towing's FLATTOP and DON HENRY break ice in preparation for the BUCKEYE's move into drydock late that day.
