USCG's 180-foot Seagoing Buoy Tender

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Wear waders......

He can't....no front zipper....he'd fill 'em up from the inside

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NOTE:  Click on "Open" to open the file and then watch for the
WINAMP media player to appear at the top left of your screen.

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Sounds like the wife just before I'm going to sleep

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Published September 30, 2009
DECC peddles a sinking enterprise

The DECC put the Coast Guard Cutter Sundew up for sale this year,
saying tour revenues aren’t keeping up with ship operating costs.
By: Peter Passi, Duluth News Tribune



DULUTH — If you haven’t already toured the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sundew, you may have missed your chance.

The Duluth Entertainment Convention Center is considering a Superior businessman’s bid to purchase the vessel. Jeff Foster of Jeff Foster Trucking Inc. has offered to pay just more than $100,000 for the cutter. But the prospective sale of the ship could become tangled in federal red tape.

“The Sundew’s attendance has been dismal,” said Dan Russell, executive director of the DECC, explaining the rationale for putting it on the market. “Only 964 guests purchased tickets to tour the ship last year, as compared with about 50,000 tickets sold for the William A. Irvin. The bigger boat wins.”

This year, the Sundew has done a better job of pulling in visitors, drawing 2,175 people to date, thanks in part to an online marketing campaign. But at $3 to $5 a pop, those ticket sales generated only about $9,100 in revenue.

That’s not even enough to cover the $13,332 cost of leasing dock space for the floating museum.

Russell said staffing the Sundew with tour guides adds another $21,500 in costs to the equation. Still more expenses are tied to maintaining the vessel, periodically pumping out the head and supplying it with electricity. Throughout the winter, the DECC also foots the bill to operate a bubbler to protect the hull from ice damage.

With the cutter continuing to ring up losses, the DECC’s board of directors authorized staff to begin shopping it around more than a year ago.

Russell said the vessel was listed in Boats & Harbors, and while the ad generated significant interest, Foster was the only person to submit a qualified formal bid above the minimum threshold of $100,000.

“We were thrilled, because all the other interested parties were from outside the community,” Russell said. Board members hope to keep the well-known cutter in the Twin Ports if possible.

Foster could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon on his plans for the vessel. Russell said he and the board are excited by the prospect of seeing the vessel return to work in the harbor.

Still, it’s not clear Foster will be successful in his quest to acquire the Sundew. Russell said he recently informed the General Services Administration, which oversees the sale of federal property, of prospective plans to sell the ship and discovered a possible issue.

After the Sundew was decommissioned in 2004, it was donated to the DECC under the condition that the cutter be placed on public display for a minimum of five years. While five years have elapsed since that time, Russell said a representative of the GSA recently questioned whether the DECC has fulfilled its obligation since the vessel is closed to tours between Labor Day and Memorial Day. Following this line of logic, the DECC might be required to operate the Sundew as a floating museum for a decade before it could contemplate selling the vessel.

Nevertheless, the DECC’s board of directors voted Tuesday afternoon to authorize staff to proceed with the sale of the Sundew, assuming federal authorities sign off on the deal.

Regardless of the ship’s disposition, Thom Holden, director of the Lake Superior Maritime Visitors Center, hopes it will remain in the Twin Ports.

“It’s an important part of the Duluth-Superior harbor and its history, having been built locally, having operated here and having retired in the same home port,” Holden said.

The 180-foot vessel was launched in 1944, and Holden said the craft was distinguished by its solid construction, with a welded hull that was novel for the day.

The primary mission of the Sundew was as a buoytender maintaining aids to navigation. But the vessel also worked as an icebreaker. On top of that, the Sundew participated in numerous search and rescue missions, saving 28 crewmen from the sinking freighter Jupiter and scooping up the only two survivors of the 35-man crew of the Carl D. Bradley amid 30-foot seas.

Proceeds from the sale of the Sundew could help cover the cost of repainting the Irvin, which Russell said remains a profitable exhibit.

If the DECC is required to keep the cutter on display, however, it can expect its costs to mount. Russell pointed out that the vessel is carrying 24,000 gallons of fuel as ballast. He explained that the useful life span of such fuel is typically five to seven years. If the vessel is to remain on static display for another five years, Russell said that fuel would likely need to be pumped out and replaced with a glycol solution to stave off rust.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

COAST GUARD HAS LONG COUNTY HISTORY
Jim Brinkman
September 14, 2009

Their service spanned generations.

The men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard and its forerunners, the U.S. Live Saving Service and the U.S. Lighthouse Service, served countless hours in Leelanau County until a few decades ago, when the North Manitou Shoals Light (the “Crib”) was automated, and an era came to an end.

Last month, Traverse City commissioners took steps to initiate what they hope will result in a designation of “Coast Guard City, U.S.A.” This was done on the basis of the city’s regional Coast Guard Air Station, which serves the upper Great Lakes.

But if there were ever a “Coast Guard County, U.S.A.,” Leelanau could certainly have claimed the honor – probably hands down.

