| Underwater Ice Wall Hampers Ships in Straits |
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| CHEBOYGAN-Nature has blocked off a portion of the straits of Mackinac
with a massive wall of ice that is balking attempts by tankers to stream
through with oil and fuel for area distribution centers. Capt. George Winstein of the coast guard icebreaker Mackinaw said the wall, which runs in a north-south line and is about 300 yards wide, is made up of ice blocks frozen together. It stands about 15 feet down into the water and is stationary. The Mackinaw, assisted by the Sundew, has been attacking the wall to make temporary channels for the fuel carriers. |
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| Here's how the Sundew looked when she returned to Charlevoix Harbor Jan.10 after an afternoon on Lake Michigan. The land temperature was about 10 degrees. | |||
| Saw a beautiful sight Monday evening: The Coast Guard Cutter Sundew steaming
down Pine River Channel frosted over with what Skipper Dale foster estimates
to have been six tons of ice. As the ship slid into Rounds Lake, it sounded as through there was a jazz combo aboard. |
Instead it was the crew chipping the ice from the superstructure with hammers. Foster says the Sundew was heading for Escanaba on the other side of Lake Michigan to do some ice breaking when she ran into foul weather about 30 miles out and was forced to turn back. Spray froze to everything above the waterline. |
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