DURING MOST OF 2009, the steamer Wilfred Sykes was a busy ship, up and down Lake Michigan with cargos of iron ore pellets, limestone and coal. Normally that would be business as usual for the 60-year-old Sykes, but not this year.

In a difficult shipping season, with nearly half the available U.S.-flag vessels laid up and tonnages down significantly from the previous year, the fact that the Sykes and her fleet mate, Joseph L. Block, have been kept moving is in itself unusual.

What’s the secret? Tom Wiater, President of Central Marine Logistics Inc., which operates the two boats for steel giant ArcelorMittal isn’t saying. But he acknowledges it has been a difficult year on the Lakes. The firm’s other vessel, Edward L. Ryerson, started out the season, but went into lay-up in May. Still, that leaves two thirds of the company’s fleet active, not a bad accomplishment in a year when steel production dropped dramatically in the U.S., Canada and worldwide.

The Sykes, built in 1949 at the American Ship Building Co. in Lorain, Ohio, is not the biggest vessel on the Lakes, although at the time of her launch she held that honor. She is known for her sleek lines that include a rounded forward wheelhouse and a cruiser-style stern—lines that can’t be obscured by the economic necessity of adding a self-unloading boom forward of her aft deckhouse in the 1970s. She was on Lake Superior the night the Edmund Fitzgerald went down, and her captain, Dudley Paquette, wrote a book about it. The Sykes was also on hand on the same lake in May 1953 to help pluck survivors from heavy seas when the steamer Henry Steinbrenner was overwhelmed by a spring storm. A citation of honor for that accomplishment, presented by the Lake Carriers’ Association, is still proudly affixed to a bulkhead. Finally, the Sykes is a steamboat, an increasingly rare species on the Great Lakes.

In 2009, the Sykes loaded mainly at Escanaba, Port Inland and Cedarville, Michigan. She generally discharged at the ArcelorMittal facilities in Indiana Harbor, Indiana, with an occasional side trip to Burns Harbor and elsewhere.

It’s hard to convey in words what it’s like to be on a laker. To describe with language the smells, sounds and sights and even the personalities of the crew does not do any of the topics justice. It’s easy to get used to the gentle rock and roll of the ship as it makes its way down the lake, and miss it when back on land. The hum of the machinery provides a constant backdrop of white noise, as does the sound of the water splashing past the hull, louder near the foaming bow and gentler at the stern. It’s also easy to get used to having meals prepared—steak, walleye, ribs and ham, plus all the sides, soups and desserts—with no dish washing after.

The open lake even has its own special smell—when nearing the northern Michigan shore, the pine and cedar scent is like a fine perfume. Lighthouses show up for miles on clear nights and the lights of passing cities—especially Chicago—seem to dance in the haze. Sunsets are spectacular with no buildings to block them and sunrises often astound as the sky changes in gentle pastel shades from dark to day.

In the Mackinac Straits, as the hot, orange sun set ahead of us, a cool full moon rose astern. As the Sykes steamed past Mackinac Island, tour boats made a beeline for our bow and each tooting salute was returned by Captain Eric Treece on the Mighty Wilfred’s booming steam whistle.

One thing about life on the ships: It’s hard to beat the view.

Still, not everything is picture perfect. In 2009, with such a large number of vessels laid up, many mariners were on the beach, waiting for better times. Security requirements at ports mean more fences, gates and a harder time for sailors wanting to go ashore. Time spent away from home is as hard as ever, and it’s not uncommon to see sailors out on deck trying to coax a cell phone signal from a landlocked tower in order to talk to their families.

The Sykes wastes no time. In Indiana Harbor, as soon as the last ore pellet is ashore, the long unloading boom swings in and the lines are let go. A moving vessel is making money, an idle one is not. The cycle of the Lakes continues full speed ahead for the Wilfred Sykes, the Lake Michigan Express.

—Roger LeLievre