A U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Boat

 The Coast Guard doesn't get enough love.  Well, they get a bit of love on this blog because I appreciate what they do.  They have a tough mission to do with a budget that is a rounding error on a failed defense program.  I suspect it is going to get tougher.

This boat was patrolling the river.  As I said, there were a few fishing boats on the river.  They were trying to get their last bit of fishing in before it turned nasty.

They were moving fairly slowly amongst the boats.

And then I think they saw something.

Turned the siren on and told the boat to heave to and prepare to be boarded.

I don't think the people on the boat in question were doing anything wrong, it was just a safety inspection.   The Coast Gaurdsmen were making sure that they had the required life vests and what not.  Anyway, alot of people don't like the Coast Guard but not me.

Catching Up With the Munson

Last night as I was checking Marine Traffic, I saw that the Munson was heading down.  She was coming from Brevort and I think that means she had a load of sand, but I'm not sure.

She was heading over to Buffalo.  I think this is the third Great Lakes Fleet ship to head over to Buffalo.

Last weekend was the Anderson's turn.  The Clarke headed over there too.

I'm not sure what they are taking over there.  I think Buffalo might have a cement plant or something like that.

She was in Calumet Harbor which is near Chicago.  If I had known that, I could have shot a picture of her from the Blues Brothers Bridge.

Anyway, she is a nice looking ship and I had a relative that worked on her for a brief period of time.

She used to operate out of Rogers City quite a bit.

In fact, I think she carried stone then mostly.

You can see a fisherman getting a last trip out before it gets too cold.

Switching to my drone after she passed the Ambassador Bridge.

Letting her get a little closer.

I'm still not brave enough to get the close up frontal shots.  I'm not sure how quickly my drone can move out of the way.

And honestly, that would be a bad time for it to act up.

It was actually kind of nice today, a little on the chilly side but I'll take what I can get in the middle of November.

The beam shot.

And she passes on.

She approaches the Gordie Howe Bridge.  I can't wait for this bridge to be complete, it is going to look nice.

Switching back to my normal camera.

One more shot as she continues on after being serviced by the Westcott.  The Westcott on her stern.  From this point, it is roughly 18 hours to Buffalo.
 

But Wait, There's One More

 I should have posted this picture before the other posts, but I remembered that I had it.

Earlier this year, the Hollyhock was taken from the Great Lakes.  I think she was going to Baltimore for a refit and repairs.  She was replaced by the Sequoia, which is the cutter above.  I didn't have a chance to take a picture of her before, so enjoy a slightly fog shrouded version of her.

A Wolverine by Any Other Name

 Next up is my last boat of the day.

She was also fairly close.  In fact, if the Mariner hadn't taken a wide berth, I could have gotten a passing shot.

I'm not sure where the Pierson was heading from but her AIS said she was heading to Thessalon.  That is to the north of Detour.

I'm not sure if she is taking something there or picking up something.

Judging by her anchor pockets, I would say she is loaded which means she is delivering something.

Thessalon is fairly close to Sudbury.  And Subury has a nickel mine.

I'm not sure if nickel is delivered by ship though.

Anyway, the Pierson used to be known as the Wolverine when she was owned by her previous company.

I wish that named would have stayed because it's a cool name.

Then I switched to my drone.

I didn't get close this time.

The beam shot.

And she continues on her way.

One last shot.

It was a pretty cool day.  I got to catch the Anderson on a day that will remain in her history.  I got to see a bunch of ships and I was able to hook up with a fellow boatnerd.  All made for a good day.

Catching the American Mariner

 The next ship also appeared fairly quickly.

I was going to stay in Port Huron to catch the American Mariner, but I wasn't sure if I could do that and catch the other ships.  

So I decided to head down to Marysville to catch the other ships.  It was probably a good thing because my light was staring to wane in the cloudy skies.

I'm not sure where the American Mariner was coming from.  If I had to guess, I would say one of the stone ports.

She passes the Mark W. Barker.

This shot reminds me of an earlier shot I did of two ships passing.

She was heading down to Toledo.

So I switched to my drone.

I like this angle.

The almost beam shot.

The beam shot.

And she continues on her way.

Next Up, the Mark W. Barker

 The next ship was coming around the bend as the last ship was leaving.

I'm not sure where the Mark W. Barker was coming from.

She was heading over to Burns Harbor.

I'm not sure what that means she was carrying.  I'm going to guess she was carrying iron from Toledo.

Missed the bow shot though.

She's a nice looking ship.

It helps that she was actually built on the Great Lakes.

It would be nice if they did more though.

One more shot with my normal camera.

And then I went to my drone.  I didn't get in front of her.

But I do like this shot.

The almost beam shot.

The beam shot.

She continues up the river.

Switched back to my other camera because the next ship was coming into view.