The 2016 Boatnerd Cruise

So yesterday was the Detroit River/Rouge River Boatnerd Cruise for 2016.  I was kind of waffling on whether or not I wanted to go but then I finally decided that it would be fun.  The weather yesterday was an improvement over the hot muggy weather that we had for the past week or so.  I caught a number of ships yesterday, but I'm going to post those independently as the opportunity presents itself.

 We went on the Friendship out of Portofino's in Wyandotte again.  It's a pretty nice boat.

 The Portofino is the other boat that is operated by them.  They do dinner or brunch cruises on this and of course you can rent it out.  It's not cheap though.

 A look at downtown Wyandotte.

 The Diamond Jack is the boat that leaves from Bishop Park in Wyandotte.  I think it goes up to Detroit and then back down past wherever Boblo Island was.  I'm not sure if it goes up the Rouge as well.

 An old buoy.

 A newer buoy with the Detroit skyline in the background.

 I think they use this to break up iron slag.  The broken up iron slag is then used in construction.

 A switcher belonging to the Del Ray Connector Corporation.

 Normally these would be full of molten steel.

 Another shot of the engine.

 The lighthouse at Belanger Park.

 Another shot of the Detroit Skyline.

 Entering the Rouge River.  This bridge connects the railroad from Zug Island to the mainland.

 The Patricia Hoey.

 The Idaho is a tug that belongs to Great Lakes Towing.

 Three tugs are better than one.

 A bascule bridge belonging to Conrail.

 The barge Norman McLeod being pushed by the Victorious.  I think they were picking up Asphalt.

 the Shiela Kaye.

 The William Hoey and Shannon.

 The Fort Street bridge closing behind us.  They just finished this one not too long ago.  I also heard that the Jefferson Avenue Bridge will be opening later this week.  I can't wait.  That will make other parts of boatwatching much easier.

 The Dix Avenue Bridge.

 The slip were the ships deliver to the Rouge Steel Mill.

 Another view of the Dix Avenue Bridge with the Ste Claire to the side.

 The William L. Warner is something.  I don't have too many details on her though.

 The Calusa Coast is up from the Chesapeake Bay.  I'm not sure what she is delivering.

 A giant bulldozer moving some iron around.

 A cement barge and tug.

 The Demolen is a tug belonging to the US Army Corps of Engineers.

 And the Rebecca Lynn.

 If you look to the right, you can see some of the smoke damage from a recent fire.

 The Huron Maid acting as the Westcott this year.  Probably one of the highlights of this cruise is getting pizzas delivered by either vessel.

 the Detroit skyline.

 If you look closely, you can see a helicopter.  Slightly behind it is a racing boat.

 The lighthouse at Milliken State Park.  It is a replica of the Tawas Light.

 A better shot of the racers.

 And I think this may be my favorite of the bunch.

 I couldn't resist.

 the Curtis Randolph is a fireboat owned by Detroit.

 The Westcott.

 Mistersky Power Station is used as a fueling point for the lake ships.

 Patricia Hoey out doing work.

 A shot of Zug Island.

 If you think ships are large, imagine the size of some of the structures used to support them.  Although, I'm pretty sure this crane isn't used anymore since most ships are self unloaders.

 A more overall view of Zug.

And I leave you with one more shot of the switcher.