Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America's Forgotten Border

by Porter Fox

As for border security, he said, “There was before 9/11 and after.” The Equinox shadows the border most of the time, especially in lock systems and tight passages between lakes. Cameras watch the boats from shore. Paperwork and communication with authorities is constant. Ships have to notify agents on both sides of the boundary with an exact list of workers, passengers, and cargo. Border agents search boats occasionally, sometimes with underwater drones or radiation detectors to find drugs or bombs. Heightened security has been a hassle, but it doesn’t keep most captains up at night. What worries them, and the entire Great Lakes shipping industry these days, is the health of the lakes themselves. A warmer climate across the northland has made water levels in the lakes fluctuate radically. Lack of ice in the winter increases evaporation rates, which rain can’t always make up for. The Great Lakes saw an unprecedented drop between 1998 and 2013, during which time regional conditions were wetter than average. (Fall gales can evaporate two inches of Great Lakes water per week.)