Some Aerial Shots of the Huron Lightship

 Since I had quite a bit of downtime before the next ship, I decided to get some drone shots of the Huron lightship.

The Huron was the first operating lightship on the Great Lakes.  She was launched in 1920 and served on the Great Lakes until she was retired in 1970.

She was built by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Company in Morris Heights, New York.  Her keel was laid in 1918 and construction was complete by 1920.

She was powered by a single compound reciprocating steam engine powered by two Scotch boilers.  She had 175 horsepower.

She was commissioned in 1921 as Lightship Number 103 and operated in Southern Lake Huron near Port Huron and the mouth of the St. Clair River.

In 1935, she was repainted with the "Huron" on her sides.  She operated about 6 miles north of the Blue Water Bridge.

She had one lantern and a steam whistle fog horn.

In 1949, she was repowered with diesel engines at the Defoe Shipyard in Bay City.

In 1970, she was retired in Detroit.

She was transferred to the City of Port Huron in June 1971.  She currently serves as a museum and is a National Historic Landmark.

A Stop at the Great Lakes Museum in Toledo

On Friday, I decided to head down to Ohio in order to catch some covered bridges that were in the Dayton area.  Before heading out,  I decided to check Marine Traffic and I saw that the Saginaw would be passing through Toledo.  So I decided to stop at the Great Lakes Museum.

 I ended up getting a new membership because I would like to tour the ship and tugboat they have.  While I was there, I thought I would wander through the museum.  There's not alot to see in the museum itself but they have some pretty nice models.  This is a model of the Ann Arbor No. 3.  She was built in 1898 in Cleveland at the Globe Iron Works.  She served as a car ferry for the Ann Arbor Railroad until 1965 when she served as a cross straits ferry under the name Manistee.  In 1974 she was sold to be a dock face in Peoria, Illinois.

 This is a model of the Huron Lightship.  One of these years, I'll have to tour the real one.

 A nice scale model of the James R. Barker.

I can't quite make out what ship this is.

I will go back to the museum one of these days.

A Brief Walk

Since I had a little bit of a wait for the next ship, I decided to walk from the spot where I was to the lightship.  I figured it was a little over a mile long and I confirmed that on Google maps.  It felt pretty good actually.

 I know that I have a few pictures of the lightship but I figured a few more wouldn't kill things.  It was a pretty nice day although it was a little chilly in the morning.

 Sadly, I was shooting directly into the sun, so I'm not 100% happy with this picture.

 One of these days I will tour her.

 One of her work boats.

 A more overall shot.

 The walk along the river curves a little bit, so you can get some different angles.

 The light was hitting the bridge just right.

And a shot of the pair of bridges.  One serves as an east bound bridge and the other serves as a west bound bridge.

A couple Pictures of the Huron Lightship

Since I was close, I decided to take a couple pictures.

 One of these days, I will have to make it a point to tour this boat.

 But for now, I'll be content with some pictures.

And one more shot.

Random Randomness on the River

Just pictures of stuff that I can't otherwise classify on the river.

 I saw this guy weaving around on the river.  It was a pretty windy day.  I didn't see too many jumps though.

 This is a pair of flags that are almost directly across from a pair flags in Port Huron.  I'm glad that we have the relationship with our northern neighbor that we do.

 Sort of a shot of the Canadian flag.  Sadly, I couldn't quite get the timing down.

 Unlike the timing for the US flag.  It is almost straight out.

 The Hollyhock at rest.

 the Huron lightship at more of a rest.

This is a Canadian Survey boat.

Shots Otherwise Not Classified

These are just some other shots I didn't want to make separate posts for.

 The Algorail lurking in the weeds as she is temporarily laid up.

 The Hollyhock taking a little break after breaking ice.

 The Huron Lightship all lit up.

 The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse shining her light for the channel.

 Something tells me the Algorail is not going to be laid up for long.

The Hollyhock against the Blue Water Bridge.

And with that, I will call it a night.