The Detroit River Tugboat Races

So what I came down to the River for was the tugboat races.  I didn't really get to see much of those since the races themselves were closer to the Windsor side that the Detroit side but it was still kind of cool.  I've never really seen tugboat races before.

 Although, I don't think they are really races per se since I'd imagine that some of the boats are much faster than the others but it's all in good fun I think.  Here is a shot of the races themselves, sadly it's not a great shot.  I think it would have been better from Windsor.

 I think it is mostly party tugs and not so much working tugs now.  Which is kind of a shame.  I would to see the Green and Red tugs or the Hoey tugs.  Oh well, it was still pretty cool.

 The Westcott performs in the race though.  She is being followed by her backup vessel, the Joseph J. Hogan.

 After the race itself, the participants do a parade passby of Detroit.  This gave me an opportunity to get pictures of the ships.  The above vessel is the Josephine which I believe served as a Dutch Naval Tug for a number of years.

 I'm not sure what role she serves now but she is a pretty nice looking vessel.

 And she cuts a nice profile.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

 I think this vessel is a rescue tug.  If you run out of gas on the Lakes, you can call these guys and they will fill your tank (for a price of course).

 I have nothing on this vessel but she is still pretty nice.

 This one looks like a restored older tug.

 Another shot of the Shiela Kaye.

 The other tug passes by.  I guess I could pretend this is a shot from the race.

 This boat was decked out in pirate flags.  Something tells me, she serves as a party tug.

 Still a nice profile.

 The Joseph J. Hogan.  Like I said, she serves as the backup for the Westcott but I've never seen her out.  I've caught pictures of her at the dock though.

 Another type of vessel.

 I kind of like this one.

 The Titan.

 She also looks like a restored tug.

 The star for me of course was the Westcott.  Since I haven't been going to Riverside much, I haven't really seen her in action.

 It was nice to see it though.

And she moves on and so do I.