James R. Barker - Earth-Shaking Master Salute!

If you watched my previous video showing the Cason J. Callaway arriving on the morning of June 28, 2020, you will have noticed the 1004-foot James R. Barker in the background, as she started to move away from the dock at Midwest Energy on the Superior side of the harbor. This video picks up where that video left off. (If you missed the Callaway video, I will include a link at the end of this video.) The Barker had just picked up a load of coal and was starting her journey towards the Duluth shipping canal from where she would head out onto Lake Superior. We see her pass under the John A. Blatnik highway bridge before I relocated my camera to the south pier of the shipping canal to catch the rest of her departure.

As always, the Barker is a crowd favorite due to both her massive size and the sound of her dual horns. We got a special treat from the Barker this time around as she gave us a long and loud master salute, which consists of three long and two short blasts. From my camera position, the salute started out nicely enough... but then got louder and louder as the salute went progressed, because her horns got closer and closer to my position. By the the time it was over, you could swear you were feeling the ground shake. An exaggeration, perhaps, but it goes without saying that the Barker's horns are among the loudest out there!

Of course, hearing a video is nothing like experiencing it in person, but hopefully this footage gives you a rough idea of what it's like. I purposely set "manual" record levels on my camera's microphone when I make these videos, so it doesn't automatically reduce the volume of the blast in the recording. Most cameras automatically limit the volume as their default setting, to make loud noises sound quieter so they fit in "better" with the rest of the recording. In contrast, I want the salutes to sound as loud as they do in relation to other surrounding sounds, for that jump-out-of-your-skin experience when the horn goes off! That's not always the best approach to filming YouTube videos, but I find it's the most accurate recreation of the audio experience.

Видео James R. Barker - Earth-Shaking Master Salute! канала 1 Long 2 Short