The Philip R. Clarke Passes Detour

 This is one of the ships I was hoping to catch at Mission Point.

Fortunately, I have some time to catch her if I want.

After catching the other ships, I headed down to Detour to catch this one.

She was heading to Indiana Harbor.  And I used my drone here.  unfortunately, it is a little further than my range.

But I was still able to get some nice shots of her.

The beam shot.

And she continues on.

A Butterfly in Detour

 While I was waiting for the next ship in Detour, I saw this guy.

He stayed out where I could get a picture.

And then he spread his wings.

I was able to get a little closer.

Catching Up With the Burns Harbor

One of the things that I like about shipwatching in Detroit and Port Huron is that I get to see a fair number of the ships that sail on the Great Lakes.  However, there are a few that almost exclusively stick to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

 The Burns Harbor will occasionally pass Detroit or Port Huron but I think she mostly sticks to the Duluth-Burns Harbor/Gary route.  Because of that, I don't get to see her that often.

 So it was kind of nice seeing her pass Detour.

 I'm not quite sure where she was headed though.  It could either be Duluth or Two Harbors.

 She continues her way up the river.

 It takes a ship about 5 hours to travel from DeTour to Mission Point.  I wasn't sure if I had enough light to catch her but I did.

She continues on her way to the Soo Locks.

The Kaye E. Barker Passing Drummond Island - A Prologue

I caught many ships over the weekend but this one kept coming up.  So I will call this post a prologue to my Engineer's weekend postings.

 The Kaye E. Barker makes the Marquette to Rouge River run fairly often.  I think she was doing that as I was taking these pictures.

 I think it is around 40 hours to make the run from Marquette to the steel mill on the Rouge River.  It is roughly 20 hours from Drummond Island to the Rouge River, so she would conceivably be making another run on the day that I would be leaving the Soo.

 She would normally be carrying taconite from the iron processing facilities in Marquette.

 She's a nice looking ship at any rate.

And a shot of her pilothouse.

The Cason J. Callaway Makes an Appearance Past DeTour

If I didn't mention it in my last post, I'll mention it here.  I ended up taking a detour through DeTour on my way to the Soo.  I used to have a Ryerson bumper sticker on my old car and I never got one for my new car.  There is a place in DeTour that has those bumper stickers, so I stopped there.

 After wandering around for a bit, I caught the sight of the Callaway approaching the passage.  It made me kind of happy because I like the Callaway.

 She's a pretty hard working boat and I think that is even more so as the Arthur Anderson is getting some work.

 I like seeing these ships because I have a feeling they aren't going to be around much longer.

 However, I don't really want to think about that day and I will enjoy them while I can.

 She does cut a nice profile.

 And the side shot as she starts to pass Drummond Island.

and one more shot as she leaves the channel.

Michigan Exposures Hits the Road....

Tomorrow is Engineer's Day at the Soo Locks and I headed up today.  It was actually a pretty nice day.

 I decided to take a detour through DeTour.  I was hoping to catch a ship or two and it turned out that I would catch two.  It was good thing too because most of the ships had passed through the Soo.

We also went on a tour of the Valley Camp with the rest of the boatnerds.  It was pretty cool because we had free reign of the ship.

Basically I posted pictures of the day and I will post the rest when I get home.

The Stewart J. Cort Off In The Distance

I saw that the Stewart J. Cort was working her way down the St. Marys River and I was hoping to catch her as I was passing through Detour Village.

Sadly, I was getting closer to Detour, I looked out in the distance and saw a ship.  At that point I realized it could only be the Cort.  I had to get a picture of her but it wasn't quite the picture I wanted.

Tugboats for Sale

As I was heading into Detour, I saw these tugboats.  So I figured I would catch them on the way out when there weren't moving ship pictures to take.

 I think this one is a fishing boat.  But I'm not sure.

 A shot from her side.

 This one is definately a tugboat and I think it had a for sale sign on it.

 Another angle of the fish tug.

 Two tugboats.  The middle boat is for sale.

 The black and white from the front.

 Both of them from the front.

 The Deschenes.

 I liked the mermaid in the pilothouse.

One more shot of the tug.

Sadly, it was time to head home.  The time up north was too short but it was just as well because snow was on the way.

The Presque Isle Passes Detour

As I was heading towards Detour, I caught a glimpse of the Presque Isle out on the horizon.  This was a bonus for me as I don't think I saw her on AIS.

 Suprisingly, she's a tug barge but she doesn't look like one.

 She definately looks like a proper ship.

 Sadly, I was almost shooting into the sun, so she's kind of silouetted.

 But still, it's a nice backdrop.

 And I think she's a nice looking vessel, even if she isn't a proper ship.

 She slowly works her way out of view.

 And my lighting gets better.

 An almost unobstructed view.

One more shot before heading off.

Random Shots from Around DeTour

Some of these pictures are out of order because I'm focusing on the ships for their shots.

 An island nearby.

 Looking down the shoreline.

 Some of the local rocks.  I think they are called dolemite but don't quote me on that.

 Another shot of the island.

 A closeup of the rock.

 Some of the trees.

 A shot of the park where I was taking these pictures from.

 Some birch trees.

 I believe this is the range light.  The lighthouse itself is a reef light I believe.

 The Drummond Island Ferry.

 As it passes the stone docks.

I saw this boat leaving the Soo Locks as I was eating breakfast.  Not sure where she is heading.