watching the boats go by

The Vista and More (part two)

2009-10-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

So, we pottered away from the Konigsborg and headed up river. The berth at Midwest Energy was empty so I was content in the thought that we would be making a call at the DMIR dock to see what was loading. It was the Captain Henry Jackman (see below)
The Captain was a new ship on us we had not seen before. She was berthed at DMIR #6 loading Taconite. The Taconite docks are another fascination of mine. Being a model railway enthusaist as well I think It would be great to actually model one and put it on a layout somehow. Maybe one day. With that our trip was over, all too quickly as usual and once off the boat and after a warming coffee at Caribou we headed back to our hotel to prepare for our wedding anniversay dinner at Blackwoods Grill on the way back I spied the JAW Inglehart moored by a cement terminal. It is used as storage there (above)
and as we approached Barkers Island The Whaleback Meteor was much more visible than it has been ealier in the morning.
Leap forward a few hours to the two of us sat in Blackwoods grill concluding our wonderful dinner and I looked out the window to see a ship approaching. As we left the restaurant it was closing in on the entry and I suggested to wifey that we chase it and see it we could get a picture of it as it passed through the channel. She was up for it so off we went. We were cutting it very close. But wifey just managed to jump out of the car at the Corps of Engineers visitor centre and grab a picture of the American Mariner as she arrived.
Not as much fun as chasing a coal train across Minnesota, which I've done too. But fun nonetheless.

The Vista and More (part one)

2009-10-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

As previously stated with the fog burning off we decided to get on the Vista. Conditions weren't brilliant out there. In fact, when the Captain asked us all if we wanted to go out into the lake or spend more time in the harbour I voted for the harbour. I was, it has to be said the only one who did. Still there was a treat out in the lake for us with two ships at anchor waiting for a berth. First up was the unusual John D. Leitch (below) and unusual design of vessel. A much squarer front Something to do with it being of a Canadian Design I believe. I was disappointed not to get closer.

We did though, get closer to the Federal Hudson. It had been at anchor for several days and would be there for a while longer waiting for its berth to free up.
On our return to the harbour we passed the Edgar B Speer being refuelled.
Above. It takes a long time to go past a huge boat like the Speer. I am informed by our captain that the colours on the hull of the boat are significant in that they represent the three principal cargoes carried by the boat. Red for the Iron ore/Taconite, Black for Coal and Grey for Limestone.
An old friend the Quebecois was moored at the cement terminal unloading its cargo. A process that took several days. If I remember correctly it was moored there almost all the time we were there that weekend.
Then as we headed up to the DMIR docks we passed The Konigsborg berthed at Cenex Harvest States loading with grain for Europe. We don't often see boats berthed at CHS so it was a notable event.

There's still more to come from this trip so check back for part two.

Fogbound!

2009-09-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

There's not been a boatwatching report for a while because we haven't been up to Duluth since Grandmas Marathon. However a trip up to Duluth for our wedding anniversary will quickly put things straight.
We arose on Sturday morning with the intention of taking a Vista cruise around the harbour but when we looked out of the hotel window - FOG! I expected it to burn off pretty quickly so we headed out and I snapped this shot of the whaleback "Meteor" as we passed it.
Foggy yes, but being bought up on the North Sea coast I've seen much much thicker. Much as I predicted the fog was burning off apace and by the time we reached the Vista berth things were improving but we decided to wait a little longer before we went out. I took the opportunity to get some atmospheric pictures
Above: The world famous harbour bridge is wrapped in fingers of fog.
Above: The Portland Cement terminal is becoming visible to the right but General Mills Elevator "A" is only just poking above the fog at the left.
Above and Below: Boats had not been moving because of the fog. But now things were lifting a boat headed out. The J.W. Shelley was first out. Its bright blue hull totally softened by the mist
So with the fog lifting nicely we decided it was time to head over and join the Vista Star. More of that later...

A War Hero

2009-08-04T16:55:00.001-07:00

It may seem a bit strange to refer to a great lakes boat as a "war hero". But that can legitimately be said about the American Victory/Middletown. It has the medal to prove it. I first encountered the Middletown as it was then loading at the DMIR dock in Duluth whilst on a Vista cruise. See picture below The boat has quite the history. She entered service in 1943 under the name Marquette but that was quickly changed to Neshanic. Serving as an oil tanker in the Pacific the crew actually shot down a Japanese aircraft with the boats' anti-aircraft guns and as a result the boat received a "medal" you can see the ribbon in the photo of the bridge below.
The Boat has changed has had several different owners and different names since then. Gulfoil, Pioneer Challenger, Middletown and now American Victory. The last change of name coming in 2006 when she was sold by Oglebay Norton to American Steamship Company.
Above: The Middletown leaves Duluth on another trip
Above: The American Victory laid up in Fraser's shipyard in Superior.
Currently she still sits in Fraser Shipyard on an extended "winter layup" caused by the economic climate. What her future is I don't know.

