Friday, April 23, 2021

Catching Up With the Alpena Again

 I would have to say that one of the workhorses of the Lakes is the Alpena.

She is typically the first ship out of the gate to start to season.
She is also typically one of the last ships to go into layup at the end of the season.
Most of her work is in the lower lakes, so for the most part she does not go through the Soo Locks.  When she does, it's a special occasion, since it is fairly rare.
With all the construction going on, there is need for cement and that is what she carries.
I think cement needs to be made fairly close to where it is used, that means she goes all over the place.
She was heading from her namesake city to Detroit.
After a partial unload in Detroit, she headed down to Toledo where she finished unloading.  I wish I would have known that, I would have tried catch her heading down there.  Except I think that she backed into the river.
She passes by a fishing boat that was not in the channel.  While it looks the boat was fairly close, telephone lenses compress distances.
And the boat passes.
I kind of like this picture because it's a fairly clean back ground.
One more shot with my normal camera.
I think the Alpena is now the ship that I've photographed the most with my drone.
She makes for a nice photo subject.
She is definitely a classic laker.
Given her line of work and the amount of maintenance done, it is likely she will stay this way for a while.
The only issue may be some of the emissions regulations.
I hope that she sticks around for a while.
The beam shot.
She continues her journey to the cement plant in Detroit.  I was half tempted to head down to Del Ray.
But there was one more ship to be had.
For as large as these ships are, they get lost in a shot like this.
The Detroit skyline off in the distance.
One more shot.


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