And Lastly, the Herbert C. Jackson

 As I was getting ready to leave, I saw that there was one more ship coming up.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to wait for her but I made up my mind and decided to.  Classic lakers are always good to catch.

The Herbert C. Jackson was coming up from Toledo.  Normally when ships are heading upbound, they are not loaded but this wasn't the case.

I think she was loaded with iron ore.

She was heading for Burns Harbor which means that a load of iron ore would make sense.

I think it came from the iron smelting plant in Toledo, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, she was a nice site to see and a good gift for my birthday as she blew a salute.

I know it wasn't for me, but I can pretend.

One more shot with my regular camera.

So I switched to my drone again.  I like the reflections in the water.  It was almost calm enough for me.

She was making pretty good speed, so there was a nice bow wave.

She passes my drone.

The beam shot.

She has a ways to Burns Harbor.

One more shot before packing it in.

As I was heading back, I was glad that I was not on east bound I-94.  There was nasty accident near the Greenfield exit.  Four trucks collided and made a mess.  I'm not sure if anybody was killed.  But it shut down the highway going east, so people had to route through Dearborn, which probably made things pretty ugly.

Anyway, even though I didn't get the ship I wanted, I had a pretty nice birthday.

A Three Inch Naval Gun

 I went to Marine City to catch my next ship.

As I was waiting in the park, I took a picture of this gun.  I think this is a 3" dual purpose Naval Gun.  I think these were mostly on destroyer escorts.  I'm not sure where this one came from.  But it could be used against ships or planes.

Always Happy to See the Sykes

 It wasn't long for the ship I wanted to see appear.  Although it took her roughly two days to get this point.

The Sykes was coming in from Burns Harbor and I think she was carrying iron fines.

She was heading to Cleveland but I'm not sure where in Cleveland she was heading.

At any rate, I was happy to see her.  She is probably becoming my favorite ships on the Lakes.

I love her color scheme.

You rarely see rust or wharf scrapes on her, so it seems like she is taken care of.

I'm not sure what her design is, but she is definitely a classic laker.

She even had a hand in the Edmund Fitzgerald night.

While it she's not as well known as the Anderson, she still has a part in that night.

Namely, her captain at the time was the last one to actually see the Fitzgerald.

He has a pretty good book about that night but he is a little on the arrogant side.

Anyway, she's a nice looking ship.

After a threat of rain, it kind of went away and I had a nice sunny day.

But that also made it a hot day.

I was able to get my drone out.

I like this shot.

She gets a little closer.

Trying to get a beam shot.

She passes.

One more in Port Huron.

Because I saw something else in Port Huron, I wasn't quite able to chase her but I did pick her up again in Marine City.

I think I was getting a little heat haze here.

But I love the blue of the river.

The sky looks pretty cool.

A clean shot.

And I got my drone out here too.

The water looks really blue from the air.

One more shot with my drone here.

And then I headed down to Algonac to catch her one more time.

It was little sunnier here.

But a little less windy.

She's a nice ship.

A couple more with my regular camera.

A relatively clean shot again.

One more with my regular camera.

And then I took to the air.

I really like the blue water here.

she passes by.

The beam shot.

Passing.

And as I type this post, she is almost to Cleveland.  Meaning it is about 12 hours from this point to Cleveland.