Headline News

Sunday, January 30, 9AM – 2PM

This Sunday the Lake St. Clair Walleye Association presents the 14th Annual Children’s Ice Fishing Event.  Registration located at Metro Beach near the Day Sail Launch area.  This area has heated restrooms.  This is a free event.  All kids must be accompanied by an adult.  Call Mark Tews at 586.557.3767 for more information.

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Identity of man found dead on I-94 remains a mystery

Port Huron Times Herald

CHESTERFIELD TWP. -- Police are still trying to solve the case of a man found dead early Friday morning on Interstate 94.

Chesterfield Township police were called about 3:20 a.m. by a truck driver who said he hit what he believed to be a body on westbound I-94 at the 23 Mile Road overpass.

Thousands of fish turn up dead in area waters

Detroit Free Press
Bob Burns of Friends of the Detroit River said he has received reports from Monroe to Lake St. Clair of the dead fish. Doug Martz, former Macomb County ...


2 Algonac men arraigned; items from break-ins recovered
Port Huron Times Herald
St.- 1:44 am Two Algonac men arrested Wednesday in connection with several home invasions in southern St. Clair County were arraigned Friday in 72nd ...


Algonac, Clay Twp. look at combining fire services
Port Huron Times Herald
The Algonac City Council and Clay Township Board gave officials the OK last week to move ahead on building a proposal that would outline how a fire ...


BREAKING ICE ABOARD THE BRISTOL BAY
Port Huron Times Herald
The ship had traveled from Algonac to Lake St. Clair on Tuesday morning, ... While leaving Algonacon Tuesday, thick ice stopped the Bristol Bay cold. ...

Ice Update

Good Evening,

With the help of the rain and warmer temperatures, the Mackinaw, Samuel Risley, Bristol Bay, and Neah Bay continued flushing the ice currently plugging up the St. Clair River. Though three vessels were successfully escorted through the river today, limited results were achieved in flushing the ice due to the southerly winds pushing the ice back up the channel. Additionally, as the ice flows down the river, it gets into tighter areas and can make the flushing more difficult in the long run. The latest reports indicating that the thickest brash ice is around Willow Point, reaching from one to five feet in places. We will continue to monitor water levels in the river and lake to avoid potential flooding situations due to this ice jam.

We will not be breaking into the North Channel tomorrow. However, temperatures are expected to drop in the coming days, which may significantly slow the flow of ice down the river and create a potential flooding situation. We will reassess the conditions tomorrow and make a determination as to whether to break the North Channel on Thursday.

We will continue to update you on changing conditions, and should the need arise we will give you advanced notice via this blog, 911 alerts, and press statements of our intentions. Again, we appreciate everyone’s patience during this busy operation.

Updated Ice Conditions and Situation for Today

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Well, the Mackinaw and Samuel Risley have escorted one vessel through the river this morning and worked the track throughout the day. This sunshine is helping to warm the ice and move it around a little making our job slightly easier this morning. The Bristol Bay and Neah Bay continue to conduct flushing of the Old South Channel and Seaway Cut and this has proved useful.

There will be one upbound vessel and four downbound vessels through the river tonight into tomorrow. Tomorrow, we are looking at about the same amount of traffic. After that, the Soo locks will close and traffic will significantly slow down.

What all this means to you is that once we get this heavy volume of traffic clear, we will be more focused on maintaining the flow of commerce for things like heating oil, coal, salt, etc...that are important for Great Lakes customers for both sides of the border and keeping a close eye on water levels. If there is a need to break into the North Channel and interrupt ferry service, we will give you advanced notice via this blog, 911 alerts, an update to the Clay Township website, and issue press statements.

We appreciate everyone's flexibility, patience, and understanding as we work another busy ice season. Thanks again to Melon and Sue for this forum to reach all of you!

Coast Guard Officer now Member of Harsens Island News!

As you can see from the below post I have extended an invitation of blogger/posting privileges to:

Lt Justin Westmiller
Public Affairs Officer
US Coast Guard
Sector Detroit


Lt Westmiller has accepted my invitation to post directly to Harsens Island News.


This is GREAT news!  We will definately be in the loop with Justin on board!

Survivor T Shirts - Update

Our T Shirts are always custom ordered and created.  Sometimes we have a few extra imprinted shirts in stock, but not often.  

A shipment of completed T's will be going out on Monday via Priority Mail....should take 2-3 business days for you to receive yours.  The shirts going out are the orders placed through 3/23.

Orders placed 3/24 to 4/2:  Blank T's were ordered 4/2 and should arrive by Wed 4/7.  It takes me a few days to make the transfers and Hot press them onto the shirts, so they should ship by Monday 4/12.

