The James L. Oberstar Passes By

 I headed over to Marine City to catch  the next ship and it wasn't too long before she appeared.

The James L. Oberstar was coming down from Marquette.

She was heading to the steel mill on the Rouge River.

That meant she was loaded with taconite pellets.

I'm not sure if this is her last trip of the season but it is getting close.

Sometimes Interlake Ships will layup at the Nicholson Dock just off the Rouge River.

But I'm not certain that is the case.

It was starting to snow.

Her pilothouse.

Her stack.

A sort of stern shot as she continues down the river.

The Alpena on the Last Trip of her Season

 I decided to go boatwatching today even though the weather didn't look the greatest.  There were two ships I definitely wanted to catch and one that I was hoping to catch (but I didn't have to).

I didn't get started early enough to catch her where I wanted.  I was actually hoping to catch her at Port Huron but Algonac will work.

I saw the Alpena had Cleveland as her destination, sometimes that means she is heading for layup but not necessarily.

I asked a friend and he told me that she was going for layup.

Since this was my last time to see her this season, I decided to go catch her.

I'm not sure if she is carrying anything.

But I do know she is not completely empty.

That will happen when she reaches Cleveland.

They will drain her ballast and she will be almost out of the water.

I think they are going to do some work on her too.

And off she goes.

My Last Ship of 2023

 It's been a tradition for me for a few years now to try to catch a ship on New Year's Eve.  I missed getting a ship when I was laid up.  There were a couple years where the weather didn't cooperate but that wasn't the case this year.

The first ship of this year was an Interlake ship, so I suppose

As you can see, it was a little foggy.  As the Tregurtha was still rounding Belle Isle, she was a little obscured.

I think the Tregurtha was actually coming down from Superior instead of her normal spot of Marquette.

She was also heading down to Toledo instead of her normal destination of Detroit.

She was delivering iron to the iron plant in Toledo.

I don't think this is the first time, nor do I think it is the last time.

She makes the turn for the rest of the Detroit River.

I think it is about 7 hours from Detroit to Toledo by ship.  The ships have to go east a little bit once they leave the Detroit River and then they head southwest to reach the mouth of the Maumee River.

I am hoping that means I'll get to see the Tregurtha as she returns upbound but I'm not sure how long the unload is for Toledo.

Anyway, it was nice to see her because she is a nice looking ship.

She is certainly a unique looking ship as she maintains some of the characteristics of her salty form.

It seems like Interlake takes care of their boats, so I think she will be around for a while.

She passes Windsor.

She passes the other part of Windsor.

An almost clean shot.

She approaches the Ambassador Bridge.

The tower in line with the bow.

She moves by fairly quickly.

The tower in the center for an almost perfect beam shot.

She starts to pass by.

The steam from her scrubbers looking good in the cool air.  I think the cool air brings it out.

A stern shot without much in the background.

The Gordie Howe Bridge in the background.

The American Mariner as she starts to fade into the fog, the Lee A. Tregurtha as she starts to pass the Bridge.

Another shot with both ships in it.

A better stern shot of the Tregurtha.  She is registered in Cleveland.

One more shot as the Tregurtha fades into the fog.

And that concludes 2023.  Happy New Year everyone and may your 2024 be fruitful.

A Fog Shrouded Detroit

I liked the look of the skyline, so I had to get a picture of it.  I'm not sure about the quality of the pictures though.

The Renaissance Center with the fog obscuring the top a little bit.

A pulled back shot to get the rest of the skyline.  The buildings are little obscured though.  But I think that's okay.

Catching the American Mariner

I was kind of waffling again today.  The weather didn't look like it wanted to cooperate.  It was still raining a little bit here, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to go down to Detroit.  I looked at the weather for Detroit, other than being cold, it should be fine.

The American Mariner was coming downbound.  I think she was actually heading down from Silver Bay but I am not sure.

Silver Bay is about two hours to the northeast of Duluth.  It has an ore dock and rail line feeding into it.

I was thinking about going there when I was up in Duluth for a week but I didn't have time and I don't think anything was going there anyway.  Although I hear the drive is nice because it is along the famous Highway 61.

So consequently she has a load of iron.

And she is taking that iron to Conneaut.

Conneaut is a little over 12 hours away from Detroit by ship.  This was after a roughly two day trip from Silver Bay.

As you can see, it was a little foggy out but not too bad.

I kind of like the mood it sets.

An almost clear background helped by the fog.

I like watching these giants of the Lakes, even though the Mariner is one of the smaller ships.

She passes Windsor.

Another part of Windsor.

She approaches the Ambassador Bridge.

The Bridge in view.

Partially passed.

She almsot passes.

The bridge tower near her pilothouse.

She makes her way down river.

The Canadian tower in view.

The Canadian side of the Bridge in view.

One more shot of her.