Lighthouses were established at the tip of the peninsula (Grand Traverse Light), and on South Fox, South Manitou and North Manitou islands as well, although the latter was destroyed in a late-season 1942 storm and not rebuilt.

Life saving stations were built at both North and South Manitou islands and Sleeping Bear Point.
A lightship was routinely stationed in the Manitou Passage until the mid 1930s, when the present lighthouse, officially known as North Manitou Shoals Light, was built.


THE U.S. COAST GUARD CUTTER ACACIA

The newest of all the lights or stations in the county, it was also the last to be manned until it became automated in 1980.

At that time, a career Coast Guardsman, Charles Gauthier, who retired from the service to a farm near Cedar, had a few recollections of the 10 years (1956-66) he served at “the Crib.”

He was on duty in November 1958, when the limestone carrier Carl D. Bradley sank in Lake Michigan.
“We were in radio contact with the Bradley,” he recalled. “It was an awesome experience and she went down very quickly.”

And he was also on duty when the Francisco Morazon ran aground at South Manitou Island in November 1960.  “The ship’s captain thought he was off the Fox Islands but got in too close to South Manitou,” he said.  Gauthier’s comments were published in the Nov. 25, 1980 edition of the Record-Eagle.

In the old days, many county men served right here – on the islands or at Sleeping Bear Point. On South Manitou Island, children of station personnel attended the one room school there.

One of them was Willard Smith, who himself later joined the Coast Guard and rose through the ranks to become commandant.

The admiral attended Suttons Bay High School but graduated from Charlevoix because his Coast Guard father was transferred to that station.


ADMIRAL WILLARD SMITH

He attended the University of Michigan and the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., from which he graduated in May 1933, and was commissioned as an ensign.

And it was onward and upward from there, culminating in being named admiral of the service in May 1966.  First, however, he served both as commander of the famed cutter Mackinaw and the air station in Traverse City.

“He and his classmates lived, slept and breathed United States Coast Guard,” Tom LaBelle wrote in the Grand Rapids Press’ edition of May 8, l966. “If he ever seriously considered any other career, it was a transient fancy.”

Although the cutter Mackinaw became by far the Coast Guard’s best known vessel serving the lakes, smaller cutters, following World War II, were much more familiar visitors to Leelanau County waters.

These were the war-built “Cactus Class” 180 foot ice-breaking buoy tenders. They included the Sundew, Mesquite and Acacia, all based, at different times, at the Charlevoix station.

They assisted Leelanau fishermen and boaters in trouble and escorted tankers, in the winter months, to and from the oil terminals located in Greilickville.

The Sundew doubtless visited the Leelanau peninsula more than the other two. The winters of the 1950s and ‘60s were “tougher” than more recent ones, and the Sundew’s icebreaking services, to assure an uninterrupted supply of fuel and gasoline, were often needed.

In November 1958, the Sundew picked up the only two survivors when the Carl D. Bradley foundered.  The Sundew was later transferred from Charlevoix to Duluth.

While serving there, the little ship was the subject of an article in the October 1994, edition of the Hillside News.

“Upon completion of the fall decommissioning of buoys, Sundew begins the icebreaking season,” Patty Martin wrote. “Her twin 1,050-horsepower BM, Electro-Motive Division (EMD) engines make her the most powerful U.S. buoy tender in service.”

Martin went on to say that the Sundew was capable of breaking ice up to 18 inches thick.  “Twenty-eight of these handy little ships were built in two yards at Duluth, Minn., and one, the Ironwood, was constructed at Curtis Bay, Md.,” the U.S. Coast Guard Magazine reported in its July 1956 issue.

After the Sundew was transferred from Charlevoix, the Mesquite took her place. After a number of seasons of local service, however, the vessel was lost in a grounding accident on Lake Superior, and was in turn replaced by the Acacia.

This third “sister” was brought up from Grand Haven – “Coast Guard City, U.S.A.”

Original Article

[Capt Brent]

The HORNBEAM is alive and well. She is currently resting in Jacksonville Florida after vacationing for a few months in the Bahamas. We felt the old girl deserved a good cruise after sitting under that sugar plant in Baltimore for so long.  My thanks to all who served on her. What a great ship!!! She will be returning to sea in the next few months to support dive operations in the Caribbean. I will keep everyone updated as best I can. She has many adventures ahead of her. I have current pics, but can't see how to post them here. Feel free to ask any questions. We also own the Laural, but it is debatable if she will see the open sea again. the jury is still out on her. The laural is still in Green Cove Springs Florida.

Capt Brent

[vftb]

Hi Brent, welcome aboard and thanks for posting 

You can learn how to post photos here

[BuoyJumper]

Welcome aboard Brent and thanks for the update on HORNBEAM and LAUREL.  Looking forward to hearing more about HORNBEAM as you get her back underway and the crew is able to see some photos of their old unit in her new vocation.

Glad to have you here Capt ..     

