The Lake Freighters

One of the coolest things about living in Michigan is our Merchant Marine.  Well, I guess we kind of co-own them with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, and Ontario.

Regardless of who actually owns them, the sight of them gliding over the big lakes or through the Detroit or St. Marys rivers is one of the most impressive things you will ever see.

Today, I stumbled across this YouTube video about one of the biggest on the lakes - the Paul R. Tregurtha.  It's a full 45 minutes long, but it gives you an inside look at one of these behemoths.  I also found it funny that the Captain looks like someone you would meet in deer camp, not on the bridge of a 1000-footer.

So, here she is:

2014 ID4 Match at CCRC

ID4 is an annual match held at my club, and this year I took my daughter to shoot in it:

It's similar to an NRA High-Power match, I guess.  The course of fire is:

1. 10 rounds plus 2 sighters in 10 minutes, Prone position.
2. 10 rounds in 2 minutes, Prone.
3. 10 rounds in 10 minutes, Offhand position, no sling.

All of these are shot at 200 yards, no optical sights or shooting coats, but shooting gloves are allowed. 

There are several classifications based on what era your rifle comes from:

• Early Wars - 45/70 Springfield or other single-shot military.  Even flintlocks!
• WW I - 30/40 Krag, Springfield 03, etc.
• WW II: Springfield 03-A3, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and I saw some Mausers in there too (6.5 Swedes mostly).
• You can shoot an AR, but you would only shoot for score, and not be eligible for any prizes.

Lauren was the only girl there, and one of two 'yutes.  She was high youth, scoring 222 1X (out of 300) with a borrowed M1 Carbine she had never shot before. She even got a plaque, although it was the "Early Wars" plaque, since there were no competitors in that classification.  So they considered the word "Early" to mean "Youth" in this instance.  That was darn nice of them I thought.  She was 10th out of the 13 shooters there, overall.

No, I didn't shoot, as I don't have a rifle that fits in those categories that I have ammo for.  I need to get one of my two Krags working and shoot that someday!

Thanks to Bob Steketee for running the match today, and to CCRC for sponsoring it, and letting the Youth shoot for free.  And to Dale, who I think is from the Brighton area, for letting us use his M1 Carbine.