There’s a classic 1970s Columbo episode in which the good lieutenant is vacationing on a cruise ship with his wife but ends up having to investigate a murder that occurred onboard. During the entire show, Columbo repeatedly mixes up the use of the two words: ‘ship’ and ‘boat’ and is corrected by the ship’s crew, much to his frustration.
For some reason, I think of that episode every time I write about one of the large ore carriers or vessels coming into Lorain’s harbor. I guess I’m trying not to make the same mistake.
And with that introduction, here’s a photo and caption annoucing the arrival of the first ship in the Port of Lorain during the 1971 shipping season. It appeared in the Journal on April 5, 1971.
It conjures up a lot of nostalgic feelings of the days when Lorain was an active port and a steel city, with ships coming and going regularly, and forcing us to wait on the opened Bascule Bridge until they were out of the way. It reinforced Lorain’s nautical and industrial heritage and made it an interesting place to live.
Now, when you get trapped on the bridge, it’s often just a little motorboat with an unusually tall mast, putt-putt-putting on its way. It’s just not the same.
3 comments:
I agree about the boat traffic now.And the way I see it,the boaters should be made to wait until a certain time in order for the bridge to raise.Or make them wait until there is a certain amount of boats there at one time.Why should the motorists have to wait for each and every little boat that wants to float up the river?People on a boat shouldn't have the right of way all the time.Tim Misny would "Make them pay."
My dad used to take us to watch them load coal and unload iron ore in Lorain. It was cheap entertainment. I am sure that many of your readers can relate similar experiences. The Journal used to have a feature called Lorain Port Activity (something close to that) which had a daily listing of arrivals and departures. Along with the bigger boats for the ore and coal docks, included were the sand boats that would come in 2 or 3 times a day. I used to have a large collection of those that I clipped out of the paper, but somewhere along the line, they were lost.
Commercial boat traffic should have the right of way, but I agree with the above comment that pleasure boats should be limited to certain bridge opening times.
Hi Jim! If you email me directly, I can connect you with a well-respected, local historian/author and maritime specialist who compiles a Port Report that is both current (reflecting activity on the Black River of today, which is very interesting) that also includes historical information. He would love to add you to his email list!
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