If you would like me to hand deliver your order (Harsen's Island only, or meet you at the ferry if you are from the mainland) call me at 810-643-1401 to arrange this.

Ice Jam in the News

Cutters break ice jam Windsor Star, Canada,  Tuesday, March 30, 2010

WINDSOR, Ont. —Massive ice jams that caused shipping traffic bottlenecks over the weekend have finally been cleared from the St. Clair River after round-the-clock work by the Canadian and U.S. coast guards.

"This winter was a very strange event," said Andy Maillet, the superintendent of operations at the Canadian Coast Guard regional operations centre in Sarnia.

"This particular winter has been an anomaly along the whole Eastern Seaboard. The Gulf of St. Lawrence saw record low amounts of ice. I certainly have never seen this in my 34 years."

Maillet said that while Lake St. Clair had the least amount of ice since 1984, it still saw three instances where ice bridges were formed at the mouth of the St. Clair River in January, February and last week.

"They sort of had the perfect storm type of situation where the winds, the temperatures, everything was in proper sync, the planets were aligned, and the ice just pummelled down the river, as it did a couple of months ago," said Maillet of the trouble that began early last week.

"The ice sealed up the river again, the only ice that remained out there was the heavy, thick ice that survived the melt, so it all piled up at the bottom of the St. Clair River and caused an ice jam whereby there was an ice jam both at the top end and the bottom end initially."

Seven ice breakers, the Samuel Risley and Griffon from Canada and five from the U.S., worked 24 hours straight on Thursday and Friday to clear the jam while shipping traffic was brought to a standstill.

"It's probably the first time we've ever had seven icebreakers working at one place on the Great Lakes ever," said Maillet.

There were about 20 commercial vessels waiting to proceed through the river while the icebreaking took place.

Such jams actually impede the flow of water and cause the level of Lake St. Clair to drop and Lake Huron to rise, Maillet said.

Canadian, U.S. coast guards break ice jam Windsor Star, BY CHRIS THOMPsonMARCH 29, 2010 Massive ice jams that caused shipping traffic bottlenecks over the weekend have finally been cleared from the St. Clair River after round-the-clock work by the Canadian and U.S. coast guards. “This winter was a very strange event,” said Andy Maillet, the superintendent of operations at the Canadian Coast Guard regional operations centre in Sarnia. “This particular winter has been an anomaly along the whole Eastern Seaboard. The Gulf of St. Lawrence saw record low amounts of ice. I certainly have never seen this in my 34 years.” Maillet said that while Lake St. Clair had the least amount of ice since 1984, it still saw three instances where ice bridges were formed at the mouth of the St. Clair River in January, February and last week. “They sort of had the perfect storm type of situation where the winds, the temperatures, everything was in proper sync, the planets were aligned, and the ice just pummelled down the river, as it did a couple of months ago,” said Maillet of the trouble that began early last week. “The ice sealed up the river again, the only ice that remained out there was the heavy, thick ice that survived the melt, so it all piled up at the bottom of the St. Clair River and caused an ice jam whereby there was an ice jam both at the top end and the bottom end initially.” Coast Guard clears ice from St. Clair River Toledo On The Move (AP) -- The U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard have wrapped up an effort to clear ice jams on the St. Clair River. Chief Warrant Officer Mark Stauffer says in a statement that a significant amount of ice was flushed out of the St. Clair River during the past week. He says it's the most ice in the river in decades. Delayed traffic also has cleared the river as of Monday. The Coast Guard Cutters Mackinaw, Neah Bay, Bristol Bay and Biscyane Bay and the Canadian Coast Guard ships Griffon and Same Risley conducted icebreaking operations between the St. Clair River and southern Lake Huron. The ice this month forced crews to free freighters that got stuck.

Ferry & Ice Conditions Update

As soon as we posted that the airboat would run I dashed to get across...had to pick up prescriptions.

The ice was moving pretty good in the middle of the North Channel as we went across, but no problems with Bobby's excellent captain skills.

Thanks to the kind gentleman who drove me to the drug store...sorry I'm terrible with names.

I was back to the DNR in a flash, but had to wait there for nearly 2 hours.  The line was long...I immediately calculated I would be on the 6th airboat trip back to the Island.

Not too bad except in my haste to get off the Island, I was only wearing canvas slip on shoes and a light jacket...no gloves, no hat...not too bright for an Island Girl!

My daughter, Shannon, was on the Island side at the Boy's Club waiting for me and giving me updates...the airboats were not going over any more...they were sitting at the island.  I called Daryl and got the scoop...the ice was now moving too fast for safe airboat transport and we would have to wait for it to slow down.

The temperature kept dropping as the now approximately 20 people jumped from foot to foot trying to keep warm.

