A Rare Visitor to These Parts

 The next ship is one that I don't see all that often.

The Joseph L. Block was coming up from Toledo.

I'm not sure what she delivered there.  It could have been stone or iron ore.

Either way, it was pretty cool to see her because I don't usually see her even when I'm up at the Soo.

She is usually going between either Cedarville or Port Inland to Burns Harbor.

Anyway, she was heading up to Port Inland, I think.

That means she would be picking up a load of stone.

As I am typing this, she is on her way to Superior.

I imagine she will be delivering stone there and then probably picking up a load of iron.

I hope that I see her again in that case.

Shooting with my drone again.

Love the blue of the water.

The almost beam shot.

She passes the casino.

The beam shot.

I think it is roughly 24 hours to her destination.

I like this shot.

And I really like this shot.

And the Sykes Makes an Appearance

 It wasn't too long before I heard the whistle from the Sykes.  I knew that she was rounding the bend and that I would be seeing her soon.  She was quite whistle happy as she was leaving.

I wouldn't normally take a shot like this but I kind of liked it.  I probably could have sat in a different spot and got a clearer shot of the ship but I liked the spot where I was at.

One of the people watching her back out.  It was a little windy but not too windy for my drone.

A better shot of her stern.

And she clears the bend.

I decided to switch to my drone to get some overhead shots.

I like the new stack with the Cleveland Cliffs logo.

A nice shot of the expanse of beach.

I switch back to my regular camera.  I wanted some ground shots of her.

I really wanted a shot of her and the lighthouse.

And then I switched back to my drone.  Sadly, I was kind of shooting into the sun.

But one of the nice things about the drone is that I can fly it to get a better lighting spot.

The almost bow shot.

She about passes the lighthouses.  She was going about 2 knots, so I had plenty of chances.

I kind of like this shot.

She just about clears the piers.

One more shot with my drone.  This was getting close to my limit.

And then I switched back to my other camera.

I'll have to say the light was just about perfect for this.

She was making the turn to head north.

I think she was heading up to Duluth next.  I'm not sure where she is going after that.

The bow shot.

She makes the turn to leave.

A bit of smoke as she pours on the steam engine.

And just like that, she heads out.

The Wilfred Sykes Enters Grand Haven

As I said in the last post, I saw that the Wilfred Sykes was on her way to Grand Haven.

 I wasn't sure about the weather but it looked like it wasn't going to be too bad.  As you can see, there was a little ice on the water.  Just before making it to the pier, I saw a tugboat working on breaking the ice.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of that because it looked pretty neat.

 The Sykes was coming up from Indiana Harbor.  I think that was after she passed Detroit.  She had a load of something for Indiana Harbor.

 She was coming from Indiana Harbor with a load of iron fines.  I think iron fines are used to make cement.

 It is approximately seven hours from Indiana Harbor to Grand Haven.

 She pours on a little power as she enters the channel.

 An almost head on shot as she is about to pass the lighthouse.

 And the head on shot.  If you look closely at the front, you can see a pair of people.  I think they are making sure everything is good.

 A slight turn inward to continue on the channel.

 I kind of liked the shot of the bird in front of her.

 A little smoke means that a little power is being applied.

 her engine about at the right spot, she stops pouring out the smoke.

 She passes the channel marker.

 After she passed the channel marker.  an almost clean shot.  As you can see, she's accumulated some ice along the way.

 Another shot with the lighthouse.  I kind of liked the reflections in the water.

 I really liked the reflections in this shot.

 I think one of my friends is in the foc'sle.

 And she passes by.

 I decided to head a little further down the river.  You can get some different angles, include the almost beam shot.

 As you can see, it started to snow a little harder.  Fortunately, it wasn't too bad leaving Grand Haven.

 She makes the turn to head towards the dock.

 The almost front shot.

 As you can see, there was a little more ice here.

 This is another spot where I can get a good bow shot.

 She swings around to go forward.

 Again, some pretty nice reflections.

 There was a little bit of blue but I think that was just a tease.

 She makes another turn.

 Again, another beam shot.

And she continues on to the dock.  It would take her about seven hours to unload.  After unloading, she was on her way to Sturgeon Bay, WI where she would layup for the winter.  Someone made the comment that this was latest in January she has gone.  Well, it seems like she had a pretty unusual year after making two trips to Detroit.  It seems like the crew earned the layup this year.