Online shipping videos entice people to visit Duluth

Dave Heilman and Stephen Knight each made their first trip to Duluth last summer.

Heilman is from Delaware, Ohio. Knight is from Wales in the United Kingdom. Both learned about shipping on the Great Lakes largely through the YouTube channel “Vibe with Mike.”

For decades, Heilman and his family have driven from their home in Ohio to Ontario, a route that took them past the Soo Locks and over the Mackinac Bridge.

“It was just a passing interest,” he said. “But now that YouTube is here, I just start watching YouTube stuff at night when I go to bed. Well, I accidentally came across Boat Friends, Vibe with Mike.”

Heilman quickly became one of the boating enthusiasts.

“We chat sometimes, especially when he does a livestream,” he said. “While he waits for the ship to arrive, he greets the boating friends. And there’s Carl from South Africa, there’s Tom from Australia.”

Stephen from Wales could also be part of this list.

“I have always loved ships since I was a little boy because I was born in the north of England near Manchester, where there is its own shipping canal,” Knight said.

He also loved Vibe with Mike. He said he thinks he's seen every single video Mike has posted.

“There is an old connection between Manchester and Duluth,” Knight said, “because some of the Manchester liners used to go to Duluth.”

Finally he got to Mike's email.

“At one point I said to him, 'Do you ever get visitors?' And he said, 'Yeah, I get quite a few from the States, but not many from further afield.' And I said, 'Well, how about I come to you?'” Knight said. “And he got up off the floor, I think.”

Then Mike suggested July.

“I have a sense of adventure. “My kids thought I was crazy because I was dating a guy I met online,” Knight said. “When I got to Duluth, it all seemed pretty familiar because I had seen so many of Mike’s videos.”

The first ship he saw was the “PRT”, the Paul R. Tregurtha. He toured the Irvin, climbed the Enger Tower and enjoyed a pint or two near the Lift Bridge.

“And I learned what taconite was,” he said. “It is a form of iron ore. It is made from iron ore.”

After their visits, he and Dave both appeared in Vibe with Mike videos.

“I still can't get over how many people around the world follow this, who are part of this community, and how many friendships have been created because of it. You know, it kind of makes you feel good,” Mike said.

On Wednesday, another boating friend shares her story of boat watching and how it helped her carry on after her husband's death.