Catching the Thunder Bay

 Next up was the Thunder Bay.

I think she was coming down from Thunder Bay, Ontario but don't quote me on that.

I'm not sure where she was heading though.

I want to say she was heading down to Windsor.

But I'm not sure what she was delivering.

Anyway, it was cool to see her.

It was a nice day.

She passes by.

And a shot as she continues down the river.

And Lastly the Thunder Bay

 And so I ended my day (sort of...as you know, I went down to Belle Isle after this) with the Thunder Bay.

I don't remember where she was heading or where she was heading from but it was nice to see her.  I think the shipping season is pretty much in swing now.

I think the shipping companies will be able to put COVID almost behind them.  I think I read that they were setting up a vaccine clinic near the Soo Locks.

It was little chilly on this particular day.  In fact, you can see a little ice on the hull.

You can also see some ice on the anchors.

The head shot.

She  turns for the rest of the river.

I kind of like this view with the power plant behind her.

She makes the turn for the channel.

A couple more shots before switching the drone.

I kind of like the looks of these ships as well.  They are definitely growing on me.

And then I switched to my drone.

She has kind of a cool wake pattern too.

You can see the turns.

This time I tried to get a little closer.

And then my drone was yelling at me because my battery was low.

The Thunder Bay Passes Port Huron

The next ship was the ship that I hoped to catch.  I wanted to do a little boatwatching on Sunday but it wasn't particularly busy.  I also got a late start, so I didn't have much of a choice.

 The ship in question was the Thunder Bay and if I remember correctly, she was heading up to Superior, Wisconsin.

 If my memory serves me correctly, she is is probably picking up iron to deliver to Nanticoke.  As I type this, she is still in Superior, Wisconsin.

 When she finishes loading, it is roughly a three day journey back for her to Nanticoke.

 After she is finished with that journey, she will likely go somewhere for layup.

 It is getting close to that time of year of when ships layup.

 A shot of her under the Blue Water Bridge.

 One more shot.

And then she heads up to the blue waters of Lake Huron.

The Thunder Bay Upbound

Next up was the Thunder Bay.

 Presumably when I took this picture, she was on her way to Thunder Bay.  Looking at her current location of Nanticoke, she was probably picking up iron ore.

 So from this picture, it would take her roughly a day to get up to Thunder Bay.  Probably about half a day loading her cargo.  Then she would turn around and it would take her roughly 2 and a half days to get to Nanticoke.

 As I type this post, she is on her way back from Nanticoke.

 At which point she will start the cycle again.

And she continues on her way.

The Thunder Bay Passes Del-Ray.

I thought that there was going to be a ton of river traffic today.  But it turns out that most of it had passed by the time I woke up.  That left me with one ship to catch.

 I took my sweet time waking up this morning, so that meant I would miss it as it was coming off Lake St. Clair.  I was then thinking I'd catch her at Milliken State Park.

 That didn't happen because I decided to catch the Queen first.  So it was off to Del Ray that I went.

 When I arrived at the park, there were a ton of people with boats there.  I wasn't sure if they were part of a tournament or it was the first nice Saturday in a while.  Anyway, I was able to get a parking spot.  The area where people fished wasn't too busy.

 I was able to get some shots of the Thunder Bay between the fishing poles.

 You can see her passing a couple of fishing boats here.  These boats weren't a problem but shortly after this picture was taking, I heard her horn going off like crazy.

 When you hear five shorts from a ship, it means get out of the way.  I guess I wouldn't argue with a ship.

She continued on her way to Nanticoke though.

And the Thunder Bay Again

I believe this is the second time that I've seen the Thunder Bay in the last week. 

 I last saw the Thunder Bay on Sunday.  At that time, she was heading up to Superior, Wisconsin.

 While in Superior, she would have picked up either a load of taconite or coal.  I think she picked up a load of taconite based on fact that she was on her way to Nanticoke as I was taking this picture.

 I believe there is a steel mill either in or near Nanticoke.  So from Port Huron, it's about 2 days up to Superior and roughly two days back.  That gives you a pretty good idea of the side of the Lakes.

 Makes for lots of miles.

 but it was pretty cool to see her.

 And it was a pretty nice day.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

And she continues on her way down the St. Clair River.