Yep, by the time we got tied up to the Dock it was 10:00PM, On the way in Anders reminded me of the first time I went to Thunder Bay with him. I think it was my first or 2nd time on the ship with him, I was watching him bringing the ship in through the piers and said.. " Where ARE you going?" ...to explain...:o) I didn't see the dock to the left since the lights weren't on it and I thought he was going into the river which was straight ahead of us and I knew there was NO way he' ld fit in there..so he always has a good laugh over that..:o) Since then I've not only learned where the dock is in Thunder Bay, but learned that Anders is incredibly good at what he does, I don't ever get nervous while I'm there with him. I have alot of fun ..maybe a little whaa whaaing about the Bzzzer but ...:o)

Anyhow back to the story.....we had to wait up for awhile when we got there , there were 4 guys going home and 4 guys leaving and Anders had to get the ones leaving signed off and the ones coming signed on..more paperwork for the sailor guy! One of the guys who lives in Thunder Bay who was off on Holiday actually came down to give some of his friends a tour of the ship so Anders showed them around his "domain" in the wheelhouse. We got to bed around 11PM.....BZZZZZ BZZZZZZ BZZZZZZ!!! ...whaaa time issss it??? Oh its 5:30Am..isn't that nice?? :o) Actually I usually get up at 6:00AM at home so 5:30 wasn't really toooo bad...:o) So took a quick shower then up to the wheelhouse to get this puppy out of piers, Anders backs her up which is always pretty neat to watch.

I watched a Salty coming in through the sunrise..it was a nice peaceful morning and considering we were in Thunder Bay , pretty warm too! After the Salty got in through the piers a couple of cute tugs were waiting to assist him to the dock.

We went down for breakfast in the galley..yum! Then we actually got to relax a bit together and watched the movie "Master and Commander" Anders has been wanting to see it since its a "boat" movie and it involves a "Master" ! ha ha It was actually a really good movie, probably I will watch it again since we have the DVD now. We took a nap til 6Pm or so as have to get ready for the river tomorrow. I went outside to watch the sunset ..I love this lake ..its so beautiful..sure can get nasty too..but right now..it was just beautiful..

The photo below was an experiment gone astray...hard to do without a tripod on a moving ship ..don't know what happened to the exposures only guess the camera compensated since I was getting farther away in distance to the bright sun but closer to the brightness as I rotated to start facing it ...the ship was moving and I was trying to get the horizon before it all moved! The idea of this was as I'm standing there on Anders deck for a long time enjoying this I just can't stop looking at the beauty just all around me ..water 360 degrees..and so peaceful . So I say to myself..hmmm lets try something...so if you click on this photo it will get big not huge though...but its one whole side of The upper Prom deck you can see the railing from each side on the ends of the photo.. Only reason I left it in is this...if you take photos alot then I think you can imagine that each one of these is one frame...8 frames total for this view ...water everywhere..the sunset, the calm blue water..it was awesome... ( once I get this story edition written I may try to work on it again as I have a few ideas..:o)

So After the Sunset Anders got all his paperwork done and we went to bed around 9PM. BZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZZZ, wait..its still dark out...what time is it?? 2AM...can't they call back later?? :o) Sunday morning here I am up in the dark..this is what I saw when we got to the locks.. More lights!, and I can't remember the name of the ship in front of us..sory!! :o)

Daylight was just breaking by the time we got out of the Mac Lock, another ship was heading in, it would be waiting for the Poe Lock.

Not sure where I took this ..somewhere below the locks, I think its a village right above the Rock Cut, so I'll call it Rock Cut Village...ha ha The sun was rising and there was a heavy mist behind the houses, Just giving you an idea of the quiet , not even a ripple on the river..

This is entering the rock cut, a canal dug and lined with rocks so that ships could pass through. the levels in this change with the wind direction and wind speed so the you'll always here Soo Traffic give the weather levels here. Sometimes ships even anchor because the levels are too low. Today the level was -8 ..pretty low but I think Anders said he could go as far as -10 with the load he was carrying. (That's - 10 below the average level, and not -10 inches of water..hee hee )

Lots of people out waving to us as we went by. So there was alot of whistle blowing as well! It was a fun day!