The other side of the tracks

2009-07-18T08:11:00.001-07:00

Ninety nine point nine percent of boat watchers in Duluth watch from the North side of the canal and why not? That's where the museum is, there's ice cream and coal drinks and restuarants to have a proper meal. With shops to look in if you have a while to wait for some boat activity. But if you are like me. Then sometimes you want to take pictures of the boats without hundreds of viewers in the way. The best place to do this is on the south side of the canal. Hardly anyone seems to go there. Witness the two pictures below.

Above: The Paul R Tregurtha, the biggest boat on the Great Lakes seems to be entering a canal devoid of viewers.
Above: The south side of the canal is even more deserted for the arrival of The James R Barker not even the seagulls on the lamp posts are disturbed by its arrival.

Another thing about the south side is the position of the sun. For the most part of the day the sun is on the south side of the canal. So the best lit pictures of boats will be taken on the south side. If I had taken these shots from the north side of the canal then the boats would have been in shadow.

So if you want to take a nice well lit picture of a Great Lakes freighter without many people in it walk over the bridge to the south side of the canal. Just don't get in my shot.

What a difference a day makes...

2009-07-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

So sang Dinah Washington in... 1959 (Thanks Google) and these two pictures I have chosen to show you from 2008 aptly illustrate that.

Below: The ship in question is the American Valor seen here in the canal on June 14th 2008 at 5:38 p.m. (according to the data on my camera) Clearly empty, see how high she sits in the water. She displays an almost haughty air. Looking down on everyone as she glides effortlessly through the channel.

However, contrast that with the shot below take less than 24 hours later (June 15th 10:42 a.m.) Now she is fully laden. Coal I expect, though I'm not 100% certain on that fact.
Now she sits much much lower in the water looking very workmanlike and strong. Like she could punch her way through any bad conditions she might encounter on the way to her destination.

Harbour Scenes

2009-07-05T16:27:00.001-07:00

The harbour in Duluth is so big that you cant see everything close up. Sometimes you have to happy with a zoom in with your telephoto lens. So thats what I'd like to present to you here. These shots all came from our mid week break in Duluth in early June.

Above: The Edward H is a tug of which I know no more than its name. It was spotted moored by an old grain elevator that was being dismantled
Above: The port of Duluths principal tugs are seen in this shot they are named (from front to rear) North Carolina, North Dakota, Minnesota and Kentucky. This is the first time I've ever seen all 4 moored together doing nothing. Put it down to the recession. With boat traffic down 40% there are less boats needing helping around the harbour.
These next two shots show boats that are not in revenue earning service. Both are just being used for storage. The J.A.W. Inglehart and the E.B. Ford are bulk cement carriers. Moored up in Superior storing cement. The Ford is one of the oldest boats on the lake , built in 1904. Sadly there are rumours circulating concerning it's scrapping.
Below: The United States Coastguard keeps a presence in Duluth with the cutter Alder. Seen here moored up keeping a watchful eye on some coastguard exercises in the harbour.
There just goes to show you that if you look you can always find something interesting going on in Duluth Harbour.

Fraser Shipyards (part two)

2009-06-30T16:55:00.001-07:00

With the St Clair and the Kaye E Barker behind us we turned our attention to those vessels in front of us.

Above: Directly in front was the USCG Mackinaw. It was in dry dock for some repairs to it propulsion units. Alas, we couldn't see into the dry dock to see what was going on. But they must have almost been finished as she left the yard a few days later.
Above: Next was the American Victory. Though we didn't realise it at the time we were already familiar with this boat. We had seen it on a previous tour loading with taconite at the DMIR dock. It was named the Middletown at that time and was owned by Oglebay Norton. However the ship was sold on to Great Lakes Shipping and was renamed the American Victory.
Above: I was interested to see that the shipyards owned some tugs. Four to be exact. But only these two the Wally Kendzora and the Maxine Thompson were to be seen.
Above and Below: A last treat to be seen as we headed out of the shipyard was the Edward L Ryerson. Built in the 1960's it exhibits some almost futuristic lines in its shape and is quite popular amongst boat watchers. It was in dock receiving some repairs to some of its hold hatches. The future of the Ryerson may not be too rosy however. As it is one of the last boats on the Lakes without a self unloader. Which means it spends longer in dock laoding and unloading it's cargo than other boats and in these dark times that's not sound economic practice. Hopefully the owners will decide to install a self unloader as it would be a sad loss if the Ryerson was scrapped.
With that we headed off to complete the tour. The guide had been talking the whole time we were in the shipyard. But I was so taken with the giants around us that I can't remember a thing he told us. Perhaps I need to go on the tour again...

We did see some other craft while we were out on the tour and I'll share those with you later.

