Saturday, August 31, 2019

Catching Up with the Algoma Compass

I stuck around a little longer to catch the next ship as well.
 I think this is the second time catching her as the Algoma Compass.  She used to be the Adam E. Cornelius while she was owned by the American Steamship Company.  I caught her a few times while she was in long term layup in Huron, Ohio.
 At any rate, it is nice to see her in action again because I think she's a pretty nice looking ship.
 She kind of reminds me of the Calumet and Robert S. Pierson but I think she rides in the water higher.
 She kind of has that warship quality about her but not as much.
 And she did look nice in the setting sun.
 She starts to make the turn to enter the river.
 The second head shot.
 Sort of framed by the Blue Water Bridge.
 the almost beam shot.
And she continues down the river.

Catching the Mighty Paul

I waited around a little longer because the next ship was going to be pretty cool.
 The mighty Paul R. Tregurtha was making her way up from Monroe, Michigan.
 She would have been delivering coal to the Detroit Edison coal fired electric plant in Monroe.
 Sometimes, she will do a split load between the St Clair and Monroe power plants, I think this was one of those cases.
 She was making her way up to the coal dock in Superior, Wisconsin where she would make this run again.
 That journey is about 2 days away form this point.
 She looked nice in the sun.
 She looked even nicer framed under the Blue Water Bridge.
 she continues her way up.
She makes the final turn to head into Lake Huron.

The Canadian and United States Flags in Canada

There are two parks across the river from each other.  One is in Canada and the other is in the United States.  Together, both are symbols of a unique border.
 The United States flag was flying proudly in the setting sun.  I loved the light as it was hitting it.
 Right next to the United States flag was the Canadian flag.  It also looked pretty cool in the light.
Together, they represent a friendship that has lasted close to 200 years.

Catching the Algoma Niagara

The next ship is another that hasn't been on this page for a while.
 In fact, she has only been on this page once.  When I caught her the last time, it was when she was the newest ship on the Great Lakes.
 As it turns out, she was the last ship that I saw before I became a resident at St Joseph's for a while.
 It has been close to two years since I last saw her.  She looks a little worn since then.  But then again, Canadian ships see many more locks and sometimes end up in more brackish waters than American boats.
 The first of two head shots.
 She turns to enter the mouth of the St Clair River.
 The second headshot.
 Framed by the Blue Water Bridge as she makes the turn for the channel.
and one more shot as she continues on her way.

My Happy Place Bird

Whenever I go boatwatching, I usually have enough time to photograph other things on the river.
This time I was able to catch a cormorant as he made his way up the river.  I love watching these birds because of the way they skim the surface of the water.

Catching Up With and Old Friend

I've been motivated to go take pictures but I haven't been motivated to do my posting lately.  So this post is coming a week after it was taken.  Last weekend, I decided to head up to Port Huron because I saw that this guy was coming down.
 The Cason J. Callaway was heading down from Duluth with a load of iron ore.  She was on her way to Conneaut, Ohio.
 It has been over a year since I've last caught the Callaway.  She's been doing alot of Lake Michigan stuff and when she comes over this way, she passes on days that I can't catch her.
 Come to think of it, I haven't been seeing alot of the AAA Great Lakes Fleet lakers.  Granted, I've caught the Anderson but it doesn't seem like I've caught alot of the Clarke and Callaway.
 That's kind of a shame because these are beautiful ships.
 The second of two headshots.
 She makes the turn for the channel.
 Framed by the Blue Water Bridge.
 And she passes by.
 A sort of a stern shot.
And a stern shot as she continues her way down the St. Clair River.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Old Michigan City Lighthouse

We made a brief stop in Michigan City.
 I didn't feel like going into Washington Park but I wanted to show my dad the old Michigan City Lighthouse.  Fortunately, you can see it for free.
And the light was somewhat cooperative.

An A400 Cargo Plane Flying to Gary

I had to make a pit stop in Indiana.  As I was stopped, I looked up in the sky and saw this plane.
It was an A400, I think it belonged to the Royal Air Force and I think it was the support plane for the Red Arrows.  Anyway, I thought it was a neat catch.

Back to Schiller Park

With the change of aircraft flow, it meant I had one more chance to spot at Schiller Park.  I actually prefer spotting at Schiller Park.  The lighting is generally better when I am there.  I also get a chance to see the planes from a much longer distance.
Before the planes started to fly in this direction, they had to go in holding patterns which the planes on approach from the other way cleared.  Anyway.
 First up was an American Airlines 787 coming in from Rome.
 A Beacon shot.
 My favorite angle.  I really like the clouds in this shot.
 It was followed by another American 787.
 This particular one has the tail number N800AN.  It was the first 787 that American Airlines bought.  It entered the fleet in 2015.  This time it was arriving from Rome.
 A Qatar 777 coming in from Qatar.
 Another angle of that plane.
 A United 777 coming in from Munich.
 This picture gives you an idea of how busy it is at O'Hare.  There are three planes in this picture and they are all within in a couple of minutes of each other.
 A United A320 coming in from Orlando.
 This is an A350 that belongs to Iberia airlines.  They were the first airline to buy them.
 It was arriving from Madrid.
 An Aer Lingus A330 arriving from Dublin.
 A United 767 arriving from Rome.
 A Cathay Pacific 777 arriving from Hong Kong.
 This plane had an interesting story this day.  It was originally supposed to land at O'Hare earlier in the day but there were some nasty thunderstorms, so it was diverted to Detroit.
 At this point, it was arriving from Detroit.
A United 777.

Sadly, I couldn't stay much longer if I wanted to get home at a reasonable time.