This is another one of those spots that before I knew the river I' ld be saying to myself ..I wonder how long he's going to wait until he turns the ship so he doesn't hit that island? ha ha just kidding ..actually it is kinda wierd..you do pretty much head right for it you can see a green buoy right off to the right side of the ship, and the red one that the ship will turn at on the left. ( okay, okay Starboard green, Port, Red in this photo....:o)

Always guys out working in the daytime, here's Marvin checking something ..I think he is checking the water levels in the tanks. They also go around with another thing that checks the gasses in the coal they are carrying to be sure its not at a dangerous level. All these are recorded up in the wheelhouse.

Round Island lighthouse, nice spot for fishing too I guess! Someone bought this place a few years back and restored the house and light and now they live there. Awesome place to live I' ld say! The light is operating and they also have a whistle of their own to exchange salutes with the passing ships! Nice!

View out the windows in the wheelhouse..ahhh what a lovely day indeed...:o) And what a view from up here!

We forgot to call Cathy but I did get a message from her on my cell phone..she told me she was going to be on the blue dock down on the waterfront in Detour with Flag in hand. Have Flag will travel!! She got a photo of us passing by ..Thanks Cathy!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good photo of her too .but I can see her flag!! And it was waving!! Hi Cathy! See ya next time!

We were out at Detour by around noon. We went down for lunch , and then a NAP! We got up around 3:30 that afternoon. The lake was a little choppy, not bad though. Anders spent most of the day working at his desk, what do I do? Well , I sit in the chair in his office and play card games on my cell phone, or do crossword puzzles, sometimes watch some tv, or read a book, I'm never bored , plus I'm with Anders that's all that counts, even though he's working at least I can see him and talk to him and occasionally harass him a little..ha ha We did watch some baseball after dinner, Anders is a Big Toronto Blue Jay fan, but they were playing the Red Sox so of course I had to rout for my own team..ha ha We went to bed around 7:30PM that night ....BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZ!!! okay...now WHAT ?? its what time?? 3:30AM???? why??? oh...45 minutes to buoys 11 and 12...so we have to get up now?? okayyyyyyyyyyy....:o)

Yep , more photos of lights ..although I think you can just see that its a photo of a ship? can't you? ha ha And one good thing about getting up early? I get to watch the sunrise from a really good spot ...having a 360 degree view in the wheelhouse certainly has its advantages..:o)

Here's Anders, he's writing out a schedule for when he expects to be in the different places he'll be working in the wheelhouse. He makes this up as one he's got to be able to tell the docks when he's arriving, also if any crew is coming on or off, suppliers etc..and sometimes his wife needs to know too!

Course I always harass him and tell him to use pencil since the schedule often changes like the weather ..which is alot of time why the schedule changes period!

Below are just some sites we saw along our trip along the St. Clair River ..pretty day!!

Always like this spot, there is Lake St. Clair ahead. Its always so very pretty. I love the water ....maybe you can tell that though?? :o) I guess its a good thing too huh?

Here is the crib light, Anders is pointing it out to you..he missed just a little but I think you can see it..:o)

Now here he is STEERING! Yep, did a pretty good job too If I must say so myself, Looks like Tony needed a little break so Anders relieved him while the 3rd mate was sitting in the big chair up in the Center Window.

Wow ...those are blades for windmills on this big ship! I wonder where he's taking those..?

Yep, that's me taking in some sun while enjoying the view! I spent all day outside today, awesome day! It was a busy weekend so lots of things to look at and people to wave at etc etc..:o)

Its along ways across Lake St. Clair, I guess Anders was getting tired..so I had to relieve him! Actually, it was fun but scary...its not as easy as it looks! I was glad to hand the wheel back over to Tony after a little while.

And Anders was glad to getting back to looking after his ship.

Soon we were coming to Detroit, didn't take long to see those Huge buildings.

18 days yep there's yet another page!

Mrs Captains Place - Donna M Rasmussen Home Page -Table of Contents -Sales-Boatnerds around the World - Links - Contact - Guest Book -Sailing Adventures!