The Captain ET

10/22/2026

MV Hammarland upbound in the Soo Lower Harbor yesterday afternoon on her way to the Thunder Bay, ON Kiefer Terminal.

10/09/2026

Been a busy last few days and haven’t had much time to post, but here are some shots from my recent downbound trip on the MT Thun Venern. Was a nice trip until we got to 9 Mile Point and then a sheet got pulled over our heads. Some of the thickest fog I’ve ever seen. We couldn’t see lights on the buoys until they were literally AT the aft cabins and you would get one, maybe two flashes if you were lucky to gauge your position in the channel. You couldn’t even see the big white tanks on the forward end of the ship. After we cleared the lower dam at the bottom of Rock Cut I could tell the captain was relieved. I told him “I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to do that in 30+ years and not once after it was over did I say ‘hell YES!! Let’s do that again!!’. Jonathan Hoort was not far behind us in his boat as he was taking that to Cheboygan for lay up. Once we cleared we were treated to an awesome sunrise and a fantastic breakfast! Captain Hoort passed us on Mud Lake and got an amazing shot of her as he went by!!

10/05/2026

Highlights from the trip down aboard the MV Puna on 3 October 2026. She is loaded with potash from Thunder Bay destined for two ports in Brazil.

10/03/2026

Dre getting me on the MV Puna this morning as we made our way to the Locks.

09/30/2026

Had the MV Slavyanka up last night. Pretty uneventful for the most part. Saw the crazy lights in the sky again doing different things than the last 3x. Fog kind of followed us up the river and caught us as we entered the locks. River closed shortly after we got to the locks. After we got around Point Louise it cleared right up. That moon though is an amazing spotlight at night in the cuts!!

09/28/2026

footage of me boarding the Polsteam Ros at the Brimley change point on 26 September 2026. I included a little bit of the discussion with the captain and myself as the questions we ask each other are almost standard as soon as we board the vessel to take them through the Soo Locks. The pilots on the exchange are apprentice pilot who had the con and who was the pilot of record. Louie and Dusty are our Waiska Pilot boat crew that handle the pilot transfers in Brimley. Since the video is almost 4 minutes long Instagram won’t share it with new audiences, so if you share it that would be totally cool with me!! Hope you all enjoy it!!

09/26/2026

DRE Designs - Great Lakes Marine Products caught us on the Polsteam Ros this morning and got a fantastic shot as we cleared the Locks downbound.

What a beautiful day in Sault Ste Marie... and some perfect timing to see the Polsteam ROS with our fav The Captain ET as her Pilot accompanying them through the locks and down to De Tour as they make their way to Montreal Quebec, where they will refuel and then continue on to the eastern Canada... St John, to top off their load of potash

She was looking fabulous with the blue skies this morning and that morning sun shining on her... She is new to the Lakes and this was her first downbound journey through Sault Ste Marie... I had missed her when they went upbound so I was very grateful for a daylight transit down!

I took some more pics and got a short video so when I have some time I'll share some more

Later this afternoon I will be hopping on the Fall Boatnerd cruise with the Original Soo Locks Boat Tours and the day could not be better for it so I'm really looking forward to the ride this evening! We depart the dock at 5:00pm and will be in the harbor for a couple of hours! Ship traffic looks light and we may not see anyone because they will likely be through before we leave the dock but it will be a nice evening for a ride anyway

I will try to get some more up for you whenever I can!

And don't forget to send me your best photos for our Followers Calendar for 2027 to help raise money for the ISMA Scholarship Fund!! I haven't seen much from any of you so let's get to it! I want to make a great calendar or two and raise some money! :)

Message me for more info on how you can be a part of it!

09/21/2026

One of my followers on Facebook asked me to try and get video. As luck would have it look to the right of the aft crane. There are two flying what appears to be toward us…..you see them for a couple seconds and then they vanish. I edited out the sound cause you know what language excited sailors have……LOL. Anyway, there is nothing on the Flight Radar 24 app that indicates any air traffic in or around our area except the occasional high altitude airliner with all the anti collision lights flashing. What do you all think?