The Kaye E. Barker on the Rouge River

I had today off and last night I saw that the Kaye E. Barker would be making her way up the Rouge River sometime around noon today.  So I decided I was going to catch her.

I was hoping to catch her at Jefferson Avenue but I ended up getting delayed by construction on I-94.  As I was heading down to street to get to Jefferson, there was train so I decided to turn around and start at Fort Street.

I brought my drone for the first time this year.  I was actually hoping to catch the tug barge on the right but it was pretty windy and I didn't really want to risk it with my drone.  So I was content with catching the Barker as she passed through the rail bridge.

The clouds looked pretty cool, but as I said it was pretty windy.  For the most part, my drone was able to handle it.

She was moving around 2 knots at this point which I think was just enough to maintain steerage.  She had a tug behind her.

I kind of like this shot and how I have some leading lines in it (sort of).

She starts to pass through the bridge.

I pulled the drone up.  I wasn't getting high wind warnings but this was as far as I was going to take it up.

One more shot with my drone before moving on to the next point.

Next I moved to the Dix Avenue Bridge.  I like the pictures from here.

I might have to come back with my telephoto sometime.  You can see a heron in this picture.

And a cormorant landing.

The Kaye E. Barker was coming down with a load of taconite from Marquette.

I've heard that the Dearborn mill was going to shut down and I was kind of surprised they would be getting loads of iron but maybe they aren't going to shut down.

She gets a little closer to the bridge.

A shot of her pilothouse.

And then I went to the other side to get my favorite shots on the lakes.

Her launch.

Her stack.  Each of the shipping companies have different colored stacks.  Interlake's are black with an orange band.

Old Glory flying proudly in the stiff wind.

She starts to make her turn for the basin.

The flag gives you an idea of how much wind there is.

She needs a little help from a friend.

It's amazing watching these little boats push around the ships.

She helps her get into her slip.

One more shot.

The Herbert C. Jackson on the Rouge River

I have a four day this weekened and I was hoping to get out each of the days.  I got up kind of late on Friday and the weather didn't look like it wanted to cooperate with me.  I ended up working on a model yesterday, so I didn't get out.  I decided that I would get out today come hell or high water.

The Herbert C. Jackson was making her way down from Marquette to deliver taconite to the steel mill in Dearborn.

It was both a nice day today and I like the look of ships on the Rouge River, so I ended up heading down there.

Sadly, I fiddled around for too long, so I didn't have a chance to get drone pictures.  But that was just as well, it was pretty windy today.

But the sun was shining and it sort of made for decent reflections.

Like I said, the Jackson was coming down from Marquette.

She was delivering taconite pellets which are refined iron pellets.

Most of the pure iron ore has been mined but there is enough of the less pure iron ore to mine and process.

The fact they come in pellets, makes loading and unloading easier.

I thought I read they were shutting down this plant for a while but I guess that's not the case.

Her lifeboats.

Her boat.

Old Glory flying proudly in the breeze.

Her stack.

She starts to make the turn for her slip.

I love this shot.

But this is probably my favorite.

The Lee A. Tregurtha on the Rouge River

 I ended up going to bed early last night and as a result, I was up early this morning.  I saw that the Lee A. Tregurtha was making her way to the Rouge River, so I decided to head over there to get some pictures of her.

I couldn't catch her anywhere else on the river, so I headed to the Dix Avenue Bridge.  It was early enough in the morning that I had the river to myself.

But it was also early enough that I was shooting into the sun.  I should have gone to the other side of the where I would be at least shooting at an oblique angle to the sun. So it wouldn't have been as bad.

Well lessons learned, I guess.  I switched over to shooting in manual mode so I would get a better read on the hull.

Unfortunately, I was still getting some lens flare in my shots.  I guess I will just call myself J.J. Abrams.

I like this shot a little better.

One more of this angle.

A shot of the pilot house and she proudly shows off her World War II ribbons.

And then I went to the other side of the bridge.  This time I was shooting with the sun.

She passes by.

Her hatch crane.

Her Plimsoll lines.  She's not as loaded as she was earlier though.

One of her cargo hatches.

She moves towards the steel plant.

I like this shot.

One of her boats.

Her name on the hull.

Her stack.  I think Interlake may be the oldest shipping company on the Lakes but I'm not 100% sure.

Old Glory.

She makes the turn towards her slip.

A stern shot.

One more shot before catching the next thing.