Oil/Chemical Tanker CHEM NORMA

It's not my fault. My orthopedic surgeon said I had to keep my immobilizer brace on for three more weeks and since I now have more time than I know what to do with, I thought I'd try to push out a few extra "quick and dirty posts" of boats that have been lingering around my Carlz Boats "2Bdone" file far too long like the 475' Marshall Island flagged oil & chemical tanker CHEM NORMA which I noticed on two boat groups that I follow on Facebook (the Prescott Anchor & St. Lawrence River Ship Watchers), that the she had made her way upbound through the Seaway last week on her way to Bay City, Michigan. Well this young lady in her flashy red hull did that and right now she's motoring back downbound in the middle of Lake Erie heading to Montreal to juice up before crossing the pond once again. 

Built in Ningbo, China in 2011, the CHEM NORMA with the word "ACE" brightly displayed sideways on her royal blue stack, is owned by Ace Tankers of Amsterdam, Holland.

While returning from a boat shoot along the Welland Canal and a visit with Mommy in Port Colborne in May 2013, I thought I lucked out when I saw that the NORMA was docked in Oshawa, an industrial city that myself and probably most locals might know it more as the "Automotive Capital of Canada" with its huge General Motors plant located there, than a busy Lake Ontario "deep-sea" port.  Just 60 km east of Toronto and only minutes away from the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway (Highway 401) and main railway lines for both Canadian National and CP, the Port of Oshawa has handled over 500 vessels and shipped more than 3 million tonnes of cargo in the last 10 years. I did not know that. Whether it's salt, steel products, asphalt or grain, the lake port handles approximately $23 million worth of cargo annually. Hmmm c)l:-o 

The only downside to this quaint little harbour or 'unexpected oasis' for boat snapping boatnerds like us, is the only clear shot you have of your subject is the section that's facing Lake Ontario or as in this case, NORMA's flattened fat stern (thought I was going to write something else, eh? You're BAD!!). Whether she's underway or tied off, my boat snapping "Three View Rule" is get her: 

1. bow view (dead on, angled or side view with her name, spearhead or foremast, wheelhouse & accommodation if forward, and wake or swell if underway),
2. full length view (complete stem to stern [unless a 1000 footer], superstructures, masts, self unloading booms and cranes all in or in action) and,   
3. stern view (front and back on, wheelhouse and/or accommodation, stack(s), lifeboat, and zoomed to her name and homeport with stirred-up water if underway)  

Anything else I get like a close up of her bridge, or a crewman walking about, or a full flapping Canadian or American flag to me is like an "Oh YAAA!!" However wherever I ventured for another angle shot of this hot looking NORMA, all I came across were high fences, cement barriers, spacious parking areas for heavy equipment that's not there, and lots and lots of trees.

Hey, don't get me wrong, I love trees, (as long as they're not shading my pool) or tall shoreline reeds and especially wild flowers and hollyhocks to accent a photo, but long stacks of rusting rebar, misplaced blue recycling bins and pylons don't simply do it for me. A fence doesn't generally bother me much because I'll just poke my camera lenses between the links, move it this way and that for another angle or two then crop out the undesirables later, but installing two separate layers of fencing, what gives?. Hey, Oshawa Port Authority, I get the message! "Next time, bring a ladder!!" Of course I could always park my car really close to the first barrier of fencing and then while standing on my console and dash, I'll be able to extend my height through the moon roof to get a snap or two away. NAAAA, it'll never work! c);-b.
I couldn't even get a decent bow shot of the 83' harbour tug OMNI RICHELIEU, with her hull and fenders partially covered behind stacks of pallet skids and a "tree". Owned by Le Groupe Ocean of Quebec City, OMNI RICHELIEU is one of 32 tugs in their fleet that's stationed at Oshawa all season long to assist in & out bound vessels. If you haven't already done so, check out this link of the RICHELIEU and fleetmate JERRY C. posted 2 years almost to the day: http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/08/harbour-tugs-omni-richelieu-jerry-c.html, or NOT.
I may not have snapped all the shots I wanted to get during this boat shoot, but that's not important. The key thing is I got away from the bumper-to-bumper craziness of the 401 for even just a little while. I got to stretch my legs, do and think about something else while viewing and snapping all that's good about living in Canada.

Not exactly a "quick and dirty" post eh? Oh well, I've got another week or two off work to nail that down. Hasta la vista!! c):-D