Pictures Below - 8:30am - 8:45am - February 4, 2004


Pictures Below - 3:00pm - February 4, 2004

At the Bend Toward Algonac	Looking upriver from the Boys Club	View of the Ferry and Open Water from Sunset Marina

Photos courtesty of harsensisland.com correspondent
Click on Image for Larger View

Friday, February 6, 2004 - 9:37am
The ferry continues to operate on a normal schedule, however the roads this morning are extremely icy and unsafe. The busses managed to pick up the High School and Middle School students with great difficulty and delays, it was so bad that the busses were followed by school maintenance trucks with plows and salt. Because of the road conditions, the elementary school bus runs have been delayed until 11:00am, the teachers, Mrs. Mertz and Miss Smith are at the Island School awaiting the arrival of the students. So sit tight, and start to look for the bus around 11:00am, if the bus dosen't arrive, check back here for current updates on the bus situation. One good piece of news, the bread truck and the hostess truck arrived on the island this morning so we should have some fresh bread at the Sans Souci Market (Middle Channel Party Store remains closed at this time). Bad news, according to Clay Township Officials, garbage pick up will resume on Monday and for future reference, if a scheduled garbage pick-up is cancelled, the schedule will resume the following week.

Thursday, February 5, 2004 - 6:20am
The Ferry continues to operate on a normal schedule which means that school busses will be running on schedule. It looks to be clear sailing for now, if anything occurs which could effect the ferry look here for the updates. While you're here check out what else Harsensisland.com has to offer. We have an interactive calendar in our events section - add an event ! We have an announcements section where you can add your own personal annoucement, classifieds and more. Thank you for visiting.

Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 4:10pm
The Ferry is running on schedule - No Delays !
See the pictures above for a view of the current ice conditions at the Ferry - OPEN WATER - at least from Sunset Marina to just before the Boys Club. Around the bend toward Algonac there is still quite a bit of ice let's just hope it all holds for a while. Meanwhile Harsens Island was written up in The Detroit News and The Times Herald, click the links below to read the complete stories. Also - if everything remains open, plan on sending the wee ones to school in the morning - YEAH !

Ice strands Harsens Islanders
Coast Guard tugboat to break up floes in river.....The Detroit News.....Full Story

Ice floes maroon Harsens residents
Coast Guard cutter set to begin breaking up St. Clair River jam...The Times Herald...Full Story

Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 12:20pm
The ferry continues to run for now without any backups. Sometime ago the Neah Bay CG Cutter was headed down the South Channel towards Detroit, it spent quite a bit of time working on the ice near the tip of Dickenson Island, however during its departure it did manage to disturb the ice upriver which is packed through to Algonac State Park. Ice has broken loose and is steadily traveling toward Dickenson Island, causing the ferry to manuever around these ice flows. Hopefully the Neah Bay was able to open up enough water to allow the ice to pass the ferry. That' s it for now - check back for more updates !

Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 8:59am
They are loading the ferry up - that was fast ! - looks like we are back in business !

Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 8:45am
Coast Guard Cutter is having success in moving the ice towards dickenson island. There is still a lot of ice towards Algonac that has yet to move and the docks appear full, however David Bryson said he will know more in an hour and hopes to have things moving by "lunch time". The ferry line is growing at this hour to about 20 - 25 cars, if things go as planned, and if you need to get off the Island ASAP, you might benefit from waiting in line.

Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 7:46am
The Coast Guard Cutter is coming down the North Channel to assist the Ferry with ice breaking efforts. If the Coast Guard is unable to assist the Ferry in becoming operational, they (the CG) will be providing emergency transfers off the island only!

Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 7:34am
Currently the Coast Guard Cutter is docked in Algonac waiting to come to our rescue if the need arises. One of the Ferrys is out in the channel at this hour attempting to cut a path and have gone approximately 30 feet. There is a small ferry line at 7:34am, approximately 10 cars. School on the Island is closed for the day and all high school and middle school children will be home today as well. As soon as I know more I will let you know.

As of Tuesday, February 03, 2004, Champions Auto Ferry is closed due to ice in the North Channel. A Coast Guard Cutter has been notified and is coming from Toledo, Ohio to open the Channel, anticipated arrival is Wednesday, February 03, 2004, hopefully they will be successful in clearing a path through the ice to allow the ferry to operate. As it stands now, the ferry may be operational sometime on Wednesday. We will strive here at harsensisland.com to keep you updated on the status of the ferry. Welcome to paradise !