Boat watching for 2015 is starting to gear up with the warm April weather helping melt the ice pack of the Lakes. What is your favorite boat to watch? A beauty or a tried and true work horse?
My grandfather started me on my boatwatching hobby early in my life. Our cabin on the St. Marys River gave us the perfect viewing spot at a time when there were many more boats passing every day.
Wilfred Sykes was Pa's favorite. Boatnerd.com tell the following information on her. (Plus much more if you follow the link.) She was build by American Shipbuilding Co in Ohio in 1949 for Inland Steel Co. "The steamlined bulk frieghter was the first new American-built Great Lakes vessel constructed after World War II. At the time of her launch, she was the largest vessel on the Great Lakes."
My favorite app for boatwatching is Marine Traffic. It lists 1950 as the year the Sykes was launched. That makes her 65 years old and especially fun for me because I was born that year too.
The Sykes is still active and is hauling limestone and sand from the Cedarville area. Right now she is on her way to Escanaba, Michigan.
The
Edward L. Ryerson is a sister ship to the Sykes. The Ryerson was launched in 1960.
I took the following pictures of the Ryerson passing the Presque Isle from our cabin on the St. Marys River south of Sault Ste. Marie.
What is your favorite boat on the Great Lakes? Is it the Ryerson or the Sykes or another boat I haven't mentioned? Tell me at saultboatwatcher@gmail.com.