Random Shots of Whitefish Bay

One of the nice things about the scenic route from the Soo to Paradise is the views it offers.  I think they are pretty typical of the views of Michigan.

 A view of the shoreline.

A lone tree standing watch over Lake Superior.

Point Iroquois Lighthouse Again...

The way we took from Sault Ste Marie to Tahquamenon took us by the Point Iroquois Lighthouse.  I don't know how many times I have stopped by this lighthouse but I do like it.  In other months, you can actually go up in the tower and it gives you a nice view of Whitefish Bay.  This wasn't one of them though.

 I've gone over the history of this lighthouse in past posts, so I'm not going to go over it's history in this post.  Just comment about the pictures themselves.  As you can see it was a gray day.  It was also a cold day which is supposed to be the norm at this time of year in Michigan.

 There are a couple of paths near the lighthouse and they give you nice views of Whitefish Bay.

 I'm not sure how well you can see it but there is a little bit of a hulk in the background.  I'm not sure what it's purpose is but it's there.

 One of the things about places like this is that you can see how lonely it can be to be a lighthouse keeper.  I'm not sure if you can notice the stone fence around the lighthouse but evidently it was boring and one of the lighthouse keepers decided to build this fence.

 A shot of the front of the lighthouse.

 A shot of the beach.  I can only imagine how cold it would be.

 Another shot of the front.

 Looking at the tower through the trees.

 Looking up at the tower.

 A shot from the road.

 More of a closeup.  You can tell how windy it was from the flag.

One last shot of the lighthouse.  I think this is one of my favorite lighthouses.

The American Spirit in Whitefish Bay

Unfortunately, all things must come to an end and thus was the case with my time at the Soo Locks.  My dad wanted to go to the Tahquamenon Falls, so we ended up taking the scenic route there.  I don't think it takes longer to go that way but it is a much better view.  As we passed Brimley, I looked out towards Lake Superior and saw a ship making its way towards the Locks.  Of course we had to stop so that I could take pictures.

It turns out that it was a ship that hasn't appeared on this blog before.  She is named the American Spirit and is one of the 1000 footers.  She was the seventh of the 13 thousand footers and was the only one to enter service for the National Steel Corporation of Cleveland, OH.  Like many of the other thousand footers, she was built in two pieces and welded together in Lorain.

Her construction was completed in 1977 and she was originally named the George A. Stinson.  She is powered by two Pielstick Diesel Engines and has a total rating of 16,000 horsepower.  She can carry a load 62,000 tons.

In 2004, she was bought by the American Steamship Company and renamed American Spirit to commerate the spirit of the company's workers and the workers of America.

A Bonus Helicopter

I meant to add this picture after I posted the pictures of the Lee Tregurtha because that it when this occurred in the timeline of things.

 As I was taking pictures of the Lee Tregurtha, I heard the distinctive sounds of a helicopter approaching.  Fortunately, I had my long lens with me so that I could get a shot of it.

 Turns out that it was a Canadian Sea King Helicopter.  She was introduced in 1961 by the Sikorsky Helicopter Corporation.  She served in the US Navy along with many other forces.

 She was retired by the Navy in 2003.

But as you can see, still used by the Canadians.

Philip Clarke Panoramic Shot

I figured I would do one more attempt at a panoramic shot.  This time one of the Philip Clarke.

I think this one turned out the best.

The Philip Clarke in the Locks

There were a couple more ships that passed through the Locks but it was dark and I couldn't get good pictures of them.  As I woke up I saw that the Philip Clarke was coming through the Locks.  This is a ship I have seen before but it was too far way to get a decent picture.  It seems to be another one of the ships that I keep missing.

 We arrived at the Locks just in time to see her as she was finishing the process of raising up to the level of the Lake Superior.  So I took a couple pictures and headed to the end of the Locks to catch her as she was leaving.

 So I headed to a spot near the end of the Locks to catch her as she was coming out.  I have to admit that they look more impressive this way.

 The discoloration to the right is because the fence doesn't allow for some angles of the camera.  However, this picture gives a good idea of the size of the ship.

 It's a little worse here.

 Fortunately, I could take a picture as she was straight off.

One more shot before she leaves.

It was pretty cool to actually stay in Sault Ste Marie.  Usually when I go up there, I only have a couple hours, so I will see one or two ships if I am lucky.  This time I got to see a bunch of ships.  I hope that this level of traffic holds up.

The Paul Tregurtha Leaving the Locks

After the Lee Tregurtha, we decided to head back to the hotel room as it had been a long day at this point and I wasn't sure when the next ship would be making her appearance.  Fortunately, we got a room on the side of the hotel that was facing towards the Locks and it had a pretty impressive view of them.  So I was sort of dozing off and checking ais.boatnerd.com and saw that the Paul Tregurtha had passed through the locks.  So I waited.

 The Paul Tregurtha is a ship that I've been waiting to get a picture of for a long time.  It seems like she would pick inopportune times to go through the Detroit River so I never got a chance to get a picture.  Not this time.

 With a length of 1013 feet, she is the longest of the ships that travel the Great Lakes and holds the title of "Queen of the Lakes".  She has held that title longer than any other boat on the Lakes (the last holder of that title was the Carl D. Bradley that held it for 22 years).  She was the last of the 1000 footers to be constructed.

 She was constructed in two sections.  One in Toledo and the other in Lorain, Ohio.  The section built in Toledo was towed to Lorain to be mated with the section there.  Construction was completed in 1981 and she was christened the William J. De Lancey.  She is powered by two Colt-Pielstick diesel engines with a total rating of 17,120 h.p.  She can carry 68,000 tons of cargo.

 She was the last ship built in Lorain, Ohio.  Because of some of the amenities of her construction she was nicknamed "Fancy DeLancey".

In 1992, she was re-christened as the Paul Tregurtha.