The Whitefish Bay Makes an Appearance

 It wasn't too long before my next ship got closer.

The ship in question was the Whitefish Bay.

It's hard to believe that these ships are seven years old now.  I remember when people were complaining about the Chinese ships being built by the Canadians.

Anyway, she is owned by Canada Steamship Lines and she is one of the newer ships on the lakes.

But as you can see, she looks pretty rough.  The Canadian ships go through alot more locks than the American boats.

As a result, they look a little rougher than their American counterparts.

This particular ship is heading up to Superior, Wisconsin.

I suspect she will be picking up taconite.

And if she does, she will be carrying it to Nanticoke.

As you can see, it was a pretty nice day.  I just wish there was a little more river traffic.

I love the color of the Detroit River.

It has a nice shade of blue to it.  It almost looks like those pictures of the water you see in the Caribbean.

The beam shot.

And she passes by.

After this, is about two and half days for her to Superior.

A Squirrel

 As I was waiting for the next ship to get closer, I saw some of the wildlife.

This squirrel scurried up into the tree after getting bothered by a dog.

Catching the Blair McKeil as she Passes Belle Isle

Well, the Soo Locks are open and that means the shipping season is in earnest now.  It was sunny on Saturday, so I decided to head down to Belle Isle to catch a couple of ships.

First up was the Blair McKeil.

She is owned by McKeil Marine out of Toronto.  I will have to say that they have nice looking ships.

She is headed up to Baie Comeau which is where the waters start to get a little on the brackish side.

I think she is carrying asphalt, but I am not sure.

At anyrate, as I type this post, she is still on her way to Baie Comeau.  I think it is roughly a 3 or 4 day journey from Detroit.

Getting close to the beam shot.

And the beam shot.

I would have brought my drone down but it was a little on the windy side and my drone doesn't do wind too well.

She pulls away.

You can see the next ship.

And the next ship gets a little closer.
 

And then the AlgoCanada

 As I was finishing out with the Algoma Transport, I saw that there was a ship coming downbound.

So I headed over to Belle Isle so that I could shorten the time until I saw her.

The ship in question was the AlgoCanada.  She would have been a ship I could have seen through the winter because they usually keep the tankers active.

I believe she was on her way to Nanticoke.

Presumably, she had a load of fuel oil.

Anyway, it was nice seeing another because I hate going down for just one ship.

This is not a bad spot on Belle Isle because the background is mostly unobscured.

I think it is roughly 17 hours to Nanticoke from this point.

She passes the apartments in Windsor.

And gives the beam shot.

And one more shot before heading off.

And the Algoma Transport

 I went home after the airport and then I decided to check Marine Traffic.  I honestly wish I would have checked it sooner because the CSL Tadoussac was passing Detroit.  That is one I would like to have caught.  Oh well.

I saw that the Algoma Transport was heading up.  She had transited the Welland Canal the day before.

She was on her way up to Superior.  There I think she will pick up Taconite.  Presumably that will be for Nanticoke.

Or she could be going up to pick up coal.

Although as I type this, she's not going anywhere.  I think there are wind advisories on the Lakes.

And that might be messing up traffic a bit.

She starts to pass the Ambassador Bridge.

And is almost under it.  You can see the string of trucks waiting to get into Canada.

Based on the number of ships I see out and about, this might be a pretty good shipping year.

But then again, it can't be much worse that last year.

Anyway, it is good to see ships again.

A Nice Day for a Little Planewatching

 I had to get up really early because I had to take my mom in for some testing.  When I got back home after that, I decided to go back to sleep for a while.  When I woke up, I wanted to do something but I wasn't sure what.  So I headed over to the airport.

First up was a CRJ-200 coming up from Evansville, Indiana.

And next up was the plane that I was waiting for.

It was a 757 coming up from Los Angeles.

Anyone that follows this blog, knows that I like the 757.  I think Boeing made a huge mistake when they ended production.  

I honestly think they should have made a re-engined 757 for the MAX instead of the plane they used.

Anyway, one more shot.

As I was getting ready to leave, I saw that there was an A350 coming in from Brussels.

I think it is carrying auto parts.

The A350 is growing on me.

As it was passing, I noticed that it said "Sprit of Delta" on the side.  I think this plane is replacing a 777 that used to have that.