Return of the Algosteel
I got to Belle Isle about ten minutes later than I wanted to on Sunday evening, due to a ridiculous traffic clog on the island. The clog was caused by the temporary closing off of half of the island in preparation for the upcoming Grand Prix there. Yuck. And what’s even yuckier?
I missed my boat. The Algosteel was saying her last goodbyes to the beach as I arrived there, and Mississagi, an unexpected visitor whom I profiled the day before, was going the other way.
My plan was to bolt downriver to catch the Algosteel again, but not with the Mississagi right here in front of me!
After unloading grain in Windsor, she had backed down to the salt dock, and loaded, you guessed it, a cargo of salt.
A very photogenic classic laker, I make sure to get some good shots of Mississagi before I rush out of here.
Last year I had awful luck catching her at all… aside from winter lay-up, this was the only meeting we had.
Winter lay-up not included, I’ve already caught her three times this year. Funny how things change from year to year.
I’m certainly glad that she’s appearing in my log more often now, because she’s 70 years old and looking just a bit worse for the wear. As I said yesterday, she won’t exactly be around forever.
The Great Lakes Engineering Works, the long-defunct River Rouge Shipyard that built this ship in 1943, would be proud if they saw her today! I doubt anyone intended for this ship to last as long as she has. Another GLEW product, the St. Marys Challenger, is now in her 107th season over on Lake Michigan. Catching her is a major goal of mine for this year.
But for now I’ve got this, and barging back into reality, I sort of have somewhere else to be!
So I’ll quit dawdling with the Mississagi and be on my way.
She roars into Lake St. Clair, and I slowly drive off the crowded island.
This is why I was in Detroit in the first place Sunday night. To be re-united with my favorite ship, the mighty Algosteel. As I arrive, she blasts a heart-pounding salute to the mailboat J.W. Westcott II following a mail delivery.
Other than this, which barely counts, I haven’t seen Algosteel since I closed out my 2012 season in late January. I was feeling the withdrawal effects for sure.
I’m still a bit bitter about missing her at Belle Isle, although the lighting is still fine here at Riverside Park. Which, by the way, is still closed. I hope they give up trying to keep people out; it’s not working.
The closed park was packed Sunday night. Of course, the sight of the Algosteel impressed them all thoroughly.
Her stern shows a stain of some sort. Her paint has really worn and rusted since it was applied in April 2012.
I guess it adds character to the old 1966-built boat’s look.
Not that she needs any help with this profile!
Am I to the point where I ramble aimlessly about the Algosteel yet? I do it every time, because I feature her so much that I run out of stuff to say very quickly.
Well, she begins to head away, on to Montreal with a load of salt.
I wish she’d quit carrying so much salt. She won’t last another five years if she keeps doing that. She probably won’t either way, since Algoma is running her, and all her fleetmates, straight into the ground.
And Algosteel‘s near-sister, Algomarine, is included among them. I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to get these two in the same picture… my two favorite ships! Algomarine, at the fuel dock on the right, is the first ship I ever laid eyes on.
And considering their relatively short future timelines, I might not get this opportunity again. I would’ve liked to have both ships moving, and both a little closer, but I can’t complain. Maybe that’s why I missed the Algosteel at Belle Isle?
Algosteel gives Algomarine her goodbye and presses on.
Well now that that’s over, I can post my picture of the saltie Federal Yukon unloading break bulk at Nicholson’s Terminal. I’d usually post this first and save Algosteel for last, but I have to mix it up now and then or else I’ll be too predicable for you all!
Also, because I drove down Jefferson for a spell to shoot through a fence at Nicholson’s and catch the Claude A. Desgagnes. A Canadian vessel, Claude technically counts as a saltie, because she is temporarily bareboat chartered out of Canada. She’ll regain Canadian registry eventually though, so having some photos would be handy for me.
After unloading some yachts into the water just downriver, she moved to Nicholson’s to unload break bulk. I couldn’t get a shot of her aft cabins, but I’ve posted photos of one of her sisters before. Check this post.
Well, after a very brief 250th post, number 251 broke my usual photos limit by two. I guess that’s fine due to the shortness of number 250. I’ll be back with more next weekend.
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250
Saturday was one of those days where I go down to Detroit just to see one boat, even though I meant to see more.
That one boat is the 70-year-old Mississagi, loaded with grain for Windsor.
She’s looking a bit rough, but has life in her.
In ten years, she might be just a memory, but this isn’t ten years from now. These relics still defy time.
So she motors past Delray Park, slowing down to do a 180 so that she may dock as ADM Grain to unload.
Her classic counter stern finishes off her classic hull, with graceful lines everywhere.
As you can see, this has been a very short post.
But I decided to split up Saturday and Sunday. So another post tomorrow to finish out this past weekend.
Also, this is post no. 250! Climbing higher…
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Bridges and Big Ships
“Bridges” in Detroit usually evokes thoughts of the mighty Ambassador Bridge, spanning the river to Windsor. The ship loading petroleum coke in the background is Manitowoc.
