Saginaw River Year End Review: May 2024

2024 Year in Review: May 2024.  This is going to be a huge photo dump!  So many great images were shot in this early part of the season!  There were 25 vessel passages on the Saginaw River in May, the same as in 2023.  The total for the year to date was 41 commercial vessel passages, four more that the same period in 2023.  Happy Ranger was the first salt water vessel to visit the river in 2024, arriving on May 30th.  

For aerial photography, I flew the drone 28 times in May, covering 26.44 miles and 5 hours 28 minutes of flight time.  For the year to date, that equals 64 flights, covering 61.77 miles, over 10 hours and 47 minutes of flight time.

Saginaw River Report - December 2024

There were only six commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River during the month of December 2024, with only three different docks receiving the six deliveries of product, with no split cargo loads.  This represents seven fewer vessel passages than recorded during December 2023, and it is less than all of the long term averages, with the 5-year average at 11 passages for December, the 10-year average at 10 passages, the 15-year average at 9 passages, and the 20-year average of 11 commercial vessel passages for the month of December.

For the total number of commercial vessel passages for the year-to-date, there have been 195.  This is 26 more passages than last year at this point.  Looking at the averages, the 195 passages for the year to date are more than the 5-year average of 183, the 10-year average of 162 passages, the 15-year average of 152 passages, and the 20-year average of 177 vessel passages.

During the month of December, all six deliveries were to docks on the lower half of the Saginaw River, located in Essexville and Bay City, and none to upper river docks, located in Zilwaukee, Carrollton, and Saginaw due to Lafayette Bridge being closed to masted navigation. 

Saginaw River Year End Review: April 2024

2024 Year in Review:  April 2024.  It was a great month on the Saginaw River, with 14 vessel passages for the month, bringing the total to 16 for the year to date.  This was four more than last year for both the month and year to date.  I was able to get out and photograph 12 different boats in April, including two on the St. Clair River on a trip down to the Port Huron Area.

For April, I flew the drone on 27 flights, covering 26.45 miles, lasting 4 hours and 2 minutes.  For the year to date, I had made 36 flights with the drone, covering 35.33 miles over 5 hours and 19 minutes.

Saginaw River Year End Review: March 2024

Time to start the "Year in Review" for the 2024 shipping season, featuring some of my favorite photos from each month, information on the season, and anything noteworthy.  Starting with March 2024, the Saginaw River saw the first two vessels of the season.  The first to arrive was Samuel de Champlain/Innovation on March 19th, but they were not here for the first delivery.  The pair arrived at the Holcim Cement Dock in Essexville for some repairs and were assisted to the dock by the tug North Dakota.  The first and only delivery for March came five days later when Candace Elise/Robert F. Deegan arrived at the Port Fisher Terminals Dock in Bay City to unload liquid calcium chloride for Occidental Chemical.

I was able to fly the drone six times in March, recording 4.65 miles over 45 minutes of flight time.  Including flights in January and February, flight totals for the year were nine flights covering 8.88 miles over 1 hour 17 minutes.

Happy New Year from Saginaw River Images!

Happy New Year!

As 2024 ticks off its last few hours, I have to say thank you. Thank you to all of my amazing followers here at Saginaw River Images! 2024 has been nothing short of incredible. This page has grown so much since it was created in March of 2012 and is now only 13 followers away from 5,000! It has been great interacting with everyone in 2024. Thank you for all of your support. I hope 2025 will be even better with big things ahead on the Saginaw River! After four seasons of using my trusty DJI Air 2s, I have made the big leap up to a new DJI Mavic 3 Pro! I will have the winter to finish setting it up how I like, practice flying her, and learning the camera. It is a big upgrade and a big learning curve. I have one flight with her so far and it was awesome! I think I am really going to like the M3P.

Anyway, thank you again and a very Happy New Year to you all! Best wishes for a safe and happy 2025! 🍾🎉

Saginaw River Passage - December 29, 2024: Samuel de Champlain/Innovation

Samuel de Champlain/Innovation were inbound on the Saginaw River early Sunday afternoon, on what was an absolutely miserable day with a cold rain, fog, and strong wind out of the NNE.  Conditions prevented my from flying the drone, but I was able to capture some photos as the pair emerged from the fog and made the dock at Holcim Cement in Essexville to unload.

As of Sunday evening, as I post this, winds are blowing out of the NNE sustained at 29 kts, with a gust of 42 kts.  The water level on the Saginaw River has climbed from 1.9 inches above low water datum to 22.5 inches above LWD.  All of the ice that was here 5 days ago when G.L. Ostrander/Integrity came in is now gone and there were whitecaps on the river.