Wilfred Sykes - Arrival, Docking, and Unloading

Here is another longer video that not only documents the arrival of a ship, but also covers the docking process and the unloading of cargo... at least the start of the unloading process. If you're mostly just interested in salutes, you can watch the first few minutes. If you're interested in shipping activity, I encourage you to watch the full video!

This is the Wilfred Sykes arriving in Duluth-Superior on the evening of August 12, 2021 with a load of limestone to be delivered to the Graymont dock in Superior, Wisconsin. We start the coverage at Canal Park in Duluth, Minnesota to watch as the Sykes makes her way through the piers and entertains onlookers with a master salute (three long and two short blasts). As usual, the Aerial Lift Bridge responds with the same salute. We then catch up with the Sykes as she makes her way over to Connor's Point in Superior, then again move to see her as she approaches the Graymont dock. For those interested, here are a few things to watch out for as she docks and unloads:

7:15 Black puffs of smoke from her forward end are from the diesel-powered bow thruster helping her to maneuver into position.

8:48 Crew members ride the bosun's chair from the deck to the dock to help tie up the Sykes.

10:41 A crew member places lines at the bow to secure the ship. The lines are then drawn tight to hold the ship in place.

11:49 The self-unloading boom is extended over the side to prepare for unloading.

13:07 The deck crane remove a hatch cover from one of the cargo holds.

13:39 After a brief "cough" of material from her unloading boom, we start to get a continuous stream of limestone discharged onto the pile.

While much of the same action was caught in my recent video of the Lee A. Tregurtha, I figured some of you would enjoy seeing it again... especially from one of the prettiest ships on the lakes, captured during the "golden hour" just before sunset. And for those who didn't see the Tregurtha video, I hope this video provides a glimpse into some of the action that happens after the boats pass through the shipping canal.

The 678-foot Wilfred Sykes was built in 1949 by the American Shipbuilding Company of Lorain, Ohio. She was the first American lake carrier built after World War II and was in many ways she signaled a new age in Great Lakes shipping. Her two steam turbine engines produce a combined 7,700 horsepower, burning "bunker C" heavy fuel oil instead of coal, making her the first laker to do so. (Several lakers would later be retrofitted to burn fuel oil, but the Sykes was the first laker designed to do so from her conception.) She has 18 hatch covers that access six cargo holds capable of holding 21,500 tons of cargo. The Sykes was converted to a self-unloader in 1975 and given a 250-foot self-unloading boom. She is one of five steam-powered lake carriers still in service, with the others being the Alpena, Arthur M. Anderson, Cason J. Callaway, and Philip R. Clarke. All five have been documented on this channel, so check through my videos to see them in action!

(One disclaimer: I want my videos to be an honest representation of what was seen and heard by my camera. While the Sykes was making her way through the shipping canal, however, her crew were playing copyrighted music from a speaker on deck. I had to replace the audio for roughly a 20-second period before the salute took place, otherwise I risked getting a copyright strike from YouTube. I replaced it with audio from the Sykes' May 2021 visit for that same section of travel through the piers, from the same vantage point. That way the sound is the closest approximation possible... just without the music. The salute, and everything after it, is the correct audio from the August 12 visit. The other "music" you hear as the Sykes passes under the Aerial Lift Bridge is from the north pier busker. I'm pretty sure his music won't trigger a copyright strike, but it could perhaps trigger a health warning.)

Видео Wilfred Sykes - Arrival, Docking, and Unloading канала 1 Long 2 Short