A Visit From the American Mariner
The Cheerios plant's ship has come in! And where freighter fans can learn more
Sailing on the Moondance Catamaran on Sunday night, I caught the 8 p.m. sail. With a little time to spare, I am guessing, we were taken down the Buffalo River.
And we saw the American Mariner docked by the General Mills Cheerios plant.
Freighters always feel so festive. It must be something about the size of these ships. Their lights. Their presence.
Also, they cast back to the days when Buffalo was, to quote preservationist Tim Tielman, “the greatest grain port known to man.” I always remember he said that.
You can get obsessed with freighters. At The Buffalo News, I would see them come in under my window. We were all thrilled when a freighter appeared. Writers and editors would flock to the windows. Sometimes we would go outside and get a closer look.
I once got to interview Daniel Bartels, the captain of the Sam Laud, one of the ships owned by Buffalo’s American Steamship Company. Hahaa.. I did that interview at great cost. I was dying to talk to a Great Lakes freighter captain, however the only way I could get that to work at The Buffalo News was to commit myself to a sizable feature for the business page on the state of Great Lakes Shipping. It turned into a nightmare and I only got to quote Captain Bartels for five sentences or something.
Here is a quick video I took of the American Mariner the other night:
Resources For Freighter Fans
The site www.boatnerd.com chronicles the comings and goings of Great Lakes ships. It also includes “Today in Great Lakes History.”
And you can look up ships, such as the American Mariner. Click on that link and you can read when the ship was built, where it goes, accidents it has been in, etc.
And this entertaining Facebook page, titled Buffalo Area Transportation, Industry, Architecture & Defense. This site is run by Brian Wroblewski, the Buffalo area’s correspondent for Boatnerd.com. It is fun for people like me who love freighters and trains and enjoy hanging out on the Outer Harbor.
Wroblewski reports today that the Mariner has shipped out.
I will have to watch the site and let you know when it returns!