“Your pictures are so pretty” (Torch Lake Edition)

Crazy Fast Times on Torch Lake by Drew Shaffer

This morning I saw this fantastic pic shared without attribution for probably the 100th time. I knew the attribution because I had shared it from Instagram back in 2017.

I know that a million bots building social media using AI will only make things worse, so I really (really) want to make a plea to all of you to FOLLOW THE PHOTOGRAPHER. Every time you do, even if you don’t purchase their work, you build their following which makes it more likely that their work is credited and profitable because making pretty pictures is hard and takes lots of glass & gas!!

Drew Shaffer is a photographer/filmmaker from Ohio with a whole lot of fun stuff going on including some awesome eclipse shots & a very cool looking documentary called The Long Way Forward. You can follow him on Instagram or YouTube!

PS: Yes, dear skeptic. This photo is real and Torch Lake is really that clear some days. Michigan is lovely 😻

Taking a break…

Sunrise Greilickville Harbor Park by Jeff Hudson

Good morning everyone. Regrettably, I need to take a break which (fingers crossed) won’t be too terribly long to deal with some health issues. In the meantime, I hope all of you are able to enjoy the bounteous offerings of Michigan summertime!

Jeff took this photo two years ago at sunrise on June 29th (my birthday) in Traverse City (where I currently live), so I thought it would be a perfect placeholder while I’m gone. See more from Jeff in his Most Faved (Best of) gallery on Flickr.

Passage at Dawn

wsykes52722dawn_rb by Rod Burdick

Rod took this photo of the classic laker and steamer Wilfred Sykes in fog on the St. Clair River at dawn last week. Head over to his Flickr for the latest!

Lake (Leelanau) Dreams

Lake Dreams by Francios

Here’s a sweet shot I shared 5 years ago on June 3rd of a boat in the mist on Lake Leelanau in the northwestern Lower Peninsula. See more in Francios’ Michigan Journey’s gallery on Flickr and have a great weekend everyone!

More fog & mist on Michigan in Pictures!

Badger car ferry looking to leave coal behind

Steaming into Sunset by Diann

mLive shares that the last coal fired passenger ferry on the Great Lakes, the SS Badger car ferry, is exploring plans to transition from burning coal:

Lake Michigan Carferry, Inc. is in the early phases of looking for ways to ditch the coal that currently propels the 410-foot historic ship across Lake Michigan.

“We are just in the early phases at looking at what other options could be viable for the Badger,” said Sara Spore, general manager of Lake Michigan Carferry. “There are not any definite plans, but we know that coal isn’t the long-term solution. We really are starting from scratch and looking at all of our options.”

More at mLive & check out the SS Badger website.

Diann took this shot of the Badger leaving port in Ludington way back in 2008. See more in her Third Coast gallery on Flickr.

More about the SS Badger on Michigan in Pictures.

#TBT Looking Down from Fort Mackinac

Looking down from old fort, Mackinac Island, Mich by Detroit Publishing Co

This cool old photo from the Library of Congress shows ships at dock on Mackinac Island, including the black hulled steamer Juniata. Head over to the LOC for a lot more from Mackinac. 

The Manitou Isle

Better Stay of the Lake by Andrew McFarlane

Via Leelanau.com, here’s a photo of the Manitou Isle ferry that I took 20 years ago for . The boat was sold a year or so ago. According to the caption on the photo below that Manitou Island Transit recently shared, the beloved vessel is still sailing on the Great Lakes – off Michigan’s Thumb on Lake Huron! If anyone catches sight of it, be sure to let me know!

Manitou Transit service to North & South Manitou will begin on or before Memorial Day. More on their website.

Manitou Isle Unloading by Manitou Island Transit

Building Boats (and boat skills) in Cedarville

Indian River Skiff by Great Lakes Boat Building School

The Great Lakes Echo has a nice feature on the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville that begins:

At the northwest corner of Lake Huron, in Michigan’s eastern Upper Peninsula, is an 80 square-mile town of 240 people, one phone booth – and one boat building school.

That school is growing explosively, bringing the entire community along with it. Experts estimate that a planned expansion of the Great Lakes Boat Building School could bring an additional $2.5 million to residents of Cedarville.

The small town has a rich history of wooden boat building and repair. For over a century, wooden boats have been the primary mode of transportation around the nearby Les Cheneaux Islands. As the boating crafters grew older, the artful skill risked being lost.

To keep its wooden boat building heritage alive, the Cedarville community founded the school in 2005.

“In all of these academic qualifications we have for high school students, we have neglected our need for tradespeople,” said Ken Drenth, former Great Lakes Boat Building School president and current director of the Les Cheneaux Islands Community Foundation. “Everybody doesn’t have to get a four-year university degree. We need plumbers and electricians and wooden boat builders.”

Much more in the Echo!

The Great Lakes Boat Building School shared this on their Instagram. You can read more about their building of an Indian River Skiff on Facebook.

Heading upriver

The Karen Andrie and Endeavor by Craig Hensley

Craig got this tasty shot of the tugboat Karen Andrie and the barge Endeavor making their way up the Detroit River last summer. Detroit is on the left & Windsor, Canada is on the right. 

Head over to Craig’s Flickr and his website for more!

Sail away to summer

Sunrise over Lake Huron by Bruce Bugbee

Is this winter wearing on anyone else? If so, I invite you to sail to summertime with me on this sailboat that Bruce photographed in July 2021 on Lake Huron. He shares:

It was a hazy summer morning in St. Ignace, Michigan, giving a unique hue to the sky and sunrise. The haze was created by the wildfires in Ontario and out west. Captured a sailboat drifting by the red rising sun on a very calm and peaceful Lake Huron.

See more in Bruce’s Michigan photo album on Flickr.