Kaye E. Barker

We saw lots of boats in Port Huron over the weekend; you can plan on seeing 'em over the next few days. Hope you're up to it.

Here's Kaye Barker approaching the Blue Water Bridges and about to enter Lake Huron on her way north.

Barker was built by American Shipbuilding in Toledo for the Cleveland-Cliffs fleet in 1951 and launched early in 1952 as the Edward B. Greene. Originally built as a 647 foot "AAA" boat, she was lengthened to 767 feet at Superior's Fraser shipyard in the mid 1970s; her self-unloader was added at Toledo over the 1980-81 winter.

She was sold to Rouge Steel in 1985, and renamed Benson Ford (the third ship to bear that name). In 1989 the Ford fleet was acquired by Interlake and this ship was named to honor the wife of Interlake's Chairman and CEO.

You can't really see it here, but Kaye Barker has a large cabin beneath her bridge; one of her roles has always been transporting VIPs around the lakes. A pretty boat; I'm always pleased to see her.