A Tow Boat

 As I saw this boat coming up the river, I thought it was one of the Canadian Coast Guard response boats.

As it got closer, I realized it was one of the tow boats.

They will come out and tow you back for a fee.

Or you can pay for a membership but I'm not sure how many tows that covers.

It was pretty neat to see at any rate.

One more shot.

A Detroit Police Boat Passes By

 Next up was another boat that I see fairly often.

I'm not sure how many police boats the Detroit Police have but I think this is one of the newer ones.

I think it came down from Belle Isle because that is where their dock is.

It was cool to see though.

I kind of like this shot.

One more.

A Robinson R44 Helicopter

 I see this helicopter fairly often.

This is a Robinson R44.

I think it does tours of the Detroit River.  I'm not sure of the website.

I'm also not sure if it goes from Grosse Ile or the Detroit City Airport.  Either way, it was pretty neat to see.

A Mail Boat and a Pilot Boat

 As I was watching the boats pass, I got a few opportunities to get pictures of the Westcotts.

The J.W. Westcott is the famous mail boat for Detroit.  They have been doing some work on her and this is the first time I've see her this season.

the M.S. Westcott is a pilot boat.  They have been using her to do some of the same things that the J.W. Westcott does.

They have also been using her to take people on tours of the Detroit River.  I presume that is when they aren't doing other things.

It was a little on the wavy side.

Another shot of her.

Somebody pointing up at the Ambassador Bridge.

The Westcott going out on a mail run.

Just a Picture of the Ambassador Bridge

 As I was returning my drone, I saw the Ambassador Bridge.

I kind of liked the picture, so I took it.

Catching Up With the Great Republic

 Next up is the first moving ship that I caught.

I saw that the Great Republic was heading down from one of the stone ports to Detroit.

I figured that Riverside Park would be a good place to catch her.  It wasn't too warm but it wasn't too busy when I got there.  Things picked up during the day.

She was heading to a spot on the Rouge River but I'm not quite sure where.

Since she was designed for the Cuyahoga River, the Rouge would be a piece of cake for her.

She is one of a few ships that has four bow thrusters.  That helps her to navigate the windiness of Cuyahoga River.

She has windows in the back of her pilothouse so that the pilot has a good view when backing up as well.

That makes her a fairly versatile ship and she is kept fairly busy.

That being said, I don't get to see her as often as I would like.

The clouds looked pretty cool.

One more shot with my regular camera.

It was a little on the windy side but not too bad.  I was able to launch my drone.

I kind of like this shot.

She is approached by the Westcott.

I kind of like this shot.

She moves forward.

The Westcott at her side.

The Westcott moving with her.

The beam shot.

She continues down the river.

One more shot.

A Coast Guard Boat Passes By

 Next up is another thing I see quite a bit.

A Coast Guard response boat was heading back to the Coast Guard station on Belle Isle.

I'm not sure where it was coming from.

but it sure seemed to be in a hurry.

One more shot.

The Chestnut Unloads in Detroit

 The Chestnut was unloading on the Detroit side of the river.  She came up from Brazil but I'm not sure what was being unloaded.

She is a pretty nice looking ship.

A picture of the Detroit side of the Gordie Howe Bridge.

One more shot of her.

The Baie Comeau Unloading in Windsor

 Saturday was a pretty nice day and I saw that it would be a fairly busy river day.  At first I thought that I would head up to Bay City to catch a ship that would be passing there.  Unfortunately, the construction on US-23 wasn't going to cooperate with me, so I decided to turn around and head to Detroit instead.  It looked like it was going to be busy there too.

While I was waiting for my first ship, I decided to take some pictures of the Baie Comeau as she was unloading at one of the Windsor stone docks.

I figured that I would also get a picture of the Canadian side of the Gordie Howe Bridge because it looks like they are making some good progress on it.  I think when they say it will be ready next year, it will be ready next year.

Trying to get a picture of the full boom.  I think it was switching between holds at this point.

Another stream of stone coming out.

Just another picture as she unloads.

As I type up this post, she is on her way to Toronto.