Mauthe returns as the Pathfinder

The J. L. Mauthe was built at River Rouge, Michigan in 1953. After a long and steady career, she entered layup at Fraser Shipyards in Superior in 1993. On the last day of 1996, she was towed from Fraser to the Bay Shipbuilding Company to be converted into a barge called the Pathfinder. At about the same time, Interlake Steamship also built the tug Dorothy Ann. They entered Great Lakes Service in 1999 as the barge/tug combination Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder. They arrived in Duluth to load coal last night (October 21, 2009), their first trip here as a tug barge combination. Below, Captain Gary Schmidt (left) and First Mate Jeremy Mock (right) made sure the Pathfinder and Dorothy Ann had a safe passage through the wind, the rain, the snow and the ice last night.