Good Bye to 2024 and Hello to 2025

 I was going to go out yesterday but the weather didn't seem like it wanted to cooperate with me.  I heard that it was going to snow.  It looked pretty cloudy, so I decided to just mess around at home.  So it turns out that the Kaye Barker would be the last ship of the year for me.

I was pretty busy at work for most of 2024 and that made it so I didn't really feel like doing anything on the weekend but I still had some good opportunities.  I was able to catch the Red Arrows in London, Ontario.  I caught the Blue Angels up at Traverse City.  I caught a few new ships.  But because of the first sentence, I wasn't as productive on my blog as I wanted to.

I am going to try to change that this year but we will see how things go.  It looks like it is going to be another busy year at work but I'm going to try to make time for my photography.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do though.  I really should do some research and find a more Michigan related topic for this year.

Anyway, I hope that 2024 was good for you and 2025 will be better.

Ending the Day With the Ever Lovely Kaye E. Barker

I ended up catching the Kaye E. Barker on her way to Dearborn as I was on Belle Isle.  I didn't think I would catch her on her return trip as it rained all day yesterday.  But as I said, she ended up spending the night in the Belle Isle anchorage last night.

She was the last ship of the day and I was happy to see her.

She is definitely one of my favorite ships right now.  She has lovely lines and she is one of the more distinctive looking.

The lighting was a little better for me, but for some reason my light meter wasn't reading it correctly.

I kind of like this angle.

The bow shot.

She makes the turn for the channel.  The lighting was much better for these shots.

Probably my favorite of the bunch.  I love this angle for ships.  It gives my favorite view which is the bow plus a hint of the size.

She was heading back to Marquette and that means she might be back this way on Wednesday.  If so, I hope that I can catch her on the return trip.

But I'm not sure if the weather is going to hold.

It will probably be cloudy at least.

She's passing the Bridge.

Again, I wish I didn't have the shadows here.

The almost beam shot.

Her pilot house.

I kind of like this shot.

But I like this shot better.

Catching the Atlanic Huron

 Next up was the Atlantic Huron.

The Atlantic Huron has a special place in my heart.  She's on one of the first pictures I took where I thought I could do this thing.

I was happy to catch her because I don't catch her all that often.

She was heading up from Naticoke, I think.

She was heading to Duluth.

She was making the turn for the channel.

But I missed the bow shot.

She makes the turn for the channel.

The lighting was a little better here.

And I like this shot.

Framed by the Blue Water Bridge.

I would like this shot better without all the shadows.

She continues past the bridge.

Her pilothouse.

And again.

One more shot as she continues on her way to Duluth.

Catching Up With the James R. Barker

 After the Jackson, the next ship was the James R. Barker.

The Barker was coming up from Monroe.

I think she would have been delivering coal to the power plant there.  I'm not sure if she did the split load with St. Clair though.

She was heading up to Silver Bay, Minnesota.

I think she will end picking up taconite there.

The bow shot.

She makes the turn for the channel.

I like this shot.

She passes under the Blue Water Bridge.

Unfortunately, I was shooting towards the sun.

I love the look from the scrubbers.

Her pilot house.

She heads out to Lake Huron.

One more shot before catching the next ship.

Almost Catching the Herbert C. Jackson

 I looked at Marine Traffic and saw that it was going to be a fairly busy day.  Two of the ships I ended up catching stayed overnight in Detroit as Lake Huron was pretty nasty last night.  I got a late start but I didn't think it was a late as it ended up being.

As I was heading into the parking lot, I saw that the Herbert C. Jackson was leaving the Port Huron area.  She was one of the ships I was hoping to catch, but she was the first of the group, so I wasn't terribly disappointed.

I am not normally a fan of stern shots, but I do like this one.  The US flag nearly straight out.  For that reason, I didn't have my drone with me.  But it was a nice sunny day but a little on the cold side.

But Wait, There's One More

 I should have posted this picture before the other posts, but I remembered that I had it.

Earlier this year, the Hollyhock was taken from the Great Lakes.  I think she was going to Baltimore for a refit and repairs.  She was replaced by the Sequoia, which is the cutter above.  I didn't have a chance to take a picture of her before, so enjoy a slightly fog shrouded version of her.

A Wolverine by Any Other Name

 Next up is my last boat of the day.

She was also fairly close.  In fact, if the Mariner hadn't taken a wide berth, I could have gotten a passing shot.

I'm not sure where the Pierson was heading from but her AIS said she was heading to Thessalon.  That is to the north of Detour.

I'm not sure if she is taking something there or picking up something.

Judging by her anchor pockets, I would say she is loaded which means she is delivering something.

Thessalon is fairly close to Sudbury.  And Subury has a nickel mine.

I'm not sure if nickel is delivered by ship though.

Anyway, the Pierson used to be known as the Wolverine when she was owned by her previous company.

I wish that named would have stayed because it's a cool name.

Then I switched to my drone.

I didn't get close this time.

The beam shot.

And she continues on her way.

One last shot.

It was a pretty cool day.  I got to catch the Anderson on a day that will remain in her history.  I got to see a bunch of ships and I was able to hook up with a fellow boatnerd.  All made for a good day.