It was mid afternoon when we finished doing some shopping. As we were driving down toward the harbor in Duluth we noticed that a ship had just gone under the Aerial Lift Bridge. It was the Kaye E. Barker which we had seen over in Frasier Shipyards earlier in the day. It was the first ship to leave Duluth for the season. Since it didn’t have any cargo I was wondering where it was going. I checked Marine Tracker and saw that it was headed for Two Harbors to pick up a load of taconite. I also noticed that it was being escorted to Two Harbors by the Mackinaw. It was a beautiful day so we decided to drive up to Two Harbors and catch the action.
On the way up we took photos of the two ships.
The Mackinaw arrived first and promptly sailed into the harbor to start breaking ice.
I’m always amazed at the number of people who come down to the harbor to watch the ships come in.
When the Mackinaw was finished breaking ice it sailed out into Lake Superior to break a trail to the Soo Locks. The next day the ice shifted and a couple of ships were caught in the ice. The Alder had to sail up from Duluth to free them. The Kaye E. Barker had been waiting out in the lake. When the Mackinaw finished it slowly sailed into the harbor and worked its way into the docks. There was a tug in the harbor but it made it without any assistance.