Duluth again.......
I'm in a rut. Getting predictable and boring. But winter is near and travel to Duluth will soon mean long hours on snowy roads just to see more snow and ice, albeit in different surroundings. Wintertime keeps us close to home, so I feel compelled to take advantage of yet another in a series of beautiful fall Saturdays. Unbelievably, it turns out to be sunny and in the 50's, almost shirtsleeve conditions.
From home, we travel non-stop to the Garfield Ave. observation area, in the shadow of the Blatnik Bridge, where the kids pick up an interesting piece of driftwood-board. We decide to write a poem on it and place it in our rock garden. (There is a house, near the lift bridge, on Minnesota Point, that has many driftwood boards inscribed with poems and sayings in their front yard, right next to the sidewalk where everyone can read and enjoy them. (Imitation is the highest form of praise.)
It's 11 am. I can identify 6 ships from this spot. Left to right they are - the George Stinson parked at the Port Authority Dock
- the Canadian Trader at Peavey Co. Connors Point
(Taking soybeans to Canada) - the J.L. Mauthe at Peavey Co. Connors Point, (WI side, moored? )
- the Mina Cebi at Harvest States (WI side, grain)
(The M.C. is a Turkish ship bound for Algeria) - the Indiana Harbor at Midwest Energy Terminal (WI side, coal)
- the Adam E. Cornelius at the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range (MN side, loading taconite).
I'm beginning to learn the names of the various facilites in the harbor. There is a ship moving our way from the south and we go out to the end of the fishing dock to see the Reiss Marine come in. At first I thought it was a tugboat but as it gets closer it seems to be some kind of reseach or salvage vessel. While we are waiting for the Reiss Marine to come, I notice, to the right, the Indiana Harbor's bow thrusters churning the water as the ship gets underway. The Reiss Marine passes our position (eventually docking on Connors point) and cuts to the left, quite close ahead of the rapidly approaching Indiana Harbor. In a few minutes the I.H. passes and her extremely friendly crew waves enthusiasticly to us.
It's 12 noon.
We head for Canal Park and arrive in plenty of time to see the I.H. again; only now we are lost in a crowd of hundreds of other shipwatchers. The storm gates are shut so no one can walk out to the lighthouses on either side of the canal. Two days ago, on Thursday there was a storm with 8 ft. waves that were breaking onto the pier, making it dangerous.
It's 12:30.
The I.H. has just left and passes the Columbia Star on it's way in. Seems as if this will be a high traffic day! These two ships are identical except for the paint job. The I.H. is white with a black hull and the C.S. is off-white with a brown hull. It is easy to compare the two as they pass each other, as I examine and check out their features with binoculars.
It's 1 pm.
The crowds are too much, so we follow the Columbia Star over to Garfield Ave. where we watch it turn around and back in to the Midwest Energy Terminal, to the space just vacated by the Indiana Harbor. On an earlier trip, we had observed the St. Clair do this same manuever, so it must not be that unusual. We get a REAL CLOSE look at the bowthrusters in action as the ship passes our position and the bow swings a little too close to the pier we are standing on. The bowthrusters seem to be churning the water at full force, as the ship, directly in front of us and about thirty feet away, pushes itself away. Handy things to have!
It's now 1:30
As we are leaving, a lady asks how to get to Goodwill Industries, so, as we are going that way anyway, we lead her there. My wife and kids decide to check it out, so I drop them off and go exploring on my own for a few minutes. I discover the tugboat Essayons at a slip in the Bayfront area. (I later discover there is a campaign to develop this area and add my two cents worth. My opinion made the front page of the Duluth-News Tribune Online .)
It's 2:00
We are back to Canal Park just in time to see the H.M.Griffith arrive. Good timing so far! We hang around here for a while enjoying the beautiful weather.
It's 3:00
We walk over to the Computer Pro booth where they have a live cam that I had accessed the day before, at home. The youngsters at Computer Pro want to sign me up for Internet access and seem flustered when I tell them I'm already on the web. I give them my card with my URL telling them to check it out. Never do hear from anyone.
4:00 and all's well.
We are in the van, crossing over the lift bridge to hike on Park Point when I see the Tarantua is leaving. By the time we find a place to park, the bridge is lifting and by the time we walk to the canal the Tarantua is there. What great timing we have today! Always in the right place at the right time! We next drive to the end of the road on Park Point and go for our walk on the beach. Spending time on the beach is very important to my total enjoyment quotient. There was lots of interesting driftwood thrown high on the beach by the 8 ft. waves of Thursdays storm.
To be continued....
5:20 Canadian Trader leaves
5:30 Off to the haunted ship
6:15 Standing in line. See the top of an unknown ship leaving.
7:20 Sea Pearl II arrives! Perfect ending to a perfect day! >
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