And the Main Attraction

 And this the ship I was waiting for.

It's been over a year since I've seen her.  She only went out a few times last year and then they laid her up.

They pulled her out of layup and she is sailing again.

But I heard a rumor that this might be her last year but you never know.

She is one of my favorites because many people think she's ugly.

I think she is unique looking.

She was coming down from Thunder Bay after a layup in Meldrum Bay.

It looks like she was recently painted though.

So maybe I will see her again a few more times.

I hope so.

She was heading to Hamilton.

I'm not sure what she was carrying.

The J.W. Westcott goes out to visit her.

The Westcott travels along her side.

The Westcott pulling away.

I like this shot.

The Detroit River has a nice shade of blue.

Two classics.

The beam shot.

She heads away.

Going down the Detroit River.

heading for another Bridge.

And then I switched to my normal camera for the mostly stern shot.

My last picture of the day but I hope its not my last picture of her.

Return of the Leitch

 It has been a while since I've caught this ship.  Usually when I see her, I can't catch.  When I saw that she was passing at a time where I could catch her, I decided to head down.

The John D. Leitch is a favorite of mine.  Mainly because she is a fairly unique looking ship.

Many in the boatnerd community like to call her ugly.

I don't think she's ugly, just unique.

One of the reasons for that is that she can carry more cargo.

The pilothouse moves the cargo hold a little forward and that gets just a little more cargo.

For some reason, she reminds me of Lurch.

She makes the turn for the channel.

In the background was a ship waiting in the anchorage.

Love the looks of the water.

I think she was heading down from Thunder Bay.

She was heading to Quebec.

She passes Windsor.

For some reason, my drone switched into a different mode.  By the time I figured it out, this was the only picture I could get.  Not bad, but I wish I could have gotten more.

And she passes the Gordie Howe Bridge.  I can't wait for this to finish because it looks fairly nice.

And the Main Attraction

 And this is the ship that I wanted to catch.

I'm not sure where she was coming from.  But she was heading to Port Cartier in Quebec.

I think she might have been carrying grain.

But I'm not sure.

But she is one of my favorites.

I switched over to my drone.

It was a little windy but not too bad.

The sun was out and that made for nice colors on the river.

I kind of like this shot.

She passes by.

The almost beam shot.

The beam shot.

She continues down the river.

Catching Up With an Old Friend

 I had Friday off since it was a holiday.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do until I took a look at Marine Traffic.

The ship that dragged me out was this one.

She is the John D. Leitch and many people consider her the ugliest boat on the Lakes.

I would say that distinction belongs to one of the tug barges.

She's certainly not winning any beauty contests in the future though.

Her unique pilothouse gives her more cargo space.

And hauling cargo is her job, so hauling more helps her do her job better.

She was heading up to Superior.

I think she was picking up iron, but I'm not sure.

She could pick up just about anything.

She continues on her way.

One more shot at this spot.

After getting pictures of the next ship, I headed up to Marysville.

Mainly to get more shots of the Leitch.

I love her looks.

I think I like the quarter angle the best.

Close to a beam shot.

The beam shot.

And she continues on.

After catching the next ship, I headed up to Port Huron.

There isn't really bad spot on the St Clair River but I think Port Huron has the best views.

It doesn't matter if the ships are heading upbound or downbound, you can get many different angles.

About the only way to get better angles is from a boat or a drone.

She makes the turn for the channel.

The bow shot.

And she starts to head out for  the lake.

The quarter view that I like the best.

Framed by the Blue Water Bridge.

A shot with little background distraction.

I kind of like this shot.

She moves out past the bridge.

Getting close to a beam shot.

The beam shot.

And she heads out.  From this point, it is about 48 hours to her destination.