Catching the Kaye E. Barker

 I saw that the Kaye Barker was coming down.  I was actually hoping to catch her on the Rouge River but I knew that I wasn't going to have enough daylight for that, so I decided to catch her at Belle Isle.

It was a good thing because she ended up going to the anchorage before going up the Rouge River.

There was a ship on the Rouge River and I figured that was the reason why she didn't go up.

She was doing the same thing the Herbert C. Jackson was doing yesterday.

She was coming down from Marquette with a load of taconite.

She is taking it to the Rouge River steel mill.

I'm not sure if she is also going to Sandusky but at any rate it was nice to catch her.

It wasn't too windy, so I took my drone out with me.

With the golden light, it was a nice night for pictures (heat haze aside).

I love the profile that she casts.

The river was a nice shade of blue.

Shame it wasn't a little calmer.

The beam shot.

She continues on her way.

As I said, she ended up going to anchorage for a bit, so she was going fairly slow.

But that made more opportunities for pictures.  And then I headed home.

Our Now Official National Bird

 As I was leaving Belle Isle, I saw this guy and I needed to get pictures as it is fairly timely.

Apparently, the bald eagle was not officially our national bird.  With everything that is emblazoned with the bald eagle, it was assumed that it was.  We have other official national things but apparently someone neglected to name the eagle the national bird.

That was taken care of last week and voted on by Congress (I believe it was nearly unanimous which is hard to believe).  So the bald eagle is now the official national bird of the United States.

Catching Up With the Paul R. Tregurtha

 This wasn't a ship I was planning on catching but I saw that I had an opportunity to catch her.

That required me going to Belle Isle though.  I didn't think I wouldn't have enough light if I stayed at Riverside.

As it was I had barely enough light but I still got pictures of her.  I kind of like this one.

She was heading down from St. Clair to Monroe with a load of coal.  That is typically the way she does her deliveries.

She would have originated at the coal terminal in Superior, Wisconsin.

As the largest ship on the Great Lakes, she is considered as the "Queen of the Lakes".

One more shot of her.

And the Main Attraction

 And this the ship I was waiting for.

It's been over a year since I've seen her.  She only went out a few times last year and then they laid her up.

They pulled her out of layup and she is sailing again.

But I heard a rumor that this might be her last year but you never know.

She is one of my favorites because many people think she's ugly.

I think she is unique looking.

She was coming down from Thunder Bay after a layup in Meldrum Bay.

It looks like she was recently painted though.

So maybe I will see her again a few more times.

I hope so.

She was heading to Hamilton.

I'm not sure what she was carrying.

The J.W. Westcott goes out to visit her.

The Westcott travels along her side.

The Westcott pulling away.

I like this shot.

The Detroit River has a nice shade of blue.

Two classics.

The beam shot.

She heads away.

Going down the Detroit River.

heading for another Bridge.

And then I switched to my normal camera for the mostly stern shot.

My last picture of the day but I hope its not my last picture of her.

Catching the CSL Assiniboine

This is one of the ships I hoped to catch but not the ship I was heading down to Detroit for.

The CSL Assiniboine was coming down from Thunder Bay, I think.  Her last destination is listed as the Soo but that always happens with ships that come from above the Soo.

She was heading to Quebec City.

I'm not sure what she was carrying though.

I do like her looks.

Especially the red hull.

But like many of her fleetmates, she looks pretty rough.

But Canadian ships usually go through more locks and sometimes they end up in the brackish waters.

Both things are rough on ships.

But she doesn't look too bad.

A sailboat passes her.

The almost beam shot.  I liked the looks of the clouds behind her.

She continues down the river.

One more shot.