The Roger Blough on Ice

I was back up to the St. Clair River yesterday.  When I woke up, I saw that the Roger Blough, St. Clair and Frontenac were starting to work their way down the river.  I wasn't sure if I would make it in time to catch the Blough (she was the one I really wanted to catch).  Fortunately for me, it can be slow going for ships in the ice.

 As I arrived in Marine City, I saw that the Blough had crawled to the slow speed to 2 knots.  The ice looked a bit thicker than when I was up there last weekend.  At least the ships were moving though, although you can see that she was working pretty hard to do so.

 Whatever was holding up her up moved out the way and she was able to continue.

 And she passes by the little park in Marine City.

 This was right after she gave the group of people assembled there a salute.  It was pretty cool to hear her horn.

 Another park that was just south of Marine City.

 Then I decided to head over to the little turn out by Algonac State Park.  There were a few people assembled there to watch the passing of the Blough.  I was kind of surprised to see that many people because there aren't usually that many people there.  I guess people are seeing that the shipping season is coming to a close and wanted one last set of shots.

 As she starts to pass.  She decided to give us another salute.  Again, it was pretty cool.

 It's amazing how much ice builds up on these ships.

And the beam shot as she goes on her way.  She is off to Conneaut, Ohio with a load of taconite for the steel mills and then I think she continues on to Erie, Pennsylvania where she take a much needed rest for the winter.