The American Century at Mistersky Fuel Docks

 I thought I would have a fuller day of boatwatching today but I got kind of a late start.  There was construction all over the place.  It looks like they are doing something along the shoreline of Belle Isle, so they had it blocked off with some kind of fencing.  Since it was a nice day, I found it hard to get a parking spot.  So I decided to head over to Riverside to catch the ship I was going to end up catching.

While I was at Riverside, I saw that the American Century was fueling at Mistersky.  She had just delivered coal to Monroe and was heading back up to Superior.

The docks are part of the property next to the Mistersky Power Plant.  The plant itself was built in 1927 and originally generated 60,000 kilowatts of power.  Over the year that was tripled.  It was closed down in 2010 when it was determined that it was cheaper to get power from Detroit Edison.  I'm not sure what they are going to do with the plant itself but the docks remain viable.

The Kaye E. Barker at Mistersky

 This was a ship that I saw on Marine Traffic but I wasn't sure that I was going to catch her.

When I got to Riverside, I saw that she was getting fuel at Mistersky.  I also saw that she had been there a couple of hours, so I expected that she was going to pulling out soon.

I wasn't sure if I was going to see her actually pull out, so I took a couple of pictures as she was docked.

As I realized that the Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder was pulling into the fuel dock, I looked at the Barker and saw that smoke was coming out of her stack.  That meant that she would be pulling out.

Sadly, I didn't catch a picture of it but after a puff of smoke from the bow thrusters, she started to pull out of the dock.  I was more interested in getting a bow shot of her.

She continued to push out.

Started to give me a good shot of Zug Island.

When I posted this picture, I titled it as "Pulling out of Correllia" because that was Han Solo's home plant.  This looked like the planet in "Solo".

She is another ship that I really like.  she is another classic laker but she is a unique looking one.

She is also one that I see fairly often because she is typically the one that goes between Marquette and Dearborn.

The bridge in the background.

She pulls out in the channel.

Just a beautiful ship.

A relatively clean background.

A nice shot with the McKeil Spirit and Pathfinder in the picture.

The ship moves on.

She approaches the Ambassador Bridge.

The tower to the front.

The tower in the back.

She was heading on to Burns Harbor.  I think she was coming from Toledo which means that she was delivering iron to Burns Harbor.

The Philip Clarke Getting Refueled

 So this is the ship I wanted to catch.

The Philip R. Clarke came down from Marquette to deliver taconite to Toledo.  

She is heading up to Two Harbors and I saw that I had a chance to catch her but I wasn't sure if she was going to fuel or not.

It turns out that she did stop for fueling.  I was hoping that I took enough time to catch the other ship, that she would be passing Belle Isle.

That was not the case, so I went to Riverside to catch her.  That almost didn't happen because Riverside was crazy.  It took me a couple of passes to get a parking spot.  That happened and I got my pictures.

Catching the Anderson on the Flip Side

 As I was looking at Marine Traffic this morning before head up, I saw that the Arthur M. Anderson was heading up from Toledo after delivering her load.  I wasn't sure I would be able to catch her.

But then I figured that she might be stopping for fuel which would give me a chance to at least catch her like this.

But the she finished fueling and started to pull out after the Alpena passed by.

And that means fuel time is roughly two hours or so.

Anyway, she is heading up to Calcite to pick up a load of stone.

I am not sure where she is heading after that.

Again, I was wishing that I could have used my drone.

OH well, I think I got some nice pictures with my normal camera.

She approaches the Ambassador Bridge.

Almost passes it.

And one more shot.

The James R. Barker Refuels at Mistersky

 So I decided to head down to the river today.  I saw that I had a chance to catch a couple of ships.

I had a little time before the first ship, so I took a picture of the James R. Barker as she was refueling.

I think she was heading up from Cleveland after delivering a load of iron there.

She is heading up to Two Harbors.

There she will pick up a load of iron ore for somewhere.

And Then There Was the Paul R. Tregurtha

 I had one more ship to take pictures of.

The Paul R. Tregurtha was at the Mistersky fuel docks getting fuel.

I figured she would be leaving soon as the American Century was waiting for her to leave.

I waited around for her to leave but I was starting to get cold and it was starting to rain again, so I left the park.

As I was heading out of Detroit, I stopped at my other park and I saw that she was coming up the river.

I liked the pictures from here but I couldn't get a full picture of the bridge because they added a wall there.

She was coming up from Monroe.  I think she did a split load for Monroe and St. Clair.

She was head back up to Superior.

She will pick up more coal there.

I think she will be up there some time tomorrow.

I like the scrubbers on these.  On a cold day, it looks like a steamship.

The beam shot.

And she continues on.