The Cuyahoga Enters Lake Macatawa

 And finally, the ship that I was looking for.  As I watched the number of people entering the park, I decided that it was a good idea that I got up early.   It wasn't terribly crowded as I arrived but as I stayed, it was starting to get more crowded.  It seems like many of the state parks have been pretty busy lately.  I think that is because people are wanting to get out.

I think the Cuyahoga was coming down from either Meldrum Bay or Bruce Mines.  Both are at the northern part of Lake Huron to the east of Detour Island.

I think it is about the same distance from there to Holland as it is from the Soo Locks to Port Huron.  That means a roughly 24 hour journey.

You don't realize the size of the Great Lakes until you see some of the shipping times to get between the ports.

Based on the origin ports, the Cuyahoga was probably bringing stone to Holland.  I'm not sure where the stone dock is here though.

The Cuyahoga is a Canadian flag, because she used a Canadian port, she can bring stuff into an American port.

If she had started at an American port, she would have either had to deliver it to a Canadian port or stop at a Canadian port before delivering it to an American port.  That in a nutshell is the Jones Act.

I figured I would get some pictures with the lighthouse in them.  As I said, this is a pretty nice looking lighthouse.

It was tough getting pictures without any pleasure craft.  There was a nice steady stream heading out to Lake Michigan.

I kind of like the pilings in there though.

She starts to loom larger on the horizon as she gets closer.

This is a really cool looking ship and it will be a shame when they finally retire her.

Based on the fact that she is 80 years old, that day might be coming soon.

I kind of like this clean shot.

A little smoke as she adjusts to the channel.

Another shot with the ligthouse.

An almost straight shot.  There is somebody in the front taking pictures.

I think she is within the channel.

She makes the turn.

I switched to my smaller lens.

One more shot with my camera.

And then I switched to my drone.  I found out that I couldn't fly over the beach area.  So I kept it in the channel.

Another view as it comes in.

This is probably my favorite.

I took my drone up higher.  I wanted some shots of the deck.

Moving it higher while keeping it over the water.

It starts to enter the lake.

It doesn't look like there is much room to maneuver.

And one more shot before moving on.