The Diamond Queen and Detroit Princess

 A couple more pictures before the main attraction.

I saw the Diamond Queen coming down.  I figured I would get some pictures of her.

I'm not sure if this was one of the normal cruises or a charter.

I also saw the Detroit Princess.  I really like the looks of this boat.

The Diamond Queen returning.

Getting a little closer.

I like the way the flags look in this picture.

I really like the way they look in this picture.

Some more pictures of the Detroit Princess.

I'm not sure how often this one goes down the river.

But it's pretty cool to see.

She turns around.

A bow shot.

She heads back to her dock.

One more shot.

Detroit in the Sunset

 And I had to look on the other side of the river.

While it wasn't quite as cool, it still looked pretty neat.

The Detroit Princess passing by.

One more shot of her.

The Detroit Princess From the Air

 I moved to another spot on the island.  This put me out of the no fly zone for the Tigers because  I wanted to get drone shots of the next ship.

This wasn't the next ship but I figured I take my drone up to catch her.

It is the Detroit Princess tour boat.

It used to be a river boat casino from the Mississippi River.

I don't think it did well, so it ended up in Detroit.

Now they use it for tours.

Even though it's not a real riverboat, it still looks pretty cool.

The Detroit Princess Passes By

As I got to my spot, the Detroit Princess was starting to pass by.

 It has been a while since I've taken pictures of her, so I decided to get one.  She is kind of nice, even if she isn't a real river boat.

The Detroit Princess

I wasn't expecting to catch this boat as I didn't think the season was started yet.

 I might have caught her as she left her dock near Hart Plaza but I didn't think anything of it.

It was kind of neat to see her and the lighting was just about right.

Catching the Detroit Princess

I decided to head down to Belle Isle tonight.  I was hoping to catch a downbound ship.

 As I arrived at Belle Isle, I saw the Detroit Princess heading up the river.  It was starting to get dark, so I realized that I wouldn't catch the ship.

 I figured that the Detroit Princess was better than catching nothing.

 And it's a pretty nice looking boat to boot.

As it heads away.

Random Things While Boatwatching

Just some other pictures from the day

 The Detroit skyline under the sunlight.

 A Wayne County Sheriff's boat.

 The Detroit Skyline from another part of the island.

 A seagull.

 A boat from the Detroit Yacht Club.

 The Detroit Yacht Club flag.

 Another seagull.

 The Detroit Princess on a cruise.

Ever since Belle Isle became a State Park, the State Police has been patrolling the island and actually enforcing the speed limit and other things.  Some people have complained about the increased police protection but I think it is good.  I feel much safer on Belle Isle (not that I didn't feel safe before).  I am also starting to see a marked improvement on the island.

A Brief Stop at Belle Isle

So then I decided to head over to Belle Isle.  It was a nice enough night to do so.

 Evidently, they have been turning on the Scott Fountain.  I will have to admit, it looks pretty cool with water running through it.

 Then I looked over towards the skyline and liked the way it looked against the setting sun.

 But I really liked the look of the Super Moon.  No sooner was I hoping to get a picture of a boat in front of it when the Detroit Princess appeared.

 A little more of the skyline in the picture.

And a little less.

 Then I saw the MacArthur Bridge and decided to get a picture of that.

 I wouldn't have taken this picture, but I saw the plane flying over, so I had to have it.

A Detroit Police boat racing somewhere.

And Finally...The Roger Blough

My favorite ship is the Roger Blough.  I'm not quite sure why though.  She's not one of the longest ships since she's not a 1000 footer.  She has a history but she doesn't have a spot in history like the Arthur Anderson.  Maybe it's because she has the traditional laker look but is still enough of a monster.

 Here she is as she is rounding Belle Isle.

 This shot may explain it.  She is pretty low in the water and looks almost like an alligator or turtle reading to pounce on something.

 Or maybe it is because her form isn't affected by the presence of a self unloading boom.  She's a self unloader but her system is hidden.

 A shot of her bow.

 Another shot of her.

 Just look at the wave, so you can only imagine how much she is displacing.

 Here is a shot of her full 858 feet.  She's not big enough to be the Queen of the Lakes but I think she could handle her own.  She is certainly wide enough at 105 feet.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

 And a shot of her bridge.

 Her stack.

 Another shot of her pilothouse.

 One of her crewmembers freezing on deck.  It was cold yesterday just sitting on the pier.  I can't imagine would it would have been like sitting on a moving ship.

 A shot of her stern.

 One of her self-unloading conveyors.  Because of this, she can only go to certain ports.

 A shot as she passes by.

 Her she is passing by the Detroit Princess.

 The Ambassador Bridge backing her up.

And a final shot before she continues on to Ohio.