Catching the Great Republic Again

I would have posted this picture of the Great Republic with the other picture of the Great Republic had I remembered that I took it.

As I said in the previous post, I thought I had an outside shot of catching the Great Republic.  It turns out that wasn't the case in Port Huron.  Sometimes I able to catch ships as I leave Port Huron.  Especially if a leave Port Huron a little after the ship left Port Huron.  I think the Great Republic was heading up to Calcite.  I'm not sure where she was heading after that.

The Kaministiqua on Lake Huron

After catching the Anderson, I decided to head up to Bay City in order to catch a ship that was heading there.  I decided to head up M-25 before heading west on M-46.  It made for a nice drive.

As I was heading north on M-25, I noticed a ship on the horizon.  It turns out that it was the Kaministiqua but I'm not quite sure where she was heading.  Anyway, this gives you a pretty good idea of the size of the Great Lakes. 

The Mighty Arthur M. Anderson

So I saw that the Arthur M. Anderson was coming down from one of the stone ports.  She was heading down to Conneaut, I think.  Since I think loaded ships look cooler than unloaded ships, I figured I had to go catch her.

 Anyway, it was a nice sunny day which meant that the water was going to be a nice shade of blue.  I love it.

 She continues off Lake Huron.  She will start making her turn for the first part of the channel soon.

 She starts to make her turn for the river.  This is probably my favorite view of a Great Lakes ship.  You can see the forward mounted pilothouse and the rear mounted deck house.  I'm not sure why this particular configuration was on the Lakes though.

 Some speculate that it helps for visibility in fog.  I'm pretty sure it does but you have to be aware of how the ship turns.  You don't have a guide like you do in a rear mounted pilothouse.

 Others speculate that it helps when navigating some of the rivers on the Great Lakes.  I actually can buy that argument more than the one above.  Many of the rivers are pretty straight but then there is the Cuyahoga.

 Anyway, she makes the turn for the channel entrance.  Ships have to make a turn as they leave Lake Huron.  There is a little crook on the St. Clair River as you enter the river.

 I'm actually kind of surprised that they never dug a canal like they did with Mission Point up in the Soo.  Maybe Port Huron was built up before the river traffic increased.  By the time they realized there was a probably, they couldn't dig a canal.

 Shortly after entering the river, the ship will start to make a turn for another bend in the river.

 This gives the second headshot you can get up in Port Huron.

 She then makes a turn for the other crook in the river.  Again, I like this view.

 A seagull passes in front.

 Framed by the Blue Water Bridge.

 I kind of like the cloud in this picture.  It is a nice pattern.

 She gives an almost beam shot.

 She passes in front of the casino in Sarnia.  It's actually a pretty nice casino.

 She makes the turn to continue down the river.

 A shot of her deckhouse.

 It was a little on the windy side, so the Stars and Stripes were flying proudly.

 I kind of liked this shot because of the clouds in the background.

 the almost stern shot.

 I like this one too..

One more stern shot as she and I go on our merry ways.  If it was Conneaut she was headed to, I think that is about 17 hours from this point (190 nautical miles, roughly).

The Robert S. Pierson Laid Up

One of the big side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the number of businesses that are idled by it.  The shipping industry is dependent upon many of the industries remaining open.  Because so many places are idled (or partially idled), there are quite a few ships laid up right now.

I was hoping to catch the Wilfred Sykes at least once while I have quite a bit of time on my hands then I saw a post that she was going back to lay up.  When I see pictures of all the ships in lay up, it's pretty amazing.   Looking at the data for Michigan, it doesn't look like we are out of the woods yet.  Anyway....

 There are two ships current laid up in Sarnia.  The Robert S. Pierson is laid up in a spot where you can see her.  There is an Algoma boat behind the trees.  I'm not sure which one.

 I would have though she would have laid up elsewhere as she is usually in eastern Lake Ontario.  It was still nice to see her however.

A closeup of her pilothouse.

Barely Catching the Great Republic

Last Thursday I decided to go up to Port Huron in order to catch the Arthur M. Anderson.  I saw that the Great Republic was heading upbound but  I wasn't sure I would catch her.

Well it turns out that  I was right, I barely caught the Great Republic.  I think she was heading up to Calcite where she would pick a load of stone.  I'm not sure where she was heading after that.

A Trio of Pere Marquette Shots

So as I was leaving town, I decided to get a couple of pictures of the train.  I haven't done that in a while.

 Unfortunately, the headshot was blocked by some of the tree branches.  It seems like they fixed the damage that was done.

 This is probably my favorite angle for a train shot.  I am hoping that I will be able to catch some live steam engine shots soon.

If this were a ship or plane, this would be a beam shot.

And the Main Event

Like I said in the last post, I arrived in Grand Haven with plenty of time.  There were a few more parking spots this time but the State Park was packed.  I think there are a few people that are in the same boat as me in that they are furloughed.  Plus it was a nice day.

 The Mississagi was a couple miles out when I arrived.  You can see her lining up for the channel.

 She gets a little closer and is a little more prominent compared to the lighthouse.

 For the most part I could get enough shots without pleasure boats.

 The Mississagi was coming down from Manistee after delivering part of her load there.  She was coming to Grand Haven to deliver the rest.  I think she was coming from Bruce Mines with stone.

 It was nice to catch her because she's a beautiful boat.

 And I think she is not long for this world but I'm not sure.  I think alot of that depends on when she had her last five year inspection.

 Another shot with the Lake Michigan as the background.

 The other channel marker.

 She passes into the channel.

 I think at this point, she is well past the lighthouse.  Especially since she kind of dwarfs the lighthouse.

 It's hard to believe that she is almost 80 years old.  That's one of the nice things about ships on the Lakes, fresh water is not nearly as corrosive so lake boats can last forever as long as there is demand.

 I think some of the machinery may cause an issue.  When that happens, some companies will convert the ship in to a barge and use her for a while longer.

 I'm not sure what is going to happen to the Mississagi when that day comes.

 Until that day, I will enjoy her.

 A shot from behind her pilothouse.

 The diamond with the "AB" on it shows the maximum draft for a load.  The "F" shape near it, shows different loads for different seasons.  The numbers show the ships draft.  In this case, about 15 feet of her is under water.

 A shot of her deckhouse.

 And a shot of her stack.  I think these are pretty cool ships but I'm not a fan of what appears to be a Blackhawks logo.

 She was flagged Canadian when her current owners acquired her.   I'm not sure what the different bulbs are.  I think one of them contains her AIS.  Another one might be a cell tower.

A stern shot before heading home.