The Philip Clarke Getting Refueled

 So this is the ship I wanted to catch.

The Philip R. Clarke came down from Marquette to deliver taconite to Toledo.  

She is heading up to Two Harbors and I saw that I had a chance to catch her but I wasn't sure if she was going to fuel or not.

It turns out that she did stop for fueling.  I was hoping that I took enough time to catch the other ship, that she would be passing Belle Isle.

That was not the case, so I went to Riverside to catch her.  That almost didn't happen because Riverside was crazy.  It took me a couple of passes to get a parking spot.  That happened and I got my pictures.

The Federal Yukon Docked

 After catching the CSL Assiniboine, I headed down to Riverside to catch the ship I wanted to catch.

Before I took pictures of that ship, I took pictures of this one.

This is the FEderal Yukon.  She is loading here, I believe.

A shot of her and my subject.

Catching the CSL Assiniboine

This is one of the ships I hoped to catch but not the ship I was heading down to Detroit for.

The CSL Assiniboine was coming down from Thunder Bay, I think.  Her last destination is listed as the Soo but that always happens with ships that come from above the Soo.

She was heading to Quebec City.

I'm not sure what she was carrying though.

I do like her looks.

Especially the red hull.

But like many of her fleetmates, she looks pretty rough.

But Canadian ships usually go through more locks and sometimes they end up in the brackish waters.

Both things are rough on ships.

But she doesn't look too bad.

A sailboat passes her.

The almost beam shot.  I liked the looks of the clouds behind her.

She continues down the river.

One more shot.
 

A Coast Guard Fast Response Boat

 Another thing as I was waiting.

I saw this guy zipping down to the river.

I assume they were going for a rescue.

A Seagull

 I see lots of seagulls.

I like their color scheme, so I try to take pictures of them.  Most of the time, that doesn't work.

In this case it did work.

I like this shot.

And I really like this shot.

A Sheriff Boat

 I saw this guy approaching.  I figured it was a police boat.

Well, I was close.  It was a sheriff boat.

I presume it was a Wayne County Sheriff boat.

My Happy Place Bird

 I saw this guy swimming around.  I tried to take a picture of him that would have been pretty nice but he dove before I could do that.

I waited for him to surface, they don't stay under water for too long.  I like this picture.

But then he started to take off and I really like this picture.

Getting a little lift.

A Pair of Geese

 Again, boatwatching sometimes gives me time for other pictures.

I kind of like this picture of a pair of Canada geese.

A Helicopter

 As I was waiting for my ship, I saw this guy too.

This is a Robinson Helicopter.

I think it is doing tours but I'm not sure.

An Antique Boat Parade

I decided to head down to Detroit this evening.  I was hoping to catch a ship.  I decided to head over to Belle Isle.

As I was waiting for my ship to appear, I saw a parade of these boats.  I think this one was a Chris Craft.  These were built in St. Clair, Michigan.

This one was a Lyman Boat.  The Lyman Boat works were founded in 1875 by the Lyman Brothers.  The boat works were in Cleveland, Ohio and Sandusky, Ohio.  These boats had a reputation for handling the rugged chop of Lake Erie fairly well.  Their reputation has spread beyond the Great Lakes.

There is a factory dedicated to their restoration.
 

Some Flowers

As I was getting in my car, I saw these flowers, so I had to get pictures of them.

I think they are nice looking but I'm not sure what kind of flowers they are.

I know they aren't wildflowers though.  They still look pretty nice.
 

A St. Clair Sheriff's Boat

 As I was getting ready to leave, this guy passed by too.

I love working boats.  Especially law enforcement boats.  It looks like it might be fun but it seems like people are stupider when they get on the water.

So I imagine, these folks keep busy.

And they move off.

A Cormorant

 While I was getting ready to leave, this guy flew over.

I love cormorants, so I had to get a picture.

And the Ever Lovely Kaye E. Barker

 I wasn't sure if I would be able to catch this ship.  She was quite a bit behind the Clarke and I didn't think she'd be around when I wanted to leave.  However, the Clarke took her time and that let this ship catch up a bit.

I was going to try to catch her in Marine City, but she was going too fast for that.  It was a little warmer here, which meant it was a little hazier.

She makes the turn for this part of the river.

I get a head shot here, but it's far away, so it's not very clear.

The Barker had an interesting past couple of days.

First, she unloaded at the Rouge Steel Mill but it was at night.  I was hoping to catch her as she headed up the Rouge River, but that was also early.

I thought I would be able to catch her yesterday, but she headed to Toledo.  I'm not sure if she had a split load.

The she headed back to Zug Island.  I think she picked up something there because she looks like she might be loaded.

And now she is heading up to Marquette.

I like catching this ship because she's nice looking.

It wasn't cloudy in St. Clair, so I was getting sunlight.

She passes.

The beam shot.

She starts to pass buy is passed by a Chris Craft, so this is two classics in one picture.

She continues on her way.  There were a few clouds over Canada.

She was booking.

An almost stern shot.

And one more shot.