Saying Good Bye to An Old Friend

 Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time knows what my favorite ship is.   She has been a long time subject of this blog.

I first caught her in 2011 while this was a fairly young blog.  At the time, I didn't think ships would be a major subject but they have become that.

And this ship has been a major part of that.  I just love her looks.  For the most part, she reminded me of a snapping turtle and I would go out of my way to catch her if I could.

Well, in February of 2021, she had a fire that went uncontrolled for close to 12 hours.

It is said that fire caused at least 100 million dollars worth of damage to her.  For the last year, her fate was uncertain.

Well, it seems that her fate is less uncertain.  She is being towed to Conneaut, Ohio.  They needed to free up space at the shipyard she was at and the company that owns her also owns dock space in Conneaut.

Nothing has been officially announced but at a minimum she is going there for long term layup.

That long term layup will likely end up with her scrapping.  Conneaut is not too far from the scrapyard in Port Colborne where she will eventually end up.

As you can see from this picture, she has been stripped of all of her electronics and she is basically a dead ship.

The Meredith Ashton was the lead tug.  Typically there are two tugs on a tow like this.  One is provided propulsion, the other is helping with steering.

In what I hoped was a common thing, I finally got some drone shots of her.  It's a shame that it was under these conditions.  The thing with ships is that you get used to them and it's sad to see them go.

It especially sad because you can tell they are not loaded.

Well at least I can pretend she is under her own power in this picture.

She's been a huge part of this blog.  Like I said, she is one that I would go chase.  I went to the Mackinac Bridge to get a picture of her there.

She was the only ship I saw at Engineer's Day and she was a crowd pleaser as her crew tossed treats to the gathered throng.

I went up to the Soo for my birthday.  She gave a salute to the gathered crowd but I could at least pretend it was for me.

Many people liked her.

And a few of them where here catching what could be her final passage.

I could have caught her earlier in the day but it is somehow fitting that I caught her at sunset.

She heads off into the sunset.

As I said, nothing is official yet but it seems like the writing is on the wall.

There are about three or four ships ahead of her at Port Colborne and the steel market is down right now, so it's possible it will be a couple years.

You can see part of the damage here.  I think the fire  took out her conveyor system.  I saw plans for a new conveyor system but I have a feeling her current company doesn't want to spend the money.

It's possible that she will get a new lease on life but for now, I will say good bye.

The CSL St Laurent Passes Windmill Point

 As I said in my last post, I saw this ship making her way upbound.  I figured I had enough time to catch her.  And I was right.

The CSL St Laurent is a favorite of mine, mainly because of this mural.

This mural was added in 2017 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the creation of Canada.

2017 was also the 300th anniversary of the founding of Montreal.

I hope they are able to keep this mural on her because it is a uniqueness amongst the ships.

I don't remember where she was heading from but I think she was heading up to Thunder Bay.

But that bit of surmising is based on her configuration.

Thunder Bay is typically where ships go to pick up grain.

Well at least the Canadian ships.

I didn't use my drone here because it was a little crowded.

She looks like she's gotten a bit of use.

The almost beam shot.

One more before heading home.

A Channel Marker

 I caught a picture of this as I was waiting for my ship.

I think this is called a starboard hand marker.  It is supposed to be on the starboard side of a boat or ship when it is heading upstream.  I've seen this one before and it looks like a cormorant hotel.

The Lake St. Clair in the Belle Isle Anchorage

 As I was getting ready to leave Belle Isle, I saw that there was a ship in the anchorage.

I decided to stop and get pictures of her.  It is the Lake St. Clair.  She is owned by Sunship Schiffahrtskontor KG out of Emden, Germany.

She was built in 2004 as the Federal Miramichi.  In 2016 she was bought by her current company.  They had this frame on Belle Isle.  I thought it looked pretty cool and made a nice frame for me.

I tried to see if I could get my drone close by to get some pictures.

Sadly, this was as close as I could get, so I decided to gain some altitude.

I think I got some pretty nice shots of Detroit.

If you look to the right, you can see a tall ship.  I'm not sure what ship that is though.

The ship is 606 feet long and 77 feet wide.  She can carry 27,000 tons of cargo.

I liked the sun set on the city.

One more shot.

The Evans Spirit Passes By

I also wanted to catch another ship that I missed up at the Soo but it seemed that I was going to get a bonus ship.

 The Evans Spirit was heading upbound from Detroit.  I'm not sure where she was heading but I think Thunder Bay comes to mind.

 I think she's kind of a neat looking ship.  I love her paint scheme.

 I'm not sure what those giant gray things are though.

 She slowly makes her way by.

 As I type this, she is on her way back from where she was going.  I think she just cleared the Locks and is on her way to Port Cartier as well.

 She gets ready to enter Lake Huron.

 She starts to pass under the Bridge.

One more shot.