But there is also the Jefferson Avenue Drawbridge, and Sunday morning, it lowered while the Herbert C. Jackson was about to pass through it with a load of taconite. The Jackson couldn’t stop in time, and it’s obvious from this photo who took the heat from that allision. The bridge is closed to road traffic indefinitely, while the Jackson came away with a scratch and a 1″ x 6″ hole. Fault for the bridge’s lowering was placed on the bridge operator, and no fault for the accident falls on the Jackson or her crew. As you can see, crews are also working to raise the bridge to the full “up” position so that ship traffic can use the river.
After the allision, the Jackson was towed to Nicholson’s Terminal, where she is seen here waiting for the bridge to be fully raised. A few hours after I returned home, she went in to unload, then proceeded to Sandusky, where she loaded coal for Detroit, and as I write this now, she has departed Detroit again and is back on her way to Sandusky.
And now, I present my finale for the weekend. Last September, I finally caught the elusive self-unloader Atlantic Superior for the first time, but came away unhappy with the lighting of the photos. This is what I call a second chance!
And even better, the sun takes the time to peek out for a second as the mailboat J.W. Westcott II approaches, to deliver to both the Atlantic Superior and Herbert C. Jackson.
The mighty 730-footer is headed to Superior for a coal load after unloading ore in Toledo.
She is making many more Great Lakes voyages this year than she has in the past decade, keeping busy on the ore run to Toledo, and usually returning with either coal or petroleum coke for Nova Scotia.
This sighting removes her from my list of vessels to chase, and will allow me to dedicate more time to different ships.
I am still pursuing better photo ops for her fleetmates Atlantic Huron and Atlantic Erie. Both elude me still.
Atlantic Superior passes beneath the Ambassador Bridge, and presses on to her namesake lake.
Meanwhile, the J.W. Westcott II is returning from the Jackson.
Always fun to be photographing two moving boats at once…
Especially when one is small and moving by this fast!
I guess this makes it okay though.
And that’s a wrap for this weekend.
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Rainy Evening
Saturday evening would have been a perfect evening for shooting boats, but unfortunately, the sky had other ideas. But I went anyway, mostly because I didn’t realize how rainy it was going to be.
The big red saltie Federal Asahi was the first vessel I caught at Belle Isle, loaded with grain for overseas.
She is essentially a cookie-cutter vessel, one of many sisters, and is not the reason I jaunted down to Belle Isle. But I got there early enough that I could catch her anyway.
As you can see, I have other company coming over.
So farewell to Federal Asahi.
The charter yacht Infinity from St. Clair Shores makes a quick pass by the beach, likely on a rough-weather charter cruise.
The quaint 607′ long grain carrier Manitoba is my target vessel for the weekend – unfortunately, the rain made it hard to get the shots I wanted of her.
Manitoba is a vessel that I very rarely see, due to her elusive grain-trading patterns.
So, not having gotten the photos I was hoping for, she’s still on my list of vessels to chase. Hopefully we will meet again soon.
And I bid Manitoba adieu as she heads off to Quebec to unload. That’s all for Saturday – tomorrow, I will attempt to post my photos from Sunday.
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Thundering into May – Part II
Okay, so “thundering” is the exact opposite of what I’ve been doing thus far this month. I was late getting my last post out, and now part two comes three days later. We left off with the Kaye E. Barker going through a drawbridge that is now closed, after it prematurely lowered on the steamer Herbert C. Jackson this morning.
We pick things back up at Delray Park, with thew Barker flying upbound for another cargo.
The classic freighter looks bold in the late afternoon light.
Her classic 1952 stern catches the light even better.
She passes by the landmark electrical towers standing in Windsor.
And off she sails…
American Courage is up next.
A big goal of mine is to catch her loaded and downbound one of these days. I see her all the time, but always when upbound and empty. Therefore, all my shots of her look exactly the same.
She turns toward the Mistersky Fuel Dock, so I try the vertical shot for the first time in awhile.
She meets Detroit’s landmarks as she approaches the fuel dock.
And now it’s time for me to get onto the Jefferson Avenue Drawbridge to catch another arrival by the Peter R. Cresswell.
Wyoming leads the inbound tow as usual.
Cresswell is arriving in Detroit on yet another of her many cement clinker shuttle from Bowmanville, ON.
Idaho, the trailing tug, is back in Detroit after a refit in Cleveland. Fleetmate Superior took her place while she was away.
The light isn’t quite as fresh on this side of the bridge, but the clinker dust and rust staining the Cresswell‘s hull doesn’t help either.
The tow slowly approaches the Conrail Bridge on its way to St. Marys Cement.
Idaho certainly looks pretty with her new coat of paint.
Speaking of new coats of paint, somebody should give one to the Peter R. Cresswell – it gets worse and worse every time I see her.
That was all for last weekend – this weekend’s shots will be posted soon.
And also, back to what I wrote about at the top: This morning the Jefferson Ave. Drawbridge closed on the steamer Herbert C. Jackson, giving her a scratch and a tiny hole. The bridge, however, sustained major damage and is closed indefinitely. Crews are currently working to raise it so that shipping traffic may use the river.
