Catching the Sugar Islander II

 Last time I was up in the Soo, they had the Sugar Islander II under repair so they were using a different ferry.

So the Sugar Islander II was back.  It was nice to see it back in action.

I would imagine it would get old driving back and forth every day.

I'm not sure how many times it makes this trip in a day.

But I'm sure it's quite a few.

The lighting was nice.

This was from a different day but I caught it with my drone while I was bringing it back from another ship.

A Couple Shots of the Sugar Island Ferry

The Sugar Islander II goes between Sault Ste Marie and Sugar Island.  It seems like it always full or pretty close to full.

 One of these days, I may go to explore the island and see what it has to offer.

But it wasn't this day.

Shots of the Sugar Island Ferry

This is the boat that is always at Mission Point.

 I think it goes between Sault Ste Marie and Sugar Island every 30 minutes.  Generally it doesn't take that long for it to cross.

 It pretty much runs all day.

 And usually when it goes to the island, it lets the current take it in.

 Sometimes it photographs well.

 Especially in the sunset.

And it flies the Stars and Stripes proudly.

The Sugar Islander II

Probably one of the more prominent boats at Mission Point is the Sugar Islander II.

 The Sugar Islander II makes several trips back and forth between Sault Ste Marie and Sugar Island.

 You can usually see all manner of vehicles on her. 

 Occasionally, you will even see semi-trucks on her.

 She is a pretty neat looking boat.

 I'm not sure how often she runs but I've got to believe its pretty close to all day.

 She looks really nice in the sunset.

 One of the days was foggy....

And I was able to get a nice picture out of that.

the Sugar Islander II Ferry

The Sugar Islander II provides ferry service between Sault Ste Marie and Sugar Island.  I'm not sure if it runs year round but it has to be pretty close.

 It's always a nice subject when there is a lull in ships but that wasn't the case this weekend.

 I couldn't have asked for better weather this weekend.

 She makes a trip back from the island.  It seemed like she was at capacity most of the time.

 Another load of vehicles.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

 It even carried me for a trip.  I wanted to see what pictures from the other side were like.

A shot from the deck.

Michigan Exposures Hits the Road - Day 3

My day started with a trip across to Sugar Island to get some pictures from there.  I was going to wait over there for the Paul R. Tregurtha but it seems like she took too long at the locks to get out.

I did manage to catch two ships from over on the Island.  One of them was the Burns Harbor.  I figured, I would post this shot I caught as I was heading back to the mainland.  All told, I caught 14 ships today.

The Sugar Island Ferry

Just some shots of the ferry.

 One thing nice about Mission Point is that if you run out of ships to shoot, you can always take pictures of the Sugar Islander II.

 She's not really anything to write home about.

 But in the right settings, she can look nice.

 She crosses back and forth between the Soo and the Island several times a day.

 A shot of her in the setting sun.

 She makes a trip back.

...and forth.

The Sugar Islander II Ferry

One thing nice about Mission Point is that if you are short on ships to take pictures of, there is always the ferry.

 The Sugar Islander II spends her time going back and forth between the mainland and Sugar Island.  It seems like she is always carrying a fair amount of vehicles every time she does so.

 I kind of like the reflection in this picture.

 I finally got a shot with her flag straight out.

And even a ferry looks nice in the twilight.

Riding on the Sugar Islander

Since everyone was sitting on one side of the river, we thought that we'd try to get some shots from Sugar Island.  That meant a ride on the Sugar Islander II.

 I've seen this vessel a number of times but I've never ridden on her.  Even though it is a fairly short trip, it was still pretty cool.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

 It's amazing how many cars can get fit on her deck.  I should have counted but I would say pretty close to 20.  It's probably a good thing because the line backs up pretty quickly.

 We didn't get off on the island because the ship we were shooting had already passed but it was a good chance to get a picture of her empty deck.

 But it didn't stay empty for long.

 And we pull away from Sugar Island.

One more shot before leaving her.

The Sugar Island Ferry

So I checked AIS for the next morning and saw that the Cedarglen would be coming upbound on the St. Mary's River.  She is an odd looking ship and thus worthy of being photographed.  So we decided to head over to Mission Point because that's one of the better spots in town to take pictures.

 Waiting around at Mission Point pretty much means that you get to see the Sugar Islander II.  She is crossing the river one way or the other every 15 minutes.

 Here we see the Cedarglen stalking the ferry.

 A closeup of her pilothouse.

 I just love the shot with the flag flapping.

 Later in the day, I caught a picture of the ferry being stalked by the James R. Barker.

And one last shot of the ferry.

These pictures were taken at different points of the day.