The Old Mackinac Lighthouse

I also had some time to take some pictures of the lighthouse.  As I've said before, this is probably one of my favorites.

 I was further out on the beach than normal.  The water levels on the Lakes is still pretty low which meant the beach was out further than normal.  So that gave me an opportunity to get a shot I couldn't normally get.

 Just another normal shot for me.

 As is this one.

 And this one.

 I'm not sure about this one.

But I usually try to catch this angle if I can.

Up at the Mighty Mac

On Saturday, I decided to head up to the Mackinac Bridge because I saw that I would have a chance to catch a picture of the Roger Blough under here.  This is one of the shots I've been waiting to take for a while.   There was a little wait before she would appear, so I snapped a couple pictures of the Bridge.

 Just my normal shot of the Bridge.  It wasn't too bad weather wise up there, just a little cold and windy.

 A closeup of the towers.

And a pulled out shot.

One Ship Two Bridges

If I ever did that project, I think I would want to do something like this.  I would want to make sure that I catch the ship in recognizable places.

 In this case, having the Bluewater Bridge as a backdrop.  Granted, this wouldn't be the beginning of the trip, but it would work for establishing a place.  If I weren't chasing other ships, I probably could have caught her along the St. Clair River.

As it was, I ended up catching her at the Ambassador Bridge.

So I got closer to a goal...but not quite.

The Cason Callaway Sails Past Detroit

One of these years, I would like to follow a ship from it's port of origin to it's destination.  I've figured that ships are slow enough and cars are fast enough that it would be possible to do this.  The only issue that I might have is going to sleep as these journeys typically take a day or more.  The closest I've come to doing this was when I followed the Edson up the Detroit River.  The second closest was one of the times I followed the Blough on the Detroit River.

 Now this will be the third closest.  I caught the Cason J. Callaway earlier in Port Huron.  Since I was doing other stuff, I figured out that by the time I reached Detroit, I would be able to catch up with her again.  And sure enough, that's what happened.  Here she is as she is starting to round Belle Isle.  What I didn't realize, is that this is about half way on Belle Isle.

 She peeks out from behind the island.

 She comes a little more into view.  Unfortunately, it is tough to get these shots.  Also, you can see the sky looking a little nicer.

 Sometimes, you can get a headshot as they clear Belle Isle.  That was not the case today.  I think with the Lakes being down, they have to hug more to the Canadian side.

 Almost a nice profile shot.

 A bow shot.

 One of the nice things is that she is far enough out to give a full profile.

 And that's really the shot that I like.

 Sadly, there are buildings behind it.

 But they aren't too many.

 And she starts to head further downriver.

 I think she might have been heading for the Rouge River, but I'm not sure.

 A shot of her stack.

 And Old Glory flying proudly.

 Another oblique shot.

 She approaches the Ambassador Bridge.

 One of the towers of the Ambassador Bridge in the background.

 One more attempt with the telephoto.

And a full on shot of the Bridge.

And Now the Algoma Provider

Next up is the ship that made this a shipwatching day instead of a going to Belle Isle day.

Before I get into the pictures, a little terminology.  The term "straight decker" refers to a ship that does not have the self-unloading equipment.  When I refer to the classic Great Lakes configuration, this is the type of ship that I should be referring to, as this is the type that has sailed the Great Lakes for a long time.  However, since the self-unloader has been around for a while, I can still cheat and refer to those as classics.

The advantage of the self-unloader is that the port doesn't have to provide unloading equipment for the ship.  Self-unloaders also require less time in port because they unload quicker.  Since a ship sitting in port is a ship that is not making money, the shipping companies prefer the self-unloaders.  As result, straight deckers are getting to be rarer on the lakes.

 Sometimes, circumstances dictate that some older ships come out of service even if they aren't the most efficient.  A less efficient ship is better than no ship and the potential of losing a contract.  I think that is the case with the Algoma Provider.  She was on layup for a while and was pulled out of service this year.

 A friend of mine caught her on her re-maiden voyage.  I was hoping to catch her on that day but I dallied too long and she ended up fueling instead of going where I expected her to go.

 Anyway, every ship has a story and so does this one.

 The Algoma Provider started her life in 1963 as the Murray Bay (this shouldn't be confused with Murray Head).  She sailed for the Canadian Steamship Lines and would be the last steam turbine vessel built for them.

 She is powered by a 9,000 s.h.p. steam turbine that is fueled by heavy fuel oil.  This gives her a speed of about 13 knots (or so).

 She is 730 feet long and can carry 27,000 tons of cargo.

 For 28 years, she sailed under the Canadian Steamship Lines until 1991.  In that year, she sailed under the management of Great Lakes Bulk Carriers Ltd out of St. Catharines Ontario.  This was a consortium of CSL, Misener and Pioneer Shipping.  This lasted until 1993.

 In 1994, she was sold to Upper Lakes with a few other ships.  After a new paint job, she was given the name Canadian Provider.  In 2000, this became the Seaway Bulk Carriers (which was a consortium of Algoma and Upper Lakes).

 For the most part, she only sailed during the grain harvest season and this was dependent upon the size of the harvest.

 In 2004, she collided with another ship in Toronto and remained there until she was towed to Hamilton in 2005.  In 2006, she was towed to St. Catharines and given her 5 year survey.  She returned to active service shortly after that.

 In 2011, the Upper Lakes fleet was sold to Algoma and she was given her current name at that time.  She was put into Layup at that time.

 This year, she is back in service.  And I think it's pretty cool to see a straight decker.  I hoping that I see her at least one more time before she's retired for good.  But who knows what fate lies for her.

 I'm also hoping to see the St. Mary's Challenger which is the oldest ship on the Great Lakes.

 But I guess until then, I'll be content with this ship.

And she sails off.....

The John G. Munson Makes Nine

Lately when I go shipwatching, I am happy if I see one ship.  That is usually because I'm doing it after work and while I'm heading home from Troy.  Sometimes I will get lucky and catch two ships.  I think I hit the mother lode today because I will have seen ten ships (plus two that were docked but I don't usually count those in my tallies).

So after catching the Kuber, I decided to say my goodbyes to Port Huron and head back home.  Since I saw that there were two more ships heading upbound, I decided to take M-29 home because that runs along the St. Clair River.  Also, it is a pretty nice drive.

 So next up is the John G. Munson.  She has appeared on this blog a few times in the past.  You can see the H. Lee White a little further downriver, although I wouldn't catch up to her again.

 The Munson seemed a little smoky today.  I hope this doesn't mean a serious problem for her because it would be a shame to lose another steamer.

 I do like her lines though.

 The Great Lakes Trader starts to work her way downbound.  Sadly, they were passing as the Munson would have presented the angle I wanted to take.

 A shot of her pilothouse.  I think you can see some similarities between her and the Callaway.

 Her deckhouse.

 And she works her way up the St. Clair River.

And one more shot.