And the Action Jackson

 And this is the ship that I wanted to catch.

I was watching her all weekend and wasn't able to catch her anywhere.

I saw that she headed from the Rouge River to Monroe.

I think she was picking up something in Monroe but I'm not sure what.

In this post she is heading up to Alpena.

I assume that means she is delivering stone.

It was nice to see her because I like seeing classic lakers.

She passes some stone piles in Windsor.

The beam shot.

She starts to pass under the Ambassador Bridge.

The weather was starting to get a little ugly.

She continues on.

I think it is roughly 20 hours to Alpena from here.

The Manitoulin Leaves Windsor

 As I was waiting for the other ship, I saw this one docked in Windsor.

I think she was fueling up in this shot.  I'm not sure where she was before this but I think she was delivering something to Windsor.

As I was watching, I noticed that she was backing out of the dock.  It turns out she was turning to head to Marblehead.  I presume she will pick up stone for somewhere there.

Catching the M.S. Westcott

One of the things I like about Riverside is the opportunity to catch the Westcott.

I didn't catch the Westcott that I normally catch though.

I caught the M.W. Westcott which is one of their pilot boats.

But they also use her for deliveries.   As they were delivering something to the Sam Laud.

She is a pretty nice looking boat.

The flag flying proudly behind her.

She slows down to come into her dock.

One more shot of her.

The Federal Beaufort Docked With the Tug New York

 There is usually a ship docked at the dock near Riverside.  Tonight was no different.

The vessel in front is the tug New York with her barge.  I'm not sure what they are carrying.  The ship in back is the Federal Beaufort.  I think she is loading steel coils but I'm not sure where she is heading.

Almost Catching the Sam Laud

 I almost wasn't going to do anything today and then I saw that there would be a ship coming up.  I decided to head down to Riverside in order to catch it.

I thought I might have a chance to catch the Laud.  If the park weren't so crowded and I didn't have to wait for a parking spot, I would have caught her.  By the time I parked, she was passing the park.  Anyway, I don't particularly like stern shots but this one is okay as she pours on the smoke to get moving.

She was heading down to Fairport from Port Inland.  I imagine she picked up stone in Port Inland.  This voyage takes roughly a day.

Whereupon I Catch 2000 Feet Worth of Ship

 So I had one more ship to catch.  I wasn't sure I was going to catch her because she was fueling in Detroit when I first checked up on her.

The Paul R. Tregurtha had a split load of coal for St. Clair and Monroe.

After she delivered coal to Monroe, she stopped at the Mistersky Fuel Docks where she fueled up.

I'm not sure how long it takes to fuel up at those docks.  I know it is at least two hours.

It makes it difficult to gage when they are going to start moving though.

It was a nice enough day.  As I was sitting in bed this morning, it didn't look like it was going to be so nice.

The weather men were predicting thunderstorms.  Based on other information, we need them.

One more shot with my normal camera.

As I was shooting pictures of Paul Tregurtha, the American Spirit was heading down.  It was cool to catch this shot, I just wish it could have been closer.

The Tregurtha gets closer.

I kind of like this shot.  Especially since it has the American Spirit in the background.

Down low a bit.

And pulling out.

The beam shot.

One more.

And she continues on her way to Superior, where she will pick up coal again.

M R Ducks

 As I was waiting for the next ship, I saw these guys.

I think they are baby mallards.

The coloring almost looks like a mallard.

It looks like the ring is starting to form.

Anyway, I really like this shot.

One more before returning to the subject at hand.

The American Spirit Again

 The next ship I was watching as she was heading down Lake Huron.

For some reason, when I first caught her, she was on the eastern side of Lake Huron.

That is fairly unusual, but we've been having some pretty nasty storms.  She might have been riding those out.

At any rate, she was coming down from Marquette.

Which means that she was picking up taconite.

She was taking that taconite to Toledo.

I assume it was for the smelter there.

I really like this shot.  The low angle seems to work for the thousand footers.

I had to pull up as I was pulling back.

I kind of like this shot too.

The beam shot.

She continues down the St. Clair River.

One more shot.