Boxing Day Herbert C. Jackson

I decided to go do some boatwatching on Boxing Day.  There were a few that were coming down or going up.  I was pretty sure I would catch the next one but I wasn't sure where I would catch her.

 The Herbert C. Jackson was on her way to the Rouge River.  From this point, it would be about 6.5 hours until she reached her destination.  I was a little reluctant to leave but I'm glad I did because there was enough mist on the water to make my pictures seem ethereal.  

 She would have picked up a load of taconite at the Marquette iron docks.  It is roughly a 33 hour journey from there to this point not including time spent in the Locks.

 So her total journey from Marquette to the Rouge River is about 40 hours (give or take a couple of hours).  I think her unloading time is about 10 hours, so it makes the total journey (if she goes back to Marquette) about 4 days.  Some ships pretty much do this trip for the whole shipping season.  Other ships mix it up.

 This may be one of the shortest round trips on the Great Lakes as a ship might make two such trips in a week.  There are some trips on the Lakes that will take just a week to get from point to the other.

 Anyway, it was pretty nice to catch the Jackson, even though it seems like I've caught her quite a bit this season.

 She gives me the headshot as she makes the turn to enter the St. Clair River.

 The turn to the St. Clair River is complete.  She will make another after she passes the Blue Water Bridge.

 She shows off the Blue Water Bridges in the background.

 Another shot with the Bridges.

 One more with the casino in the backgroun.

 She makes another turn to the St. Clair River.  After this she will make another turn.

 Next I headed down to Marysville.  It is about an hour away from Port Huron for the ship.  It gives me a chance to get some different angles.

 You can see one of the ships that is docked in Sarnia behind her.  Many of those ships are salties and will be making their way out of the Seaway soon.

 My favorite angle.

 Next I headed down to St. Clair.  That is probably a half hour journey for the ship.  Usually I can catch the same ship there.  Sometimes I get better light there.  This time, it didn't really matter.

 There is a spot at the park where I can get a head shot, but this wasn't it.

 She passes by.

 Still a little Christmasy.

 You can almost get a decent beam shot.

 And she continues on her way.

And then I caught her in Marine City but I wasn't in a good spot to catch downbound ships.  This is where I left her.