Catching the Badger

We ended up staying in Ludington for the night.  I thought that perhaps I could go catch the Sykes in Grand Haven but I was feeling tired.

 So I decided to just catch the Badger as she left since I didn't catch her entering Manitowoc.

 It's amazing the amount of smoke that is put out.

 Looks like she has the Sheriff escort out too.

 You can see her sister ship in the background.

 And she starts to pass by.

 I'll have to admit, she is a pretty nice looking ship.

And she heads out towards Lake Michigan.

Riding on the Badger

After my day of spotting in Chicago, we stayed overnight and met my uncle for dinner.  On Monday it was time to go home, but my dad decided to take the Badger instead of driving through Chicago and Indiana.  I'd never ridden on the Badger before, so I was game.

 The Badger was built in 1952 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Company as a rail ferry.  It would take rail cars between Michigan and Wisconsin year round.  In 1972, the service was greatly curtailed and in 1990, the rail service ended.  In 1991, the Badger and Spartan were bought by Charles Conrad of Holland, Michigan.  He had the Badger converted to an automobile ferry.  In 1997, it was designated as a historical site in both Michigan and Wisconsin.  In 2016, it was designated as a national historical landmark.

 In 2015, it was officially designated as a part of US-10.  It is about a four hour ride.

 The crew drive your vehicle on the ship.  So you just park it and they take care of the rest.

 A shot of the front deck.  They have deck chairs set up and you can just relax.  There is also a place where you can get food and they play bingo in one of the areas.  It is kind of nice.

 The USS Cobia is a Gato glass submarine that served in World War II.  It is similar to the boats built in Manitowoc but was built by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, CT.

 She participated in 6 war patrols but only earned 4 battle stars.  She ended up sinking about 16,000 tons of cargo.  In 1970, she was decommissioned and towed to Manitowoc.  Much of her systems are kept operational.

 Pulling out of the slip in Manitowoc.

 the Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse was built in 1918.  It is 40 feet tall and has fourth order fresnel lens.  It is visible 13 miles out.

 In 1971 it was automated.

 It is built of steel.

 Leaving the friendly confines of the Manitowoc harbor.  It was a pretty smooth day on Lake Michigan.  Apparently, the Badger has never cancelled due to weather.  It's only cancelled once due to mechanical issues.  Looking at it, it looks like they take care of her.

 Her stack.  With the conversion of the St Marys Challenger to a barge, the Badger is now the only ship with a Unaflow Skinner steam engine in existence.  I think she is the last coal fired ship in the United States.  A few years ago, she was taking some heat because of her coal ash.  Now, the accumulated it during the trip and recycle it afterwards.

 Looking forward on the ship.  It is amazing that you can't see the Michigan shoreline.

 Looking back.  The Wisconsin shoreline starting to disappear.

 And you even reach a point where you can't see either shoreline.

 The Stars and Stripes waving proudly.

 One of the lifeboats.

 Looking back towards Wisconsin again.

 Eventually, the Michigan coast started to loom large.

 You can see Big Sable Lighthouse off in the distance.

 We were greeted by a sheriff's boat.

 Which escorted us in.

 Starting to enter the channel.

 The Ludington Lighthouse.

 It looks kind of different from the Lake.

 Another angle.

 The Spartan is in permanent layup.  I think she is mostly used for parts.

And we start to ease into our dock.

Michigan Exposures Hits the Road - Day 5

My dad decided he wanted to ride the Badger back.  I've never been on the Badger before, so I figured it would be an adventure.

I guess technically I should have said I hit the water but technically the Badger is still US-10, so therefore a water highway.  Anyway, it was a fun trip and I'd consider doing it again.

And Finally the Fireworks

Since I wanted pictures of the Badger and Lighthouse and I didn't want to carry my backpack, I only took my medium zoom lens.  I should have figured out a way to bring my little lens with me because that would have given me the shots I really wanted.

  The pictures aren't bad though but I kind of wanted some of the light reflecting off the water.

 I guess shots of just the fireworks are good though.

 They put on a pretty good shot at any rate.  It lasted for a little over 20 minutes.

 And since I didn't bring the backup battery, I pretty much got to enjoy a good chunk of it.

 I kind of like this one.

 As the finale approached, I remembered a little trick of pulling the battery out and putting it back in.  That gave me a few more shots.

But I had packed my tripod away, so I might have been a little shaky on some of those shots.

Like I said, the show was pretty cool and even the Badger gave her seal of approval to it.  I think next year, I would like to catch fireworks over Lake Superior though.

The Badger Passes By

One of the neater aspects of the Ludington fireworks is that you get a chance to see the Badger under pretty good lighting conditions.

 The sun is low in the sky and the Badger passes during what is called "the Golden Hour".  The sun is at such an angle that it makes everything have a golden color.

 Everything looks nice at this time but especially ships.  And I think the Badger is an especially nice looking ship.

 At one time, she used to delivery train cars across Lake Michigan but that business became unprofitable, so she sat for a while.

 A local Ludington Businessman took ownership of her and converted her to an auto ferry.

 I believe she is one of the last coal fired ships on the Lakes and that is a point of contention with some.  While I don't agree with the pollution aspect, in the scheme of things what harm can come from one ship?  I think the owners plan to convert her to natural gas or something in the future but like many things...that costs money.  Besides, I think some of the people fighting her have connections to the rival ferry company....not that anything like that would affect politicians.

 Still, she is a beautiful ship.

 In a beautiful setting.

 And she passes the lighthouse.

 Before she gets in place for the fireworks, she does take a little cruise around the Ludington Area.  Normally,  I wouldn't post a shot like this, but I liked the effect of the longer term exposure.

And I leave you with the Badger in position for viewing the fireworks.