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Thundering into May – Part I
So, it’s been awhile since I took these on Sunday, but I’m finally able to post them now. I’m back at Delray Park once again, this time with the red-hulled Pineglen for company, with the saltie Industrial Eagle hiding behind.
This is only my second time ever seeing Pineglen.
She measures 736 feet long and was built in 1985, the last self-powered laker built in Canada.
And it’s not difficult to figure out that her stern cabins need a lot of paint!
Without making a fuel stop, Pineglen soldiers on to Thunder Bay for a load of grain.
I had originally planned to wait at Delray for the H. Lee White to pass upbound, but my mental instincts led me to the Fort Street Drawbridge. Looks normal… Sheila Kaye, Diamond Jack, William L. Warner, and LSC 236. The usual gang.
Oh wait, look what I found.
My Rouge River encounters are becoming increasingly frequent. I believe this now makes three straight weekends, and four times this shipping season.
Kaye E. Barker is outbound after unloading taconite at Severstal Steel in Dearborn.
This is my fourth time overall catching Kaye underway on the Rouge. That leads all vessels, and it causes me to have a lot of the same shots. But this is my first time catching her outbound.
It’s also my first time taking a shot like this. She sure looks good in this mid-afternoon light.
She slows almost to a stop, as a train is stopped on the bascule bridge ahead of her.
But after making it through, I’m quite intent on catching her at Jefferson as well.
And taking shots like this as she heads through the Conrail Bridge.
The lights isn’t as even here at WestJeff for the Barker, but the paint, now over half a year old and still shining, makes her look fine.
The mighty Kaye shows off her size and might as she prepares to squeeze through the bridge as she does weekly.
And now through, she heads for the Short Cut Bridge, her last obstacle before she makes it out into the Detroit River.
Since I have a few more still, I’ll cut off here and continue at a later point, although it probably won’t be until Saturday. Stay tuned!
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Closing Out April
So, my most recent post, published last Sunday, was only part one of my photos from last Saturday. Unfortunately, I was delayed from posting the remainder until now. So after leaving the drawbridge, I went to Delray Park, my most-often-used hangout of late.
After departing the Rouge River, Herbert C. Jackson is now upbound for Marquette, while the Algosteel loads salt in the background.
The Jackson then passes the Polish saltie Wicko.
The 690′ Jackson shines in the evening sunlight as she greets the many fishermen and women on either side of me here at Delray.
The angles aren’t as nice as what I got on the Rouge, but the light is arguably better.
Without even a thought of stopping for fuel, the Jackson cruises upbound toward Lake St. Clair.
Somewhat hidden in this series is the 1004′ American Spirit. I couldn’t get any better angles of her entire hull because of fishing line in the way, so this was the best I could do. The massive vessel is hugging the Canadian side, as she is preparing to do a 180 to dock at Zug Island.
The light was not good for the turn itself, so I didn’t really take many pictures of it. If you want to see it from a better perspective, see this post from last September.
Next, the Michipicoten flies upbound past the Algosteel. The Steel is my favorite ship, so I would have liked to get closer, but now with an entry fee being charged at Belanger Park downriver.
American Spirit prepares for her turn, but she has to wait for the slow-moving Michipicoten to pass first.
Not a slow boat by nature, Michipicoten is simply checked down for Sterling Fuel. She is headed for Bruce Mines, ON to load stone.
I’ve had surprisingly good luck seeing the Michipicoten in 2013. We only met once in 2012.
Built on saltwater, she certainly isn’t the most attractive 1950s laker, but she’s better than most boats out there today.
She wears her colors proudly, and is a very fine and handsome vessel.
She begins to lean toward the Canadian side as she approaches the fuel dock.
Her classic lines are a welcome sight for the happy group of fishermen spending their evening at Delray.
One of my favorite parts of boatwatching in Detroit is all the people you see. And all the boats you see.
The 698′ laker slowly lines up for the dock.
American Spirit meanwhile does her thing with Michipicoten out of the way.
Michipicoten is now secured at Sterling, gassing up and probably making a crew change or two.
With an undesirable amount of fishing boats in the way, American Spirit slides into Zug.
Last in is my finale for the month, although not a classic and pretty one like the Anderson, Jackson or Michipicoten.
It’s the barge Ashtabula and tug Defiance, upbound for Windsor with stone from Marblehead.
The barge is already suffering from rust trickle-down after less than a year in Great Lakes service.
Fleetmates meet, as the Ashtabula checks down to dock just in front of Michipicoten.
They form a pretty scene on the river as evening progresses.
In the midst of all this, I realized that I should probably get in a better shot of the Wicko, saltie for the evening. She is unloading break bulk at the Morterm Terminal.
Michipicoten‘s stern is much more desirable than that of the tug Defiance. But they make for a nice comparison I suppose.
They near their dock, LaFarge-CBM, and prepare for an unload of several hours.
With Wicko, American Spirit, and Algosteel to my back, I leave Delray still looking at the Ashtabula and Michipicoten basking in my favorite light. So ends a solid month of April, and hopefully warmer weather will follow the introduction of May.
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