After what seemed an eternity the airboat started running again...then along comes the US Coast Guard cutter heading down the North Channel...we all groaned thinking they would get the ice moving again and delay our frozen bodies return to a warm place once again, but their presence seemed to make no difference in ice movement...thank God!

After waiting 4 trips, (it would have been one, but Middle Channel Mike could not be bribed with the offer of a free T Shirt!) it was my turn to go.  I jumped (not literally) onto the airboat just after the sun had set and the temperatures had plummeted...I could no longer feel my feet...but that was great for my foot injury.  The return trip to the Island was freezing but uneventful.  We could see the USCG still working the ice downriver from the ferry...hope they are successful tonight!

Once I got home and started to thaw I began to notice the severe pain in my recently injured, frozen foot....guess two hours on my feet was too much, but it was the only way to stay warm.  Then my nurse mind started taking over...need to elevate that foot and put some ice on it...oh great!

Ferry Remains Closed

The conditions have not changed so the ferry to Harsen's Island remains closed at this time.

The airboat is running now and will continue until 7pm.

The situation will be assessed as conditions change...remember Champion's wants to run...they don't make any money with the ferries sitting in the docks.

Lot's of rumors and predictions being spouted out there, but unless someone has a crystal ball.....

Please let us know by Email or comment if you have more information...we'll keep our ears open too and will post as events happen...thanks for your help!

Ice News

Don't forget to click on the above tabs "Area News" & "Harsens Island in  the News" for more stories!! St. Clair River jammed again - The Sarnia Observer - Ontario, CA Ice icebreakers were busy Monday clearing thick Lake Huron ice blown into the St. Clair River by north winds. Freighters approaching the river were asked to hold off for 24 hours to allow the U.S. and Canadian icebreakers to do their work, said Andy Maillet, regional supervisor of operations with the Canadian Coast Guard. "It did flush down all night long so the river is basically full of ice again," Maillet said. "The only good thing about that is Lake St. Clair is not frozen, so there's nothing hard that's going to stop the ice from flowing down." That in turn is reducing the risk of flooding, he added. Ice stopped Cross-river service at Sombra's Bluewater Ferry was halted by ice Sunday for the third time this winter. "It's bad today," owner Lowell Dalgety said Monday. "We're jammed up . . . we've got an awful lot of ice coming at us." Recent warm weather has released "some pretty impressive thick ice" that's proving difficult to move down through the river, Maillet said Several freighters became stuck Sunday but were able to move again with the help of icebreakers and a pair of tugboats. "It was a tough slog over the weekend," Maillet said. The latest river troubles coincided with Sunday's opening of the Sault Ste. Marie locks, which marked the official start of the new Great Lakes shipping season. Maillet said Monday it was hard to say when ship traffic on the St. Clair River would return to normal. Ice, extending from 2.5 to seven miles out, stretches 13 miles up the shoreline north of the Blue Water Bridge, he said. "So even if we were able to get an open-water route through that ice it doesn't mean that is going to stay." Nevertheless, the north winds driving the ice into the river are welcome, he added. "Once it flows through we're done with it."

Ferry Closed Today

Due to ice in the North Channel, Champion' Auto Ferry to Harsens Island is closed today.

Bob Bryson will be running the airboat from 4pm to 7pm later toady.

The Coast Guard is working the ice and conditions could change....we'll keep you posted.

All upbound traffic has been halted for 24 hours

Ice halts northbound ships
Port Huron Times Herald

Freighters heading north up the St. Clair River and into Lake Huron have been halted as the Coast Guard works to flush ice out of the area.

Lt. Dixon Whitley with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit said several ships are working today to break up the piles of slushy ice clogging the shipping channel.

“It’s a very abnormal situation,” he said. “It was kind of the perfect storm of the wind, the current … and just the stage of the ice that was pushed in there – very thick and water-logged ice.”

U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers Mackinaw and Biscayne Bay are working alongside Canadian ship Griffon to clear ice in southern Lake Huron, while the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Neah Bay is working in the north and middle channels near Harsens Island.

Whitley said all upbound traffic has been halted for 24 hours.

Whitley said the ships will likely continue efforts to clear the ice Tuesday.

“We’re going to continue until it’s gone, which hopefully is sooner rather than later,” he said.

Ferry & Ice Conditions Update

So far,  so good.

We saw a Coast Guard Cuter downriver from the ferry earlier today, working the ice.

Although conditions can change at any time, David Bryson, Owner of Champion's Auto Ferry to Harsen's Island, says he does not EXPECT problems due to the large amount of ice floes passing down the North Channel.  He expects to be able to keep to a regular schedule tonight and tomorrow....time will tell, so check back here often for changes and updates.