[Capt Brent]

By the way, We have changed the exterior white to a battleship gray, despite my objections to the owner!! But I have standing orders, if anyone touches the original art work on the hatches and such inside I will keel Haul them!! Marvin Lives!!! We also left all the good bye notes her last crew wrote in place. I am also looking for any old pics of her. I am covering the captain's cabin and ward room with pics of her thru out her service. my email address is bmayhew04679@yahoo.com

Brent

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Retired Coast Guard cutter
Acacia has new home in Manistee
Kevin Braciszeski - Daily News Staff Writer
Monday, October 19, 2009



MANISTEE — The retired U.S. Coast Guard cutter Acacia arrived in Manistee’s harbor Saturday.

“It’s going to stay in Manistee,” said Tom Read, who was involved in getting the cutter to the city through his participation with the Society for the Preservation of the SS City of Milwaukee and the American Academy of Industry.

The 180-foot-long cutter was launched Sept. 1, 1944 and its home port was Grand Haven. Its primary duties were maintaining buoys, lighthouses and other navigational aids and breaking ice during the winters, according the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Acacia was decommissioned in 2006 was turned over to the American Academy of Industry — through the federal government and state of Illinois — and spent three years in Burns Harbor, Ind., before moving on to Manistee during the weekend.

Read said the American Academy of Industry tried to establish the boat as a tourist site in the Chicago area and when that plan didn’t work the Acacia was given back to the federal government so it could be given to the State of Michigan and then to the City of Milwaukee preservation society.

Patrick LaFreniere, wheelsman for the Ludington carferry SS Badger, said he and five other Badger employees traveled to the Chicago area to pick up the Acacia and steer it to Manistee.

“We’re really happy to have it here, it’s a beautiful ship,” Chief John Tribfelner, of the Manistee Coast Guard station, said about the Acacia.

Tribfelner said he’d served on a Coast Guard 180 in Alaska and seeing the boat come into Manistee’s harbor Saturday brought back memories.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

COAST GUARD CUTTERS AROUND THE CONTINENT

Join the crew of the USCGC BRAMBLE on its' historic mission in the
summer of 1957 to circumnavigate the North American Continent
with the cutters STORIS and SPAR in this 30 minute color movie
produced by the USCG.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO OPEN THE DOWNLOAD FILE

http://bulk.resource.org/ntis.gov/coast_guard/177113.wmv.

The link will open a new page with a file download window.  Left click on "Open".  
The temporary file will download (takes about half a minute).  After the download
is complete your WINAMP player and screen will show up on the upper left of your
screen and will automatically begin to play.  On the monitor left click on the 2X to
view the half hour video on a youtube size screen.

   
            

SPECIAL THANKS to Larry Welker for putting me on this USCG movie......  

[BuoyJumper]

Published October 22 2009
Sundew finally sold
By: Peter Passi, Duluth News Tribune



DULUTH — Twin Ports businessman Jeff Foster received the keys to the retired U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sundew on Wednesday, and he said he expects to see the vessel operating under its own power by early next shipping season.

Foster pledges to return the 180-foot Sundew to action for the first time since it was decommissioned in 2004, and he says he has received plenty of offers to help.

“Since this has been in the paper, I’ve been contacted by a number of folks who have been stationed on the vessel. There’s an enormous amount of knowledge in this area,” he said. “People have offered to help in any way they can because they want to see the Sundew remain here and to see it under its own power again.”

The Sundew was donated to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center for use as a floating museum, but poor attendance prompted the DECC’s board to put the ship on the market. It cost more to dock and care for the vessel than ticket admissions generated, said Dan Russell, the DECC’s executive director.

Foster, owner of Jeff Foster Trucking Inc., offered to purchase the Sundew for just over $100,000, the minimum qualifying bid.

But the sale was delayed because of questions raised by the General Services Administration, a federal agency that oversees the sale of government surplus property. The Sundew was donated to the DECC with the caveat that it be placed on public display for a minimum of five years. While that time has passed, the agency questioned whether the DECC had fulfilled its obligation because the Sundew was open for tours for only about half the year. If the DECC received only half-credit as a result, it would have been forced to keep the cutter for another five years before it could consider selling it.

“Our attorney is drawing up the papers to transfer ownership right now,” Russell said Wednesday, after receiving the GSA’s go-ahead. “We’re just happy it’s staying in the Twin Ports.”

Foster plans to leave the Sundew at its location behind the William A. Irvin through the winter and then move it to a dock he owns in Superior next spring. Foster still won’t say exactly to what use he’ll put the vessel. Apparently he’s entertaining about 10 different options.

“For us, it’s kind of a burden we won’t have to bear any more,” Russell said. “I think it makes a lot of sense for the DECC and a lot of sense for Jeff, too.”

Original Article

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Retired BMC Lysle Hansberger visited the ACACIA last weekend at her new home in Manistee and took these photos of her.



THANKS LYSLE ......  

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Thanks Boats!   (and Ron for posting)

Damn  looks GREAT!

Can she legally have the racing stripe and CG insignias if she's decomissioned?