Fraser Shipyards (part one)

2009-06-30T16:38:00.001-07:00

Without a doubt, the best trip we have ever had on a vista cruise was this one of June 2009. After our jaunt into the lake. Which was actually quite calm. We headed into the harbour and as usual we had no idea where we would be headed for there was very little boat traffic about. The tugs were moored, the taconite dock was empty and midwest energy was deserted. We went a short ways up the St. Louis River and turned at midwest energy. As we turned the only boats that we could see were those laid up for the winter/recession and repairs at Fraser shipyards.

"We couldn't be going down there". We thought. "Surely it's private property. A construction site. It must be restricted"

But the Vista King pottered along and passed the CHS grain elevators and passed under the Blatnick (high) bridge and into the shipyard. As we approached I took this picture was reminded of pictures in National Geographic of places in the Indian ocean where ships are grounded on the beaches to be broken up. I hoped such a fate was not falling on these vessels.

Below: First up was the St Clair. We passed so close to this giant that I almost felt we could reach out and touch it. But discretion being the better part of valour we decided against that.
Below: We slowly drifted past the St Clair and then the Kaye E Barker came into view. It was awe inspiring to see these magnificent vessels so close up.
Below: As we passed the Kaye E Barker. I looked back and thought that this made for a rather nice picture.
There is still more to come of our trip around Fraser shipyards.

Apres Race.

2009-06-30T16:18:00.001-07:00

The weekend of June 20th saw us in Duluth for Grandmas marathon. As usual for the race it was hot, very hot. I completed the course and didn't end up in hospital. So after I had recovered and we had eaten at Blackwoods on the Lake we decided to head down to the lakefront walk to let our dinners digest. As we pulled away from Blackwoods we could see a boat on the horizon so we knew we would see something at the lift bridge. Another reason for wanting to go down to the lakefront was to see if I could see the boat at anchor in the lake that I had see all the way from Two Harbours during the race earlier in the day.

Above; That vessel was the Orsula. It was at anchor in the lake waiting to load with grain at Cenex Harvest States (CHS) to be shipped to Algeria. While out in the lake it was cleaning out its holds in preparation. You can see the hold doors open in the picture.
Above: The vessel rapidly approaching was the American Mariner. It was headed for Midwest Energy to load with coal for the power station in Ashland WI.
Above: As the Mariner entered the canal it made for an interesting picture with the Orsula in the background.
Above: Later that night we went on the Vista's "Moonlight Cruise" we'd never been on this particular trip before so we had no idea where it would take us. Naturally we were quite happy when the captain took us out around the Orsula before heading up the lakeshore. As we approached the Orsula I switched my Olympus E1 up to 3200 ASA and clicked away so please excuse the grain in the shot but it was very dark out there.

Once again the Vista didn't let us down. It made for a relaxing ending to a tough day.

The vista from the Vista

2009-06-30T15:21:00.001-07:00

One of the highlights of any trip to Duluth for us is a trip around the harbour on one of the vessels of the Vista fleet.

The boats of the Vista fleet have been taking people on tours of the harbour in Duluth for some 50 years. Ex-governor Jesse Ventura has even said that the highlight of his trips to Duluth was a trip was a trip on a Vista fleet vessel.

Above: The workhorse of the Vista Fleet is the Vista King. Acquired in 1978, in the summer season the King can make as many as 6 trips around the harbour a day.
Above; The newest member of the Vista fleet is the Vista Queen. She arrived in 2005 and operates out of Barkers Island in Superior. Which is probably why we haven't travelled on it, as we tend to take all our tours from the Duluth end of the harbour.
Above: The pride of the Vista fleet is the Vista Star. She arrived in the twin ports in 1988 and specialises in taking tourists on Brunch, Lunch and Dinner cruises. We have had experience of one of the brunch cruises and the food was excellent.

So what happens on a Vista cruise? Assuming you start off in Duluth the first thing you do on your 90 minute expedition is head out under the aerial lift bridge and into Lake Superior. Which if the waters are choppy could be a short trip. Once abck in the safety of the harbour is when the fun begins because you just don't know where you will go. The captain seems to take you wherever the action is. We have been alongside the Middletown as she loaded taconite at the DMIR docks. Alongside the largest boat on the great lakes, the Paul R Tregurtha as she loaded coal at Midwest Energy. Undoubtedly the best trip was recently when we toured the boats laid up at Fraser shipyards. (There will be more of that later.)

In short a trip on a Vista fleet vessel should not be missed.

Where to start?

2009-06-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

For the last 11 years or so my wife and I have been coming up to Duluth, MN and enyoying watching the boats enter and leave the harbour under the magnificent aerial lift bridge. In that time we've accumulated a good few pictures of those boats and we thought we'd take this opportunity to show them off to the world complete with a few thoughts about them. We only consider ourselves boatwatchers. We don't know every little detail about the construction of the boats. Their sizes and how powerful they are etc. We just enjoy watching them and finding out where they come from and where they are going to.

So sit back and enjoy the pictures