Lime Island

Sonador on the wall at Lime Island -- eleven miles from Harbor Island on the St. Mary's River. This was a coal refueling stop for the Great Lakes' freighters then turned into an oil refueling stop -- but with the 1000' tankers now plying the river to Sault Ste. Marie, it's been abandoned by industry and turned into an anchorage, cabins, and camp ground run by Michigan. We were the only boat on the wall for the evening.

Just behind us is a Common Tern nesting area -- boy did they make a fuss everytime Chessie got on-board the boat. The Department of Natural Resources manager explained that last year there was a large mink that destroyed almost all the nests -- so the Terns are understandably nervous.

Looking toward the cabins and the old marine railway that was used to haul small boats out of the basin. At one time, there was actually a large hotel on the Island. The cabins, and other buildings that remain, are remnants of the refueling industry -- the workers were housed and schooled on the Island.

The one room school house is nicely restored -- and serves as a reminder of the harsh days that must have been spent here. There are pictures of the old Mackinaw Ice Breaker going past, and of sleds providing supplies during the winter over the frozen St. Mary's River.

BD and Chessie resting after a short -- but very hot walk up to the school. It must have been close to 85 again -- so we returned to Sonador to wait for cooler weather before venturing out again. This place is a keeper for future stops.

This is "down bound" from the Sault -- the tanker is named Redhead and is from Hong Kong. We saw three "up bound" and two "down bound" freighters during our time on the Island. The DNR manager said traffic is significantly off this year -- some firms aren't even running all of their ships to cut costs.