Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Can’t answer your questions Larry but I agree with you, it indeed is great to see both the Wilfred Sykes and Joseph L. Block down on the St. Clair River more. I haven’t seen the Sykes at least downbound or the Block for that matter downbound since 1998 on the river and back then they still had the Inland Steel painted on the sides of their hulls. It was my first ever seeing each of them down here then. While I’ve seen the Sykes and Block both upbound on the river in more modern and recent times, I’ve yet to see or get either one yet coming downbound and that’s what I really want to see especially at Port Huron at the Blue Water Bridge and in St. Clair itself. One last note though on the Block. I’ve been to the Soo since the late 1980s. Believe it or not, NEVER have I seen the Block downbound at the Soo! They’re always going up whenever I’m at the Soo. YES, there’s been a few times to where the Block has been down but it’s always at night and dark or early morning!

So, it’s nice to see the “new” Cliffs boats coming down the Detroit side these days. We didn't see the much before. Does anyone think Cliffs would expand their fleet with excess tonnage from other companies as the coal trade goes away? It looks like the want to own the whole process now.