The Algoma Innovator Passes Under the Mackinac Bridge

 As I was crossing the bridge to head home, I saw a ship off to the west about ready to pass under.

I had some time, so I headed to the other park to get a picture of her.

The sun was a little lower, but I liked the colors.

The ship in question was the Algoma Innovator.

She was headed to Bruce Mines but I'm not sure where she was going after that.

Catching the Algoma Innovator

 I decided to head down to Belle Isle for a bit today.  There was a ship passing that I wanted to catch.  As I was heading down there, I saw that there was another ship that would be passing.

I was able to make it to Belle Isle in time to catch this one.  

The Algoma Innovator was coming up from Port Colborne but because that is the last stop on the Welland Canal on this side, I'm not sure if she was coming from somewhere else.

She was heading over to Goderich where I assume she will be picking up salt.

I guess she was kind of designed for that.  She was also designed for certain ports with the placement of her boom.

I couldn't get quite a beam shot because the sun was directly in front of me, but the lighting was pretty good otherwide.

She heads up.

One more shot.

Catching the Algoma Innovator

 The next ship was one of the oddities on the Great Lakes.

The Algoma Innovator was the other ship that was coming up.

She was the second new build on the Great Lakes with her boom mounted forward.  The first one was the Manitoulin which is owned by Lower Lakes.

This configuration lets her go into ports that other ships can't and makes her more versatile.

She was followed by the Algoma Intrepid with this configuration.

She will be soon be followed by Interlake Steamships Mark Barker.  The Mark Barker is supposed to launch this year, I think.

The Mark Barker will be the first new American build in a while.

Anyway, this will be a more common sight on the Great Lakes.

She was heading up to Goderich.

It was still cool to see her.

And I switched to my drone.

The water was fairly smooth for me.

And that gave me a nice reflection.

Her wake looks pretty cool.

She continues up.

It wont take her that long to get to Goderich.

One more before heading home.

The Algoma Innovator Passes Belle Isle

 After catching the air show practice, I decided to head over to Belle Isle.  Since I didn't think to bring my drone along to the air show stuff, I didn't have it with me.  It was kind of nice to go old school though.  Besides, it was a little on the windy side.

I was coming down for a specific ship and as a result, I didn't check the upbound ships but there were quite a few.  And it was kind of cool to get surprised.

There was a ship ahead of the Algoma Innovator but I didn't get down to Belle Isle in time to catch her.

I'm not sure where she was heading but I'm going to guess that she was headed up to Goderich.  It seems like that is where she has been spending much of her time lately.

Anyway, this configuration is because there are some ports that ships with the boom mounted in the usual spot can't get into.  I think Buffalo is one of them.

As a result, this ship carries salt quite a bit.

The stern shot as she heads up the river.

And one more before moving on to the next ship.

Catching the Algoma Innovator

 I was going to do something else on Sunday but I saw that there were quite a few ships that would be passing.  That was including some ships that I wanted to catch.  I haven't had a day like that in a while, so I had to head up to Port Huron.

First up was the Algoma Innovator and for the life of me, I don't remember where she was heading.  Based on where she is, it had to be somewhere close though.

I'm thinking she was heading down to Detroit or Windsor with a load of salt.

Anyways, it was nice to catch her.

She's showing some signs of wear which is a given since she's been on the lakes for a while.

As I like to say, the Canadian Boats see quite a bit.

And I think she heads to some places that are tight fits.

Which is one of the reasons why she has a front mounted crane.

It was a little windy but not windy enough that I couldn't use my drone.

I kind of like this shot.

She makes her turn towards the river.

The beam shot.

And she continues on.

One more shot.

Next Up the Algoma Innovator

 The next ship also stopped at the Imperial Fuel Dock.  Had that not happened, I probably would have missed it.

I'm not sure where the Algoma Innovator was coming up from but it was heading to Goderich, Ontario.

If I remember correctly, Goderich is about 6 or 7 hours from Port Huron by ship.

I think their main cargo is salt.

I ended up on the north side of the bridge so that I could get the multiple angles of this ship.

I was getting close to a headshot.

Which a boat decided to come in front.  I kind of like this picture because the boat almost looks like it is going to get flattened.

She makes the turn to leave the channel.

One more angle.

And then I took the drone up.  I almost like this shot.

But I like this one better.

She makes the turn for Lake Huron.

The beam shot.

She heads out.

She gets passed by the Huron Lady which is a tourist ship.

I think both ships exchanged horns.

ONe more shot as she's on Lake Huron.