Another Surprise Visitor

 Marine Tracker uses the tug color for this one, so I don't usually see her on the tracker.

I saw her coming down as I went to my spot for the next ship.

The State of Michigan is used by the Great Lakes Academy as a training ship.

She goes around the Great Lakes.

I didn't have my drone ready, so no drone shots.

I kind of like this shot.

she heads to her next destination.

Which turned out to Port Huron.

Catching the State of Michigan

 The next ship was sort of a bonus.

I heard a different sounding horn as the Leitch was passing.  After the Leitch passed, I looked up.

I saw the State of Michigan heading upbound.

The State of Michigan is used by the Great Lakes Maritime Academy as a training ship.  I thought they were done with their tours but I guess not.  It was pretty cool to see though.

Catching the State of Michigan

I didn't realize the State of Michigan was in the area.

 There are actually a couple of people on her that I know through facebook, so it was kind of neat to see them pass through the gaggle of boatnerds.

 The clouds were especially nice looking.

 A beam shot.  She was heading down to the Detour area, I think.

And she continues down the river.

A Surprise Visitor in the State of Michigan

I was not expecting to catch the next ship but then again I wasn't really looking for her.

 The ship in question was the State of Michigan which is the training ship used by the Great Lakes Maritime Academy.

 Every summer, she travels around the Great Lakes training the next folks for the boats.

 I will have to say that she is a pretty neat looking ship.

And she continues on into Lake Huron.

The State of Michigan Passes Belle Isle

I'm still catching up with my pictures from Memorial Day weekend.  This pictures are still from that weekend.

 I didn't really feel like doing much on Sunday since I had a pretty whirlwind tour on Saturday.  It's not often when you go from one side of the state to the other.  I took a look at Marine Traffic and saw that there was a ship I was interesting in catching.

 So I headed down to Belle Isle because that was where I could catch her and this wasn't the ship.

 This is the State of Michigan, she was following the ship I was interested in catching pretty closely.  I was kind of happy to catch this one since I don't see her all that often.

 The State of Michigan belongs to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City.  It is used as a training ship for people that are interested in joining the merchant fleet.

 The State of Michigan is converted from the USNS Persistent which was an ocean surveillance vessel and it was used to track Soviet submarines.

 In 1998, she was used to enforce drug laws but it was determined she was too slow for that role.

 In 2002, she was transferred to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy and received her current name.

 The ship was starting to conduct lifeboat drills.  It was pretty cool to watch.

 The beam shot.

And she continues on her way.  I'm not sure where she docked though.

The State of Michigan Passing Algonac State Park

I decided to head up to the St Clair River on Friday night.  I saw that I would have a chance to catch one of the nicer looking ships of the Great Lakes.

 The first ship I caught was kind of a surprise.  She was the State of Michigan which is the training ship run by the Great Lakes Maritime Academy. 

 This ship has appeared on this blog before.  She's a pretty unique looking ship and she provides a pretty valuable service as I hear the Lakes are going to be needing sailors in the near future.

 She looks pretty nice in the setting sun.

 Kind of a shot of her profile.

She continues on to Port Huron (I think).  I'm not sure how long she will be in the area.