Atlantic Borg

Newcastle upon Tyne was an early coal exporting port and has been well-known for coal mining, since the Middle Ages. ‘Carrying coal to Newcastle’ was the archetypal pointless activity. There being plenty of coal there already. Other countries have similar phrases; in German it is ‘taking owls to Athens’, the inhabitants of Athens being thought to have sufficient wisdom already.

In the photograph above, we have the twenty-first century equivalent of ‘carrying coal to Newcastle’. The freighter Atlantic Borg of the Wagenborg line is seen carrying wind turbine blades on its deck. On the background ridgeline can be seen a few of the hundreds of already operating wind turbines in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The mystery here is that the freighter is headed down-bound with its cargo. Maybe it had to drop-off or pickup another cargo first and is now heading back to the Soo for delivery of its deck cargo. It is a mystery.

Anne and I launched early this morning, at least early for us on cabin time. Our plan was to catch the MUP ride, or Michigan Upper Peninsula ride. This ride is organized by the League of Michigan Bicyclists, the same organization that ran the West Shoreline ride that we did last summer. We had planned to do this ride, but weren’t quick enough to reserve a spot. We launched west along Six-Mile, their planned route. We only saw a few of them and I feared that our cabin time early wasn’t early enough, but we caught the peloton at rest at the Dancing Crane coffee shop. Did I mention that we were both wearing our West Shoreline jerseys? Yes dear folks, we were total posers. Other people on the ride were wearing the exact same jersey, so we fit right in. There was even a guy wearing a Team Kaldi’s jersey. It is a small world.