The tug W. Douglas Masterson is pictured in Whitefish Bay on Saturday. The Masterson recently was purchased by Mike Ojard and Pat Ojard of Heritage Marine in Galveston, Texas, and will join two other Heritage Marine tugs (the Edward H. and Nels J.) to provide vessel assistance and tows in the Twin Ports and Lake Superior. The 90-foot-long tug was built in Texas in 1967.
The tug was run under its own power from Galveston to Baton Rouge, La., then made part of a barge tow and brought to Peru, Ill., on the Illinois Waterway. There, everything on the top of the pilot house was cut away and the boat ballasted down in order to pass under a railroad bridge in Lemont, Ill., which was cleared by four inches. It then was towed to South Chicago, where the boat was prepared for a nearly 1,000-mile trip through Lake Michigan, part of Huron and then up the St. Mary's River and through Lake Superior to Duluth.
Home port for Heritage Marine tugs is Knife River. The crew who made the delivery are all from Knife River or the Knife River area. The tug left South Chicago on Aug. 17 and cleared the Duluth entry on Sunday. The tug will be renamed Helen H. after Pat Ojard's wife.
DULUTH ENTRY
Morning: American Century, departing with coal; James R. Barker, arriving to load coal and departing in the evening
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Afternoon: Philip R. Clarke, departing with iron ore pellets
SUPERIOR ENTRY
Morning: Stewart J. Cort, departing with iron ore pellets; Algosteel, arriving to load iron ore pellets and departing in the afternoon
TWO HARBORS
No traffic expected.
For updated information 24 hours a day, call the Boatwatcher's Hotline at (218) 722-6489.
Source: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lake Superior Maritime Visitors Center in Canal Park. Arrival and departure times are not official and can vary widely.
