GRANDE MARINER Arrives

Blount Small Ship Adventures's cruise vessel GRANDE MARINER arrived in Erie on its second cruise of the season at 1130 hours this morning. GRANDE MARINER, as usual, docked on the west side of Dobbin's Landing after arriving from Cleveland. GRANDE MARINER will be departing shortly after midnight bound for Buffalo.

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Gannon University's ENVIRONAUT inbound about 15 minutes ahead of GRANDE MARINER.


Towboat TITAN inbound with a disabled vessel in tow.


Sailboat GAD ABOUT TOO outbound.


LADY KATE outbound.


GRANDE MARINER inbound.


Stern view.


Turning for the dock.


Approaching Dobbin's Landing.


Throwing a line over the side.

GRANDE MARINER Due

Cruise ship GRANDE MARINER should arrive Erie at around 1130 today.

GRANDE MARINER Visits; American Waterways Wind Symphony to Play Concerts Aboard POINT COUNTERPOINT II

GRANDE MARINER arrived in port this afternoon at around 1300 and docked on the east side of Dobbin's Landing. The MARINER arrived from Cleveland and will depart shortly after midnight for Buffalo, New York.

American Waterways Wind Symphony's floating orchestra barge POINT COUNTERPOINT II was moved back to its original mooring on the west side of Dobbin's Landing earlier this week as it prepares to fit out for its 2009 summer Great Lakes tour. The tour will take it to Fairport Harbor, Ohio on June 27, and will bring the POINT COUNTERPOINT II back to Erie for concerts on July 3 at 7:30 p.m. and July 4 at 2:30 p.m. The concerts will take place behind the Erie Maritime Museum, and tickets are $10 at the gate.

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GRANDE MARINER at dock.


Another view.


POINT COUNTERPOINT II is now back where it docked when it first arrived in Erie last August.


Stern view.


Overhead view with the Bicentennial Tower.


Close up of the POINT COUNTERPOINT II. Both of these overhead photos were taken from the parking ramp of the Sheraton Hotel. In all the time the POINT COUNTERPOINT II was there last fall, I never considered going up there for photos until today. And I didn't consider using the elevator until after I climbed back down the stairs today.

LAUD Arrives, Unloads, and Heads for Layup; Cruise Ship GRANDE MARINER Due

SAM LAUD arrived in Erie this morning at around 0300 and backed into the Old Ore Dock to unload stone from Calcite, Michigan. The LAUD unloaded through the early morning hours and departed at 0930 this morning bound for Toledo, Ohio's CSX Coal Dock 2 for temporary layup. The vessel joins numerous American Steamship fleetmates in layup due to the economy.

Cruise ship GRANDE MARINER is due to arrive in Erie at 1300 on Friday. This is the first of three visits the MARINER and her American Canadian Caribbean Line fleetmate NIAGARA PRINCE will make to Erie this season. The NIAGARA PRINCE will arrive in Erie on July 23, and the GRANDE MARINER will return on August 18.

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SAM LAUD unloading at the Old Ore Dock this morning. The cofferdam for the PRESQUE ISLE is stored here temporarily due to several heavy lifts scheduled at the Mountfort Terminal.


LAUD prepares to depart the Old Ore Dock.


Leaving the Old Ore Dock.


Turning for the channel with Lakeshore Towing's tug FLATTOP crossing astern.


In the channel.


Outbound.


Stern view.

Cruise Ship GRANDE MARINER in Port

GRANDE MARINER arrived in port today on one of four stops the vessel will be making in Erie this season. The MARINER, as usual, docked at West Dobbin's Landing. The American Canadian Cruise Line's small cruise ship will be in Erie until shortly after midnight Friday before departing for Buffalo.

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GRANDE MARINER at dock.


Overhead view.

2008 Erie Cruise Schedule

After seeing only one cruise ship visit the port in 2007, Erie will do marginally better this season, as the GRANDE MARINER of American Canadian Caribbean Cruises visits the port of Erie twice. The GRANDE MARINER, which visited Erie only once during 2007 when it visited on August 27, will arrive in Erie on June 26, 2008, and visit again on August 24.

The MARINER, however, will not be using the Cruise Boat Terminal at the foot of Holland Street. The terminal, built in 2002, has yet to see a cruise ship dock there and likely won't until at least 2010. Currently the building houses the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol offices.

GRANDE MARINER Featured on Action News 24

The GRANDE MARINER's visit to Erie was the focus of a story on Action News 24 at 6 this evening. According to a Port Authority official, the Port Authority "is currently in talks with people about marketing the cruise terminal" for cruise ships. In other words, it's a very safe assumption that the terminal will probably not host a cruise ship until 2009 at the very earliest. Since all of the schedules for the larger cruise ships on the Lakes are already set through 2009, it will probably be 2010 before one docks there. Otherwise, the Cruise Boat Terminal may be the most expensive U.S. Customs & Border Patrol office ever, all funded via our Port Authority.

BREAKING: GRANDE MARINER DOES NOT OPEN CRUISE TERMINAL

GRANDE MARINER arrived in Erie earlier than expected today, arriving at 1200 and docking at West Dobbin's Landing and not the Cruise Boat Terminal, as was expected. Alas, for another season the five year old Cruise Boat Terminal goes unused.

Photos and more details later this afternoon.

GRANDE MARINER, AGAWA CANYON, W.N. TWOLAN Due

Cruise ship GRANDE MARINER will finally open the five-year old cruise boat terminal at the foot of Holland Street at 1300 tomorrow. The terminal was built with the intention of landing visits from the largest of the Great Lakes cruise ships, such as the c. COLUMBUS; however to date that has not happened and the c. COLUMBUS will not be returning to the Great Lakes in the forseeable future, due to low water levels. Therefore, the GRANDE MARINER's four stops here in 2008 will likely be the only four vessel calls on this terminal in 2008. Makes you wonder why they built that place to begin with.

Algoma's AGAWA CANYON, with a split load of stone from Bruce Mines and Thessalon, Ontario, will be arriving in Erie at 0300 Tuesday.

W. N. TWOLAN, and barge McALLISTER 132, departed Thunder Bay, Ontario at 2000 tonight bound for Erie, where they're scheduled to arrive shortly after midnight on Thursday. At this time I'm not sure what the pair is carrying.

Signs of Spring and Thing to Look Forward to

Spring is in the air in Erie harbor. Lakeshore Towing's towboat WOLVERINE is now back in the water and moored at their dock at Wolverine Marina.

Coast Guard Station Erie's 47-foot motor lifeboat, 47241, has been removed from the winter storage building on Station Erie's property, sporting her crew cut- the removal of her flying bridge that allows her to be stored in the building. Crews are busy preparing her for her return to the water.

CG Station Fairport Harbor's 47-foot lifeboat, 47283, was moored at Station Erie today. I'm not sure if she's there for repairs, or just a visit. In the past 47283 has come to Erie to be hauled out of the water for repairs.

Looking forward, some important dates for the shipping season:

April ?- Arrival of the first vessel of the season.
May 1- USCGC HOLLYHOCK will arrive to replace the winter buoys in Erie harbor (approximate).
June ?- Erie Shipbuilding's Hull 101 will be delivered to her owner.
August 27- Barring another dock-wall collapse, Erie's Cruise Terminal will open with the arrival of American Canadian Caribbean Line's GRANDE MARINER.
December 1- USCGC HOLLYHOCK will arrive to replace the summer buoys in Erie harbor (approximate).


47241 and 47283 at Station Erie