The American Spirit on the St. Clair River

Next up was the thousand footer, the American Spirit.  She's appeared on this blog a few times.  Normally, I would split a post like this into a few other posts but I'm going to keep it all in one.

 The large boat as she passes the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse.

 She starts to prepare for her turn for entering the river.

 She completes her turn and starts to move towards the Bluewater Bridge.

 I think it's a little trickier for her because it didn't seem like she stayed straight as long as the Leitch.

 She passes by the Bridge.

 Nothing says long ship like this shot, I think.  For some reason these still remind me of the opening scene of Star Wars.

 Another shot of her full thousand feet.  Actually, she's a little longer than that.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

 Slowly she works her way towards the Black River.

 Next I headed over to St. Clair to catch some shots of her there.  I like shooting boats from St. Clair about as much as I do Port Huron.

 Another frontal shot.

 Another shot of her full length.

 Nothing gives you a better idea of her size than having a shot of a crewman on her deck.

 A closer shot of her pilothouse.

 One of her lifeboats.  I believe these can be used in stormy seas and are difficult to sink.

 Just in case you forgot her name.

 A shot of her smokestack. 

 A closer shot of her pilothouse.

 Another angle of her lifeboat.

 Slowly she starts to pull away.

 She greats her fellow fleetmate and my next subject, the Buffalo.

 The two ships pass each other and give each other a greeting.  It is pretty neat when boats speak.

 I headed to Algonac State Park for my next set of shots.  This is another nice spot for boatwatching.

 She passes a group of swans.

 The lighting was even nicer here.

 I really like the way the light was shining on her.

 A shot of her bow.

 One more shot before moving to the next spot.

 Then I decided to catch her in Algonac proper.

Sadly, that spot is fairly fleeting.