• Tuesday-What'sUP September 16 - 06:11 pm

I recently received two emails from Dan Kemp, a couple days apart, but both with similar subject lines: Visitor to Houghton Beach and Houghton Visitor. They both had much different photos attached, but since the subjects were the same, I thought we'd check out these recent Houghton visitors together on the same day.

The visitor to the beach was the eagle in the first two photos. Dan said a large carp washed ashore on the beach and the seagulls were feasting away, until this majestic bird, with its "eagle" eye, spotted the fish and decided to make a lunch of it. Dan was lucky enough to be around to snap a couple good shots of it while it was busy dining on the waterfront.

The "other" visitor to Houghton was much larger docked along the Houghton waterfront. The 130 foot luxury liner, Three Sons, pulled in on their cruise from Fort Lauderdale. They were heading toward Duluth and then would begin to make their way back to Florida. Dan pointed out that this yacht is only 35 feet shorter than the Ranger III.

Both of these visitors were exciting to see on the Houghton waterfront. Thanks for sharing them with us, Dan!

we saw it go under the liftbridge went it left that morning.

(we saw the Three Sons go under the bridge)

Nice pix! That boat looks a lot like mine :-(

Love seeing eagles.

The yacht is pretty but the eagle is prettier.:>

That must take a bit of Scottish ingenuity to launch that thing at the local boat ramp, Alex..... ;-)

Wonder if they came through Chicago or made the trip around the St. Lawrence?

A baby Love Boat

Not really Capt...all I have to do is fill up the tub and drop it in :-)
My guess is that if they are heading for Duluth, they came via the St. Lawrence and will head home via the Mississippi...probably safer this time of year.

Classy looking boat. That is a lot of fuel from Ft. Lauderdale to here and back.
The regal Eagle is eating leftovers again.

There is something majestic about an eagle. Can you
imagine travelling in a yacht like that? uhh no?
neither can I. Great pics though.

I guess if your tub was Lake St. Clair, that might work!
It would make sense that they came from the St. Lawrence (or possibly the Erie Canal) and would head back down the Mississippi, thinking about water currents and fuel economy.

After reading about cruising on the Mississippi, it does not sound like the preferred way to go...too much commercial traffic.

Great shots there dan..seen 2 adult eagles flying
at marquettes ore dock sunday morning..that boats
sweet iv"e seen it on marinetraffic most of the
summer crusing the great lakes...what a way to
spend the summer..!!!

Now the fun part watching Three sons on the marine traffic web page.

I'm afraid I'm really ignorant but how does one
get to the Mississippi from there?

well duluth entry will fetch ya the mississippi
river altho..they are going the other way thru
the
st lawrence..i caught up with the three sons in
rogers city just hrs. ago..was neat actually
met a
couple nice ppl.hands from the three
sons.!!.over at the calcite dock taking
pics of the freighters..kenny and alex..when
they
left i followed them over to the three sons its
quite a vessel..altho there werent any tours
available sure would of been neat to see the
interior of the ship..what a coincedince..i
went
to get freight shots and run into the three
sons..and told kenny and alex i posted a
comment here on pasty. about the three sons
ship earlier today...hmmm

Beautiful eagle.

Eugenia
The Chicago shipping/sanitary canal links Lake Michigan to the Des Plaines river and then to the Mississippi.

your right bob after talking to the 2 ppl. from
the three sons the des plaines river would be the
way to the mississippi but the three sons was
unable to make that trip due to its size..there is
a bridge that is to low for the three sons to go
under.!!!

The Calumet Sag Channel could handle them. It
branches off the Chicago Ship Canal and enters
Lake Michigan in Calumet, Illinois.

The hardest part about navigating the Mississippi
is avoiding all the wing dams.

Thanks, guys -- I had forgotten to come back and
check for an answer, and just now, while eating
supper, I remembered that canal from Chicago to
the Mississippi via the Des Plaines. I'm thinking,
too, that the Mississippi wouldn't be nearly as
much fun now as it was in Huck Finn's day! Anyway,
thanks for all your answers -- it's fun to dream
about such a long trip on a yacht.