We stayed in Toledo
longer than originally planned because we were again invited onboard the
tugboat Josephine for the annual classic tug boat race in the Detroit
River. We did our first race aboard this
tug in 2012. It turned out this is a
Dutch Navy vessel that over the years finally found its way to Toledo as a
private yacht. When the crew found out
that Anneke was Dutch, they asked her to translate some of the original
documents onboard, since they had no idea what was in them. When
we left the vessel, they let us know that we were always welcome back. So when our friend Gary said he was going
this year, we jumped at the chance to go along.
The Josephine is docked in Toledo, so the race is an
all day operation. We boarded by 7am and
started the day with a great breakfast on deck.
The crew were great hosts and food and liquid refreshments flowed all
day long.
We lucked out with a beautiful day after several
days of heavy rain. The trip north was
relaxing with lots of traffic to observe while talking with the crew and fellow
passengers.
As we neared the start point, we toured a couple of
the side dock areas of Detroit. In one
of them was the old Boblo Island ferries that transported people to the Boblo
Island amusement park. This has long
since closed. However, some years back I
was asked to help someone who had purchased one of the ferries with the intent
of restoring and using it as an attraction.
I spent some time working with them, but let them know I thought it was
a lost cause. Sadly, I was proved
correct and it is now sitting there with its sister vessel waiting for some
final indignity to put it out of its misery.
All of the boats gathered at the start and the race
was on.
It was a hard run race and the good guys won-that
would be us.
After the race, we docked in Windsor for a short
walk. Then we leisurely motored along the Detroit skyline and started our
journey back to Toledo.
Passing the Toledo lighthouse signaled the end of a
great day on the water.
13 comments:
What an interesting experience that was. I'd never heard of tug boat races before.
Fun day on the water for a couple of VIPs and on the winning boat too.
I'd say that ride on the tug brought out the old salty dog in you but can't because it was on fresh water... ;c)
I bet that was quite a treat for them to have Anneke be able to translate those documents. Nice of them to invite you back.
Looks like a gorgeous day. What a lovely view of Toledo. Congratulations on your victory.
Okay .. that would definitely be a fun thing to do. I didn't know tug boats raced either.
Great day and the food looked good.
Oh what fun, a tugboat race. I have never heard of it and on the Detroit river too. Always nice to be the winner. Sorry to hear about the ferry that couldn't be saved though.
Thanks for taking us along on a great boating adventure.
Sure looked like fun.
I thought I had made a comment on your post and I don't see it here so perhaps I "thought" I did.. LOL
I had no idea that tug boats raced. What fun and to make it even better you had a winner!! Gorgeous day on the water :-) Thanks for sharing!!
As usual, your fantastic photos told the story!
Sad to see the historic Boblo boats just rusting away.
What a fun time on the water! What a shame about the ferry. It looks like she was once a beautiful boat.
Candy
This looks like a fascinating and enjoyable time! Your photos are fantastic!
Post a Comment