Catching the Great Republic Again

 It wasn't too long before I saw one of the ships I was hoping to catch.

The Great Republic was coming down from Brevort.

Brevort is about 20 miles west of St. Ignace and near the Cut River Bridge.

I believe ships that go there pick up sand but I'm not sure.

She was heading to Buffalo.

And I'm not sure what she is going there for.

But it was kind of nice to see her.

She approaches the Ambassador Bridge.

She is about to pass the Ambassador Bridge.

The tower near her pilot house.

She passes the Bridge.

She continues down the river.  It is probably about 18 to 20 hours for her to get to Buffalo from this point.

The Great Republic on Her Way to Cleveland

 It wasn't too long for the next ship to appear.

The next ship is the Great Republic.

Her Marine Traffic origin is listed as Sault Ste Marie but I'm pretty sure she was coming down from somewhere else.

Typically that would be one of the ports north of Sault Ste Marie.

If I had to guess, I would say either Silver Bay or Two Harbors.

If that is the case, she is likely carrying iron ore.

Her destination is listed as Cleveland.

Normally that would be a ship going to the Cleveland Bulk Terminal but the Great Republic was designed for the Cuyahoga River in mind.

But I'm not sure she is going to do that, even though she could.

Anyway, I think she is a pretty cool looking ship.

She is getting a visit from the Westcott.

The Westcott pulls up alongside of her.

If you look closely at her stern, you can see a window.  She is designed so that the helmsman can see out the back to guide her backwards.

So she will often back into the Cuyahoga.

Catching Up With the Great Republic

 Next up is the first moving ship that I caught.

I saw that the Great Republic was heading down from one of the stone ports to Detroit.

I figured that Riverside Park would be a good place to catch her.  It wasn't too warm but it wasn't too busy when I got there.  Things picked up during the day.

She was heading to a spot on the Rouge River but I'm not quite sure where.

Since she was designed for the Cuyahoga River, the Rouge would be a piece of cake for her.

She is one of a few ships that has four bow thrusters.  That helps her to navigate the windiness of Cuyahoga River.

She has windows in the back of her pilothouse so that the pilot has a good view when backing up as well.

That makes her a fairly versatile ship and she is kept fairly busy.

That being said, I don't get to see her as often as I would like.

The clouds looked pretty cool.

One more shot with my regular camera.

It was a little on the windy side but not too bad.  I was able to launch my drone.

I kind of like this shot.

She is approached by the Westcott.

I kind of like this shot.

She moves forward.

The Westcott at her side.

The Westcott moving with her.

The beam shot.

She continues down the river.

One more shot.

Catching the Great Republic

 I wasn't sure if I would be able to catch the next ship.

Because of the fact that there was only one lock in operation, it was taking a while for ships to get through them.

I was getting ready to return to the hotel and I saw that she was passing a spot where I could get a picture of her.

It's not a great picture but it will work.

She passes the subject of the last post as she heads to Quebec City.

And the Last Ship of the Day

 It wasn't too long before the last ship of the day appeared.

This was another one that I caught for the first time this season.

She was also heading down from either Stoneport or Calcite.

She had a load of stones for Detroit.

While the river class boats were specifically designed for the rivers around the Great Lakes.

The one was designed for a specific river.

She was designed specifically with the Cuyahoga River in mind.

She used to do shuttle runs almost exclusively.

She also had the privilege of carrying the Olympic torch.

She looks pretty nice.

Framed by the Blue Water Bridge.

She has both bow and stern thrusters.

She is also the length of one of the bends on the Cuyahoga River.

She passes the casino.

I think she can be stirred either way on her bridge.