Capturing the Canal through the years

Baihly Warfield WDIO

Capturing the Canal through the years

For thousands of people around the world to engage online with the local shipping industry, passionate people in the Twin Ports have to be here to capture it.

Paul Scinocca photographs and films ships at all times of day and all weather conditions.

“This camera, probably I’ve had it three years. And I could probably on one hand count the days it hasn’t been used,” he said of his Nikon 850.

He got into photography in high school, and his uncle sailed on the Roger Blough.

“When my uncle retired from Great Lakes Fleet … my cousin came up with the idea of like, maybe we should take pictures of the boats and give Fred a calendar,” Scinocca said.

He never stopped taking those pictures and also began filming ships. He started a YouTube channel mostly for a free place to store video.

“All of a sudden I noticed people had some questions,” he said. “So you start answering the questions. And it just kind of – I say slow but steady. It’s been going on for many, many, many years.”

His YouTube now has more than 25,000 subscribers. The audience is 80 percent male, and mostly from the United States and Canada.

“It still amazes me, the size of the ship. You have the Tregurtha, 1,013 and 6 inches,” Scinocca said. “And some people can’t control a 16-foot Lund. And these guys come in so gracefully.”

That’s what he thinks fascinates people about Great Lakes shipping.

“I think they’re used to seeing little fishing boats, little 20-, 30-footers. And the lakers are definitely unique to the Great Lakes. That’s the name: lakers. They’re stuck there,” he said.

But it’s still hard for him to pick a favorite ship.

“It’s kind of almost like asking a parent, What’s your favorite child? It really is,” he said. “I think the classic lakers are built more like the old cars. A lot of eye appeal to them.”

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He also says some, like the Joseph L. Block, Arthur M. Anderson, and John G. Munson, seem to have “happy crews.”

“I have a friend who’s over in Europe. He’s in England. And he would sail on the ships quite a bit. And he actually comes here for vacation,” Scinocca said. “He says it’s the best place in the world to look at ships.”