Freighter View Farms | Chris Izworski

March in Bay City means the ice is moving out of Saginaw Bay and the navigation season is getting close. The Soo Locks open for the 2026 season on March 25. After that the freighters start moving again, the AIS app comes back to life, and the Great Lakes Gazette will be running full vessel reports by early April.

In the garden, the seed starting trays are already going. Tomatoes and peppers went under lights in late February. The AuSable River trout season opens in late April, and the June cabin trip is on the calendar. That is the rhythm of the year here: seeds under lights in February, freighters on the bay in April, trout on the AuSable in June.

Chris Izworski has been writing about this corner of Michigan since Freighter View Farms launched. The view across Saginaw Bay is the fixed point. Everything else, the garden, the fishing, the ships, the work, organizes around it.

The Great Lakes Gazette is the new daily maritime brief, automated and publishing every morning. If you follow Great Lakes shipping it is worth bookmarking now before the season opens. The full professional context for Chris Izworski is at chrisizworski.com.