'It's a special event': Century-old retired liner SS Keewatin voyages past Port Huron

At first, she was just a white dot on a blue-gray horizon.

But slowly, two tugboats maneuvered the SS Keewatin out of Lake Huron and on to the St. Clair River.

Two hours prior on Wednesday morning, the Lake Pilots Association went out to escort and exchange pilots on board the leading tug, the Molly M1 — the Manitou led from closely behind — before heading toward Detroit.

Clyde Township residents Bill and Judi Wager, each retired from the association, tagged along to witness the approach of the 300-foot vessel — itself more than a century old and en route to her final destination in Kingston, Ontario.

“I remember the ship as a kid. It ran until 1967, I think. So, I was 13, 14 years old the last time I saw this one,” Bill Wager said, shortly after 10 a.m. as the pilot boat headed back toward its Black River dockage. “The old passenger boats like the Keewatin … and the South American were just special to see. Unfortunately, the (others) got scrapped. So, I just had to come see this. It’s a special event.”

Plenty of other ship enthusiasts agreed, as they appeared with cameras on either side of the maritime border by late morning.

Some had been waiting for the Keewatin to pass for several days. Local Port Huron history buff TJ Gaffney shared the news Sunday on Facebook.

“At one point, passenger boats like the Keewatin came through the area quite a bit,” he said Monday. “… She’s got a connection to Michigan. She spent a long time on the west side of the state. You don’t see that level of maritime history — something that significant — come through this area very much. It’s only five years younger than the Titanic (was). In terms of the way it looks on the inside, it’s the closest thing a lot of us would see to something like that.”

The SS Keewatin was built in Scotland and launched in 1907, coming into service the next year. It ran from Port McNicoll, Ontario, ferrying passengers and cargo between the Georgian Bay and Port Arthur and Fort William on Lake Superior for several decades, before it retired in the 1960s and was acquired for historic preservation.

After a long stint outside Saugatuck, Michigan, the ship returned to Canadian waters, spending the last decade back in Port McNicoll. It is currently headed to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston. It’s slated to undergo repairs this spring and summer and is advertised to be put on exhibit starting this fall.

According to the museum, the iconic liner has been featured in an episode of the CBC show “Murdoch Mysteries,” as well as the 2020 Royal Canadian Mint coin.

Sean Laughlin had piloted the Molly since it left Port McNicoll early Monday evening, while Erik Gallagher and Derik Kilbourn, of the pilots association, escorted longtime Canadian pilot Capt. Elko Merk, who was to take over for the tug to Detroit, on Wednesday.

Before the latter group left for Lake Huron, Merk handed candies out to everyone on board.

And as they got closer to the Keewatin Wednesday morning, the Wagers were full of questions for Merk. For him, it was just the latest of his stories in piloting over 45 years — a period that prompted jokes amongst the already well-acquainted trio.

“And he always has a smile on his face,” Judi Wager said.

Judi asked if it’s normally a few hours to Detroit, and Merk said it’d be closer to eight. His upbeat disposition, they agreed, came in handy on long journeys on the water — such as tugging the Keewatin at just under six knots. Luckily, Merk said he enjoyed "telling people where to go."

“Sailors are notorious for elongating stories. I got lots of time,” he said with a laugh.. "… So, you’ve got to make the story long. Otherwise, they walk away.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 'It's a special event': Century-old retired liner SS Keewatin passes Port Huron