• Sunday-What'sUP November 5 - 07:55 pm

In 1971 Captain Don Kilpela purchased the Isle Royale Queen II, seen in the first photo from Michael Keranen's Guest Gallery Album. In 1989 the boat was lengthened and renamed the Isle Royale Queen III, in the second photo from Ben Kilpela. Finally, this year the dependable old vessel was retired from the Island run to spend the remainder of its days shuttling between Menominee and Sturgeon Bay. Of course it has been replaced by the Isle Royale Queen IV, which provides a considerably faster ride to the other, more remote part of Keweenaw County (which is actually closer to Thunder Bay).

Just a little late with today's Shoebox Memory. Our Sunday morning was sidetracked by a network problem here on Michigan's upper-Upper Peninsula. For those Pasty.NET members in the Copper Country who were having trouble sending email - try it again, and you should be able to launch it to its destination.

Have a good week :0)

beautiful pictures!

Farewell to the Queen III, she gave my husband and I several wonderful evenings aboard her Sunset Cruise. One such cruise we were lucky to be able to chase down the Mesabi Miner.

Bobbysgirl, did the freighter do a complete turn and folks on the Queen and the freighter were snapping pictures of each other? I saw that happen from the shore one evening and was envious of the folks aboard. I heard the whistles blowing and the Queen seemed dead in the water as the freighter circled somewhere near Dan's Point. The flickers of camera flashes were highly visible but I couldn't see the name of the ship.

Notroll, no, nothing like that happened, but, one guy taking a lot of photos accidently dropped his camera into Lake Superior, I'm sure that hurt! Another guy was taking photos, and discovered he left the lens cap on after we were just about back to Copper Harbor. I got some excellent photos of the Miner, the Queen III had us about 60 ft. from her. All the Miner's crew and Captain came out and waved hello to us, it was a great time!

I'm delighted to hear Queen III will be operating out of Menominee! The trip to Sturgeon Bay used to be made by the Ann Arbor car ferries. I recall taking the trip as a girl with my family. It was during the night and it was rough! Green Bay's waters can be violent with the waters sloshing back and forth between the flats of Menominee and the cliffs of Door County, but the North/South fetch is many more miles than the 16-18 miles across. The Menominee Marina is one of the biggest on the Bay, but the Queen will be moving out from the mouth of the Menominee River near the Menekaunee Bridge which swings up on each side. The Wisconsin-Michigan state line, by the way, runs through the center of the river.

I found Pasty cam,after many promptings from my brother, Sept 24 only to see my Grandmother and aunts pictured and to read notes from my brother Dennis and my cousins. Now, I finally got a password and added a message but put it on Sept 24. I guess it takes a minute to figure this out. Anyway, the pictures are great. Of course, I especially like cousin Neil's aerial shots.
Looking forward to being a regular on Pastycam.
Eliisa

Eliisa,
I think all of us really like you cousin Neil's aerial pictures. I know I sure do. I'm glad you found the site.

Good morning,

I wish I could be up there right now. My youngest sister is marrying into the Kilpela family and enjoys day trips to the island when she can. Lucky kid. These are beautiful pictures.

Captain Ben Kilpela here, writing from MSU in East Lansing, where I work in the winter. Thanks, Charlie, for the memories of the ol' Queen II and Queen III. They were special boats to us. I grew up into a Great Lakes captain on the II and the III has always been Ol' Reliable for us. I have lots of the old shots of both boats, and I'll bug you with some some time soon. Notroll, you are remembering a different night, when the Oglebay Norton (now the American Freedom or something like that -- I forget which dumb name they stuck on her) did a so-called Williamson turn around the Queen III on the evening of Independence Day, 2001, during the Sunset Cruise. I have lots of photos of the night (taken mostly by my daughter Miranda Davis, now a year-round resident of Copper Harbor, who was one of my crew that night), for I was captain. I was just about dead in the water as the Norton turned around the Queen that night. Many folks have brought up the event to me since then. The news spread far and wide. Many people driving M26 saw it from shore, since we were just three miles directly off Dan's Point, which is mighty close for one of those huge 1000-footers. Thanks to all for your many kind comments about the Kilpela family and our boats down through the years. We sure do appreciate it, though we don't always live up to all the kind words. We keep working to get better every year, though. If you haven't had a ride on the new Queen IV, come and give it a try. You'll love it. She's a nice boat. Mention that you saw this post, hey, we'll give you a deal. (Always trying to turn a buck, eh?)