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Lake Huron ice no longer a concern

Port Huron Times Herald

With warm temperature and sunshine dominating the forecast in recent days, the concern over an ice bridge in Lake Huron is melting away as quickly as the ice. U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matt Merriman said ice is moving into the St. Clair River in large floes. But, he said, the ice is broken up and basically “melted.” Officials don’t expect the ice will cause navigation problems or flooding. The U.S. Coast Guard sent a ship to the lower St. Clair River Tuesday to break up some thin ice gathering near Harsens Island. Ice on Lake St. Clair has melted, Merriman said

Harsen's Island in the News

Coast Guard, ferry service clash after five ferry shutdowns
The Voice News
By Jeri Packer, Voice Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, March 4, 2010

Friction between the U.S. Coast Guard and Clay Township was more abrasive than ever this year, as the Harsen's Island ferry experienced one interruption in service after another as ice cutters busted through the North Channel.

The first ice jam of the season occurred early, on Jan. 8, said Champions Auto Ferry owner Bob Bryson.

"There's been ice in river ever since," he said. "We've been shut down five different times by the coast guard, sometimes for one day, other times two to three days."

According to the Coast Guard, unless Mother Nature throws another curve ball, it looks like water levels are settling along the nine-mile stretch of the St. Clair River Coast Guard cutters must keep clear. Water levels north of Clay Township were rising, causing some flooding and to the south, levels were dropping by at least two feet. The Coast Guard cutters also assisted many freighters across the waterway after getting stalled in frozen waters.

Ferry Running - All is Clear

My husband, Steve, took a ride all around the Island....

North Channel - Clear
South Channel - Clear, with scatter ice floes

The small black USCG Cutter went down the North Channel around 9:30 this morning.  Hopefully it is working the ice downriver.

The Island roads are much better than last evening when we had extremely icy roads!  The salt trucks came over last night.

Ferry & Ice Conditions Update

Noon Report on Champion's announcement machine:

Look for the ferry to Harsens Island to open around 2pm.

The Coast Guard has come and has the ice moving in the North Channel.  We expect to be back in operation sometime around 2pm.

There should be no problems after that.

Ferry & Ice Conditions Update

There is a river full of ice in the North Channel right now that is causing delays at Champion's Auto Ferry to Harsen's Island.

The Coast Guard says there is at least a mile of ice coming our way due to the ice damn in Algonac letting loose.

We'll keep you posted....expect delays.

Some More Pics of The Cutters & Ferry

Many thanks to Leah Yax...great photos! Sorry it took so long to get these up here!

Ferry & Ice Conditions Update

The Harsen's Island ferry is running.   Lots of ice on the way, but the Coast Guard says it should thin out over the next few hours.

David Bryson says they do not ANTICIPATE a shut down today, but to expect delays due to ice.

The REAL Harsen's Island Ferry Report

I know many newspapers are reporting conflicting information about the ferry schedule, airboat schedule etc.

But....they are not here on the Island and are not talking to the persons who make these decisions....we are!

David WAS told by the Coast Guard that they would not be by the ferry until 9pm or so tonight HOWEVER things changed during the night...ice moved creating an ice dam that the Coast Guard decided they had to break this morning...it was out of the control of the ferry owner, David Bryson. The Coast Guard made that decision to change the time back to 10am at the last minute.

Per David Bryson the ferry will not run again today, they made a trip to get the school children back to the island, and the bus is now waiting at the ferry to get back across. As soon as there is a opening, that will occur.

There will be NO ferry service tonight and PROBABLY NOT tomorrow morning, but they (at the ferry) will have to re-check that when they see the ice conditions in the morning. NOTHING IS SET IN STONE RIGHT NOW.

BOB WILL RUN THE AIRBOAT UNTIL 6PM TONIGHT ONLY....THE ICE IS TOO THICK TO NAVIGATE AT NIGHT...per Daryl Dupage.

The Harsen's Island/Clay township airboat is available for emergency transportation by calling either 911 for major emergency or calling the Clay Township Police at 810-794-9381 for minor emergencies.

New Plan for Monday's Ferry Operations

Note:  7:30pm editor changed post time to keep this at the top of the page until this news changes.  Scrool down for other posts today.

David Bryson, owner of Champions Auto Ferry, has been talking to the Coast Guard regarding ferry operations on Monday.  There is a NEW PLAN for working the ice jam between St. Clair and Marysville and operations in the North Channel. 

They will be able to keep the ferry open until at least 9pm on Monday, and shut down for the midnight shift (10pm to 6am Tuesday).   

At that time they will reopen Tuesday morning...IF CONDITIONS ALLOW.

WITH THE WARM WEATHER, CONDITIONS MAY CHANGE.....SO CHECK BACK OFTEN FOR UPDATES.

Tags: Harsens Island, Harsen's Island Michigan,