Kaye E. Barker departed Duluth 04/02/2015

With a fresh coat of paint, the Kaye E. Barker departed Duluth at 10AM Thursday.

Mesabi Miner departed Duluth 04/01/2015

The 1000ft Mesabi Miner departed Duluth at 15:30 today

Camera Update!

FYI,
We have installed a speaker near the cameras that are located on the Marine Museum. After some tweaking, we should be able the clearly hear the announcements made in Canal Park, along with the boats and the bridge.

Once there is more boat traffic, I should be able to make the final adjustments.

Thanks again to all who donated to the camera fund.

Den

Light Transitions - Bayfront Pak

The hour of the day where daylight fads into night is an enchanting hour. This 300 image time-lapse  taking over 45  minutes last evening is an attempt to capture the "Light Transition".

Edwin H Gott departed Duluth 3/31/2015

The 1000ft Edwin H Gott departed Duluth hat 15:00 today bound for Two Harbors.

Edwin H. Gott arrived Duluth 03/30/2015

The 1000ft Edwin H. Gott arrived Duluth at 10:00 Monday morning

Mesabi Miner departed Duluth Monday 3/30/2015

The 1000ft Mesabi Miner departed Duluth at 03:00 this morning with a load of coal destined for Taconite Harbor.

5 second timelapse

Last evening I recorded one hour of twilight into a 5 second video.

Rices Point - Duluth

Heads-Up - 7AM Friday Morning

Update:  Looks like the balloons may launch around 16:00 today. There will be three of them.

Update 08:30AM Friday-Postponed for now - possibly this afternoon.

There is a possibility that a couple hot air balloons might be launching from Bayfront Park tomorrow morning at 7AM. Stay tuned

2013 Baloon Fest

Mesabi Miner arrived Duluth 03/26/2015

The 1000 ft Mesabi Miner arrived Duluth at 8:45 Thursday.

Mesabi Miner departed Duluth 03/24/2015

The second boat departure from Duluth this season, the Mesabi Miner departed for Two Harbors this morning at 2AM

John G Munson opens the 2015 Shipping Season

The John G Munson slipped through light ice and off into Lake Superior late  this afternoon to open the 2015 Shipping Season in Duluth.

News from Seaway Port Authority - Duluth

CHANGE IN DEPARTURE SCHEDULE – latest update:

First vessel of the 2015 shipping season to depart the Port of Duluth-Superior – the  John G. Munson – is now set to leave the CN Duluth Dock between 3:30 and 4 p.m. (CDT) today, make its way through the harbor and head out beneath the Duluth Aerial Bridge. The Mesabi Miner is expected to depart sometime after 7 p.m.

Camera Update!

FYI,  The Pier B and Bayfront camera streams will be down until Monday AM. The snapshot feeds are still working.

Boats will start moving on Monday

Press Release from Duluth Seaway Port Authority:

Sure Sign of Spring … 2015 Shipping Season to get underway Monday in Port of Duluth-Superior

Duluth, Minn., USA (March 20, 2015)—The first two U.S.-flag lakers are on schedule to depart the Port of Duluth-Superior on Monday, March 23,  signaling the start of the 2015 commercial shipping season at this end of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system.

On Sunday morning, the John G. Munson, with an assist from Heritage Marine tugs, is set to move from its winter berth at Fraser Shipyards in Superior to first fuel at the Port Terminal then shift over to the CN Duluth Dock to load 24,000 short tons of iron ore pellets. On Monday morning, the Munson is slated to depart beneath the Aerial Bridge, destined for Gary, Indiana. 

Late Monday afternoon/early evening, the Mesabi Miner is expected to depart from the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal with some 57,000 tons of coal onboard for the power plant at Taconite Harbor. After making that delivery, the 1,000-footer will return to the Twin Ports for a couple of days of scheduled maintenance work and to load its next coal cargo.

[NOTE:  All vessel arrival/departure times are estimates and may change without notice.]

While Lake Superior looks bright blue in the early spring sunshine here in Duluth-Superior, there is still a significant amount of ice cover on the eastern edge of the Lake – two to three feet thick from Whitefish Point to the St. Marys River. As such, U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alder will be working in tandem with USCGC Mackinaw to lay tracks and provide escorts for vessels as needed through that eastern ice pack to and from the Soo Locks.

At this point in time, the Munson is expected to be the first downbound commercial vessel in position to transit the Soo Locks this season. It also appears there may be four upboundvessels waiting below the Soo Locks when they reopen at 12:01 a.m. on Wed., March 25 – including the Edwin H. Gott, Edgar B. Speer, Roger Blough and the Algoma Olympic.

