Now it is time to get our broken boat fixed so on leaving the Old Club, we
motored on south back to Jefferson Beach Marina to spend one more night with
Tim, Kathy, Sailor the cat and Amigo. There is a great restaurant, called the
Beach Grill at JBM which is on the same corner of the canal where Amigo is
located.
Great view of Amigo's stern from the Tiki bar deck of the Beach Grill. The
four of us enjoyed dinner and cocktails this evening.
Next day, Saturday, we motored around the divider between JBM and Emerald
City Marina to get the final power steering repairs accomplished. The mission was to remove
the old defective power steering ram from the starboard (right side of the boat)
engine and replace it with a new one.
Not so simple, the Salt Shaker being a salt water boat, this power steering
thing a ma jig was stuck solid to the engine. I listened to the noises coming
out of the engine room, they got louder and louder. the hammering and the
banging started to sound like they were dismantling an aircraft carrier. I asked
them nervously if they thought they would be successful in getting this thing
off. The mechanic assured me they WOULD get the thing off. They wound up
sawing the piston rod in two and by doing that, they could get enough leverage
on the stuck bolts to unstick them and finally the thing was off. Good work.
30 minutes later, we were on our way with our new power steering thing a ma
jig.
What follows are a few photos of the sights along the Detroit River on our
way to Grosse Ile. I, as a kid was on this river often with our parents as well
as others. But since I was always a passenger with no navigation
responsibilities, it was this trip that gave me the full appreciation of how
complex and interesting the Detroit River really is with all of its channels,
and shallows and islands.
Following are photos of a few of the sights along this interesting river on our way to the Grosse Ile Yacht Club.
I enjoy what some boats are named. Story here I am sure. This particular boat was at JBM.
Heading south (actually west) into the Detroit River from Lake St. Clair with the Detroit skyline in view.
The Roostertail restaurant, a high end establishment built in the 1950's. Still very popular.
This is the marina that sunk my father's 36 foot Roamer Riveria in 1962. They launched her without checking that all the plugs were in place. One of the local TV stations tried to interview him at the marina. There was not one line he uttered that was without an explitive so they could air none of it. They just told the story and refered to the boat as being owned by a "Detroit industrialist."
This is the Detroit Yacht Club (DYC) which is located on Belle Isle, a pretty island that is almost entirely a park for the pleasure of the people of Detoit. DYC is one of the few private areas of the island.
The bridge connecting Detroit with Belle Isle with a view of the Detroit skyline.
This the tug boat "Jessie T. Looks like a party going on. She participates in the annual Detroit River Tug Boat race but I could not find out much more than that about her.
The dream team.
This is the Detroit Princess, moored at Cobo Hall Arena. She does excursions and dinners on the river.
This is the Ambassador Bridge linking Downtown Detroit with Windsor Ontario. There is also a tunnel from Detroit to Windsor.
Here is a visual that helps tell the story of the decline and stress of the once proud City of Detroit. Years ago, this building was the home and distribution center for the Detroit Marine Terminal. This is where all the ocean ships visited to unload and load cargo.
The Boblo Island sign, also faded now, was for later happier days when the two Boblo boats loaded up with Detroiters to carry them to and from Boblo Island, at one time a popular amusement park. Long and interesting history there. But now the building has been completely vandalized as has happened to so much of Detroit.
The Boblo Island sign, also faded now, was for later happier days when the two Boblo boats loaded up with Detroiters to carry them to and from Boblo Island, at one time a popular amusement park. Long and interesting history there. But now the building has been completely vandalized as has happened to so much of Detroit.
This is the 70 year old cement carrier "Alpena" as she departs her dock. We sort of did a dance around each other as she did that. Of course we did all the dancing!
The following site is a gives a good look at Great Lakes shipping and the boats that work them.
One of the unload gantries for some of the remaining steel making activity in the Detroit Area. This in on Zug Island, an island purchased and developed by Henry Ford. I have heard years back that it was at that time the most valuable piece of developed industrial land in the world, acre for acre. It is on the Rouge River. Henry's home "Fairlane" is way up the Rouge River in Dearborn.
The entrance to the Rouge River.
This was one of our dad's early projects. The siding on the building is his. He learned everything he ever needed to know about the siding business on this project. This is the Detroit Edison River Rouge Coal fired electric generating plant built in 1956 more of less. It still looks in great shape. But as to future? It burns coal.
This is the Great Lakes Steel Boat Club. My brother says it is a great place to stop for gas.
These are the two Boblo Boats referred to earlier. They each have an orginazation dedicated to their restoration but it may be a stretch to get either one finished. They are the St. Clair and the Columbia.
Many of their design features were new at the time of their construction. The island of Boblo has an interesting history as it was aquired by the French, the Britiish and then Canada. The island is in Canadian waters. It s no longer an amusement park but a housing development for the well healed.
Now we are at the north end of Grosse Ile. The lighthouse is now a historical item. It was the North Channel Front Range Light house. It is just a few houses north of the house my brother lived in during many years of our youth. 1957 to the mid 1970's
This house was one of two on the island that was built by two of the Fisher Brothers as summer cottages. Think Fisher body, General Motors. My dear friend, Tom Buelow spent a good bit of his youth with his family in this house during the 1950;s and 1960's
The other Fisher cottage was demolished years ago.
This is the house of our own youth.
Here we are after a wonderful day of "Cruzin down the River" nestled into our dock at GIYC.
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