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Ridin The Wake 

Blatnik Bridge, Twilight

Superior Front Channel
Superior Front Channel
(24.5 in.x 18.5 in.), $2100.00

Normally, a vessel heading to load iron ore pellets at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Dock #5 in Superior, WI would come in through the Superior Entry off Lake Superior but the 678-foot S/S Wilfred Sykes finds itself in the Superior Front Channel instead. The Superior Front Channel is a narrow strip of water connecting Superior Bay of the Duluth Harbor Basin with the Superior Entry, laying  between Superior, WI and Minnesota Point of Duluth, MN. As it is shallower than both the Duluth and Superior shipping canals, the Front Channel is rarely used and captains must be very wary of shoals in the area. But the 740-foot Canadian vessel, M/V Baie Comeau, is finishing up loading at BNSF #5 and this is the last trip for retiring Sykes' Captain Eric Treece. Also, it’s the first time in 24 years that the Sykes has come through the Front Channel, maybe Captain Treece just thought it was about time that the Sykes reappeared here. The Sykes is about to pass the stationary 501-foot S/S J.A.W. Iglehart on its starboard side, the Iglehart retired in 2006 and is now a cement storage facility at the Lafarge Corp. dock in Superior. Up on the horizon of the West Duluth hillside is the iconic landmark of Enger Tower, built in 1939.


(24.5 in. x 18.5 in.)
$2100.00