The Soo Locks provide the gateway for lake carriers – some measuring more than 1,000 feet in length – to move raw materials like iron ore, coal, limestone, cement and salt between Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie. It is also one of 16 sets of locks along the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS) that allows oceangoing ships (“salties”) to  move breakbulk and project cargoes in and out of North America’s heartland and deliver Midwestern grains to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

“Against what seemed like insurmountable odds with everything Mother Nature threw at us from beginning to end, the Port  of Duluth-Superior wrapped up the 2014 shipping season a full 2.3 percent ahead of expectations, having moved over 37.5 million short tons of cargo,” said Vanta Coda, Duluth Seaway Port Authority executive director. “There are still some formidable ice challenges along the Great Lakes-Seaway, but nowhere near what the fleets were facing at this same time last year.”

“We anticipate a banner year here at the Port Terminal for project cargo moving through Duluth in 2015,” noted Coda. “This Port sits at the nexus of multiple energy sectors, so we’ll be seeing several shipments of equipment heading in from Europe and elsewhere destined for wind energy installations and oil/gas fields further north and west. All told, the Port of Duluth-Superior should see a two percent increase in activity during 2015. Headwinds do exist in the decline of commodity pricing (e.g. iron ore and oil). And the strengthening U.S. dollar will challenge exports, however import prospects will improve.”

It’s a bit harder to predict the arrival of the Port’s first oceangoing vessel. The Seaway locks (the Montreal/Lake Ontario section and Welland Canal) won’t reopen for business this year until April 2, so it will be at least another week later before the Port of Duluth-Superior will see its first saltie. That first saltie to pass beneath the Aerial Lift Bridge will be greeted by maritime officials with a welcoming ceremony and will also qualify a winner for the annual “First Ship Contest” sponsored by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Visit Duluth. Last year, due to dramatic ice conditions, the Port’s first saltie, the Diana, didn’t arrive until May 7 (the latest on record).

Of the five vessels that wintered over in the Twin Ports for repair and maintenance, the remaining three – Kaye E. Barker, American Integrity and the Indiana Harbor – aren’t scheduled to depart until late March or early April.

Close to 1,000 ships visit the Port of Duluth-Superior each year, moving roughly 38 million tons of cargo – iron ore, coal, grain, limestone, cement, salt, plus project cargo and more. As the largest tonnage port on the Great Lakes-Seaway, cargo movements through the Port of Duluth-Superior support 11,500 jobs  and contribute over $1.5 billion in business revenues to the local/regional economy. For more info: www.duluthport.com

Canal Park Sunrise

In case you missed it! This mornings sunrise over Lake Superior was nothing sort of phenomenal.

Aurora

The Northern Lights were stunning last night -- this images was taken just down the road from me on Little Caribou Lake at 9:30PM

Click HERE to view more Northern Lights

Just another Superior Sunrise

Alder Departs Duluth Monday 3/16/2015

The CGC Alder departed this morning through the rapidly melting ice and returned shortly after.

Sunday Sunrise

This mornings sunrise was particularly stunning

Twilight on the Canal

CGC Alder is first boat through the Duluth Shipping Canal - 03/12/2015

As usual, the CGC Alder pushed under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge and out through the Shipping Canal as a preliminary run for the shipping opener that will be coming up soon.

Good to hear the boats again.

Aerial Lift Bridge Control Room

While the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge is photographed from nearly every angle, not many folks know what it looks like inside the control room that sits midway in the center of the lift span.

From this control room, Bridge Operators monitor weather, boat traffic, road traffic, people on the ground and the instrumentation to operator the bridge.  It's and interesting job, and certainly the best office view in town.

Click HERE or on the image to step in and take a 360 view of the control room where the Bridge Operators work.

East View

West View

Camera News

3/11/2015--12:00 Canal Cam upgrade complete - let me know if you have any issues with it.
The view should be clearer and I will tweak the audio once there are boats moving.
Thanks again to everyone that donated for the new camera and I hope you enjoy the view.
Den

FYI,
The Canal Cam will be down today for several hours as I change it out to an upgraded model.

I apologize in advance if it takes longer -- there are usually some glitches to work through.

Crimson Sunrise

Wednesday 07:20

CGC Alder Making Tracks

Nature is quickly making CGC Alder's job much easier. The harbor ice is quickly breaking up and the ice on Lake Superior is shrinking rapidly.  I even let my chickens out in the yard this afternoon.

Camera Upgrade Wednesday

FYI,
This coming Wednesday, I will be replacing the Canal Cam with the new one that we raised funds for last December.  The image will be clearer with better dynamic range.

I will also be moving the camera mic into a better location to hear the announcements.

With any luck, it will be the best cam on the Great Lakes.

That said,  there will be a several hour outage while I make the changes.

Once again, thanks to everyone who donated to these projects.
Den

Barkers Island Ice Sculpture slowly returning to Lake Superior

The huge ice sculpture created on Barkers Island over the winter will be returning to Lake Superior over the next couple days.
See the story HERE