Catching the CSL Assiniboine on the Return Trip

It's not often that I get to catch ships as they are on the same trip but it's cool when I do because I can use it to give an idea of just how vast the Great Lakes Seaway is.

 I caught the CSL Assiniboine as she was leaving hibernation in Sarnia on Saturday.  Roughly 19 hours from that point, she would have arrived at the Soo Locks and would have passed through there.  So that means, she would have passed through the Soo on Sunday.

 It is roughly two days from Sault Ste Marie to her desination of Superior, Wisconsin.  While she was there, she picked up a load of taconite pellets (I think). 

 She would have left Superior, Wisconsin sometime on Tuesday (I think).  After roughly a two day transit, she would have passed through the Soo Locks where she would have been lowered roughly 21 feet to enter the Lake Huron system (after passing through the St. Marys River).

 Approximately 24 hours after clearing the Soo Locks, she would have been at this point which is just off Windmill Point in Detroit (or Grosse Pointe).

 After passing through the Detroit River, she would enter Lake Erie and less than a day later she would be entering the Welland Canal.

Roughly two days after clearing the Welland Canal, she will arrive at her destination of Quebec City.  There she will offload her cargo of taconite pellets which will probably be picked up by a salty to be carried to a foreign port.

A Stop at Windmill Point

I was thinking about going planewatching tonight but the winds weren't coming from the right direction and I didn't feel like using the parking structure again.  Then I decided to check AIS to see if there was anything heading on the river and  I discovered that there was a downbound ship that I had a chance to catch.

 I was going to try to catch the ship from the rocky beach on Belle Isle but they had Belle Isle closed off for some reason.  Then I remembered that I could catch a ship from Windmill Point.

 It's been a while since I've caught a ship from here.  It's actually not a bad spot to catch ships, it's just that the park seems a little rough.

This is the Windmill Point lighthouse.  I think it is actually located in Grosse Pointe but I'm not 100% sure.  You get to it by heading east on Alter Road from Jefferson Avenue.  The first lighthouse was built here in 1838 making it one of the older lighthouse points in the state.  There were rebuilds in 1866, 1875 and 1908.  The current lighthouse was built in 1933 and is an automated light.  It seems like it could use a little love but I guess it serves it's purpose.

Twilight at the Aluminum Aviary

I decided to stop at Metro Airport on the way home.  Earlier today, I saw that there would be a 747 flight coming in from Orlando.

 First up was a 757-200 arriving from Florida Southwest Airport.

 Since the planes were landing from the south, I decided to watch from the parking structure tonight.  I couldn't believe how packed it was, so  I wasn't able to get in the best spot.  I was trying to catch some tire smoke.

 A Delta 737 coming in for a landing.

 And it was closely followed by a Southwest 737.  Although Southwest 737 is redundant.

 An Embrear 175 coming in for a landing.

 Next up was the MD-11 coming in from Memphis.  I think this is an almost daily flight.  It is pretty cool to catch at any rate.

 An Airbus A319 landing after the flight from Logan International in Boston.

 Occasionally the smaller Airbuses are guided by their mothers until they gain the confidence to fly somewhere on their own.

 The smaller Airbus was an A320. I'm not sure where it was flying from.

The larger was an A330 which was arriving from San Francisco.

And An Innovative Barge...Or Something

The Callaway was being trailed by the next vessel.

 The Samuel De Champlain and her barge the Innovation were on their way to Detroit.

 I believe the pair is on its way to the cement plant where I sometimes catch the Alpena.

 I'm not a huge fan of tug barges but they are growing on me.

Sadly, it was a pretty windy night otherwise I might have continued to chase the Callaway.

A Long Tailed Duck

As the Callaway was passing, this guy decided to float by.

I think it is a long tailed duck.  He looks similar to the one I saw over the weekend in Port Huron.

Catching Up With the Callaway

I was at our Troy office today and I saw that there was a ship heading downbound.  After getting my work done, I decided to head up to Marysville because that's where I had a chance of catching her.

 The ship in question was the Cason J. Callaway which is one of the AAA freighters owned by the Great Lakes Fleet.

 I believe she loaded taconite pellets at the iron dock in Duluth and left roughly three days ago.

 In roughly 12 hours from typing this post, she will be in her destination of Conneaut, Ohio.  There she will unload her cargo and continue on to her next destination.

 Her cargo is then delivered from the docks of Conneaut to the steel mills of Pittsburgh.

 With the Arthur M. Anderson laid up for the rest of the year, I'm pretty sure that I'll see alot of the Callaway and Clarke.

 And I'm fine with that.  A shot of her pilothouse.

 And her deckhouse.  I've heard rumors that her steam power plant is going to get converted to diesel at some point. 

And she continues on down the St. Clair River.

Oakland at Eastern Michigan Baseball

As I was leaving work today, I found out that Oakland University was playing Eastern Michigan at Oestrike Stadium.  After grabbing dinner, I decided to head over there for what was the last out.

Eastern Michigan was down 3-2.  There were two men on, Oakland had just changed pitchers so Eastern Michigan put a pinch hitter in.  Unfortunately, he hit to the shortstop who then threw the last out.  I think I got a nice shot out of it though.

A Brief Bit of Lunch Planewatching

As I got back to the office after lunch, I saw that there were a couple of Cessnas flying around.  I decided to get a couple of pictures of them.

I know that these planes have been on this blog before.  I think they both belong to the Michigan flyers.

 I managed to catch the strobe in this shot.

 Another Cessna.

I didn't realize there was a third plane flying around.

Ships at Rest Again...

After Marblehead, I decided to head over to Huron, Ohio to catch the ships in layup there.  Again, I think the weather makes for some nice ship pictures.

 The Adam Cornelius is still in layup and it sounds like she isn't coming out this year either.

 The Sam Laud is still in layup and from what I've heard she's not likely to come out this year either. Although things could change and she might be out later this year.  It would be kind of nice to see her out and about.

 Another shot of the Adam Cornelius.

 One more shot of the Laud before it started to rain hard again.

 Then I decided to shoot a couple pictures through the rain covered window.  For this one I focused on the ship.  I kind of like it.

But I think I like this one more.

The Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder Off Marblehead

As I was heading towards the lighthouse, I saw this tug/barge pulling out.

 I think she may have been trying to dock at the stone dock but the waves were too much for her.

 I think she pulled out into the lake a little more.  With the rain and the mist, it made for some cool pictures.

 The waves hitting the rocks made for some cooler pictures.

 Especially as some of the bigger waves hit the rocks.

 I tried to get some other pictures.

 Unfortunately I couldn't get the right angles for the boat.

But I think they still worked.