Spring Day on the St. Clair - April 12, 2021 - Shipspotting
Today began as a foggy one on the St. Clair River on the border of Michigan, USA and Ontario, Canada.
The first ship of the morning for me was Saginaw as she made her way past Marine City, Michigan, through the fog.
Saginaw made a U-turn to get to Sombra, Ontario, as her fleetmate, Ojibway made her way upbound. A boat of fishermen sat in the foreground - what a lovely way to watch the ships!
A bit later in Port Huron, I watched Canada Steamship Line's Thunder Bay as she made the "Nascar Slide" around the sharp bend.
A few minutes later, Thunder Bay met Ojibway around the next bend. Perspective plays tricks on the eyes here. Thunder Bay is the larger ship at 740 feet, but she's only about 100 feet longer than Ojibway at 642 feet!
Wagenborg's Eeborg is a Dutch "salty" (sea-going) ship, one of the early-birds of the season. A pilot boat zips alongside as is required along the St. Clair River for all foreign vessels. She is heading for Chicago this time.
A bit later, we had GL Ostrander with her barge Integrity.
(I couldn't resist adding some links to the videos from Super Ships... They could use more support for their documentation of the Laker ships, so please pay them a visit.)
Paul R Tregurtha is one of my favorite ships on the lakes. She's a "footer" - 1000 feet in length, and is headed to Duluth, Minnesota, where she is due into port almost exactly two days after she went through Port Huron, Michigan.
Her Interlake fleetmate, Herbert C Jackson passed downbound soon after. She's an older ship - built in 1959 when they were still putting the bridge in the bow of the ship. She's 690 feet in length and was originally a steam ship.
Paul A Desgagnes is a tanker for the Desgagnes Group. These tankers usually go to Sarnia to load, then go to Quebec or Montreal.
Cove Isle made a trip up the river, then down again, both times towing the small boat behind. I'm not sure what she was up to, but maybe I'll hear something later when I read Boatnerd's news.
Algoma Discovery came downbound today.
Then, Manitoulin pulled into Sarnia, black smoke belching from her stack. I hope to find out whether she's having troubles and needs an emergency repair or something. (Many of her fleetmates spent part of winter layup in this location, so repairs are definitely a possibility.)
As evening approached, Spruceglen (Canada Steamship Lines) came through Port Huron, downbound... followed not too long later by American Mariner (American Steamship Company, but now managed by Lower Lakes Towing.)
As it was getting dark (putting an end to my shipspotting for the day), I watched as we got another lucky twofer (three today!) as CSL Niagara (Canada Steamship Lines) and Edgar B Speer (Great Lakes Fleet) made their way up the river. Speer is another of the "footers" and is on her way to Two Harbors, Minnesota. Niagara is on her way to Superior, Wisconsin.
The final image of the night is of Spruceglen as she made her way past Marine City, lights on and reflecting beautifully on the water.
Crossposted on Steem and Hive.
Today's images are from:
Boatnerd - Port Huron, Michigan
StreamTime Live - Port Huron, Michigan
StreamTime Live - Marine City, Michigan
The sharing of the pictures/cameras is encouraged for the education and enjoyment of all. Please take a look at these cameras on YouTube.
Video links are for Super Ships on YouTube.
Note: Boatnerd also hosts shipping news, huge amounts of data about almost any "laker" and even many of the "saltie" visitors - and even a book called "Know Your Ships". I would encourage supporting his great work, especially as he has plans to add more cameras in 2021.
If you want to be tagged in future shipspotting posts, please let me know and I'll add you to this list.
@jamerussell
(I can also remove you if you wish.)
Past Shipspotting Posts
- Watching the Ships in Duluth, Minnesota
- Watching the Ships at Port Huron, Michigan
- Trains and Ships on the Mississippi, Fort Madison, Iowa
- Year's End Shipping in Duluth - Dec 31, 2020 - featuring Algoma Guardian, American Spirit, Baie Comeau, Great Republic and Stewart J Cort.
- Persistence Pays Off - Feb 11, 2021 - featuring Morro Bay, Samuel Risley, Griffon and Algosea.
- The Buddy System - Feb 14, 2021 - featuring Griffon, Hollyhock, Algosea, Morro Bay, Algocanada and Iver Bright.
- Downbound Progression - Feb 18, 2021 - featuring Samuel Risley and Algosea
- Upbound Parade - Feb 18, 2021 - featuring Samuel Risley, Algonova, Leo A McArthur and Katmai Bay.
- A Day on the St. Clair - Feb 25, 2021 - featuring Katmai Bay, Samuel Risley, Algonova and Pride.
- Threefer in Marine City - Feb 26, 2021 - featuring Katmai Bay, Samuel Risley and Algoterra
- 2021 Shipping Season Begins - Mar 1, 2021 - featuring Manitoulin
- Spring Has Come - Mar 21, 2021 - featuring Griffon
- Today's Shipping on the St. Clair - March 22, 2021 - featuring Algonova, Baie Comeau, Iver Bright, Indiana Harbor and Sharon M/Huron Spirit
- U-Turn in the St. Clair - Mar 25, 2021 - featuring Algoma Hansa
Ship Studies
- Algoma Enterprise Farewell post - Jan 5, 2021 - featuring Algoma Enterprise, Algoma Niagara and Joyce van Enkevort - Jan 5, 2021
- Alpena, the Oldest Ship on the Lakes - March 8, 2021
- Federal Cedar - First Salty of the Season Travels the St. Clair - Mar 29, 2021
- Iver Bright - Asphalt and Bitumen Tanker - March 5, 2021
- Katmai Bay - USCGC 101
- Mississagi's Final Voyage - Jan 5, 2021
Freewrites that include ship pictures...
- Winter, Writing and Winging It - featuring Drawsko and Federal Oshima.
Shipping-based art
Shipspotting Buzzes
Lakers:
- American Steamship Company - American Integrity,
- Canada Steamship Lines - Frontenac, Rt Hon Paul J Martin,
- Interlake - James R Barker, Kaye E Barker,
Coast Guard:
- Canadian - Samuel Risley
Salties:
- BBC - BBC Swift
Two or more ships -
- Burns Harbor & Stewart J Cort,
- Jamna, Sinaa, Torrent and Federal Dart,
- USCG Biscayne Bay - 104, CCG Samuel Risley, Michigan w/ Great Lakes and USCG Morro Bay - 106
No Ships... (on these ship cameras)
This category is for when the camera operator finds something else fun to focus on, like the peregrines around Port Huron or the beautiful sunrise over Lake Superior as viewed from the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge.
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble, TeePublic, PicFair and DeviantArt.)
verified author on Goodreads
(Buy my books at Books2Read and at LBRY)
Most excellent! Really glad to see that the shipping is almost back to normal!
You are doing a good job covering them, you should consider talking to locals in the area up there about making a column in the newspaper!
When they ask your name, just say it's Clark Kent!