July 7, 1997 Duluth, MN
Some interesting people encounters this trip.
I stopped at the Duluth Shipping News office, met creator/publisher Kenneth Newhams and made him sell me one of the new DSN t-shirts. The shirt has an image of the raised lift bridge as seen from the vantage point of the pilot of the ship, with the bow of the ship about to go under the bridge. I like it. The DSN office overlooks the ship canal and is as close to the lift bridge as you could get. Ken says he can stick a microphone out the window and record great ship sounds. He mentioned how a certain captain blows his ships horn all the way through the canal, apparently for the crowds reaction!
A little while ago, we had watched the John G. Munson leaving, and had been standing, unknowingly, almost right outside Kens window. When the Munson made the ninety-degree turn out of the harbor to enter the canal, she was head on to us for a few moments. It's a funny feeling to have a ship that size coming directly at you. You wonder what would happen if something went wrong. Would it be able to stop in time?
Hope I never find out. :-) The Munson gave a blast just after she completed her turn, signaling that she was on course for imminent exit. As always, someone in the watching crowd is taken by surprise and jumps at the sound. The involuntary jump is invariably followed by friendly, nervous laughter.
Earlier, I had been standing outside the Canal Park Burger King, waiting for my wife to meet me, when a news crew from KDLH 3 TV came walking across the parking lot. She wanted to know what I thought of the new public parking fee that had just been implemented. As I babbled incoherently with nervousness, I tried to explain how we have visited Canal Park many times in the last few years and have always taken advantage of the free public parking lots, avoiding the pay lots. I tried to explain how we had pulled right in, parked and started walking to the museum before we noticed that everyone else was stopping and paying when they entered. I had not even seen the new toll gate. Feeling uneasy, I quickly checked the ship schedule at the museum, and we left, finding a free parking spot some distance away. I tried to stress the point that we often stop at this lot for only a few minutes to check the ship schedule and would not like to have to pay every time. We are often in and out of this area three times or more in a given day as we try to view the ships. If ship traffic is light, we go to the zoo or one of the many interesting parks to hike and explore.
I should mention that there were six of us this trip as the kids had each invited a friend to come with. Most of the day we split into three groups: My wife and I, Amber and Leanne, Erin and Danielle. My wife and I enjoyed our time alone, but then we had to coordinate our three groups movements so no one would miss seeing the ships. As it was, two of the ships left early. Both groups of kids were shopping at the nearby Marketplace and missed the Munson (1:45) altogether. My wife and I had to run to see the Tregurtha leaving (2:30) fifteen minutes early, the kids arriving only in time to see it's stern. The Tregurtha is a thousand-footer so it takes a few minutes to pass thru. On the Tregurtha's bridge were two happy passengers who looked familiar. Obviously not crew, these two were laughing and waving, apparently, (as I jealously observed), very excited over their position. It really looked like the editor and the publisher of the Lake Superior Magazine! I knew the editor, Paul Hayden, had taken a trip last year on the Courtney Burton and had talked about on the editorial page. I later emailed him and found he had not been so fortunate this time. He denied being aboard the Tregurtha, commenting it must have been look-alikes enjoying the ride. An hour later (3:30) we would watch the Algobay leave as we watched from the south side of the shipping canal. I didn't realize it at the time, but one of our guests didn't like walking across the lift bridge very much. :-> I guess the lift bridge can be intimidating if your not used to it.
Enger Park with it's fabled tower was our lunchtime destination. I can never get enough of the beautiful rock gardens and views of the harbor. Binoculars allow you to zero in on interesting spots and ships in the harbor from this birds-eye view on the cliff above the city. The most amazing thing in evidence was what appeared to be a sinking ship! Far across the harbor on the Wisconsin side, docked at the Harvest States elevators was a smaller ship, the Kapitonas Kaminskas, tilted stern down with it's bow almost totally exposed. It was a mystery to me, as I couldn't imagine why they would do that to a ship on purpose. Later, I asked Ken Newhams at DSN about it. He said he had heard that they had pumped the ballast water out prematurely, in anticipation of taking on cargo. I would also meet someone on the Garfield Ave. pier who said he had heard that the ship had sustained bow damaged in the St Marys river and was waiting for the insurance company to inspect the bow. Never did find out what the real story was.
The shipwatching highlight of our trip came just as we were about to head for home. It had been misting on and off as I pulled into the Garfield Ave. boat launch/fishing pier parking area under the Blatnik Bridge. I wanted to get a closer look at the "sinking ship" and Amber was looking for a nice piece of driftwood for our rock garden. It was overcast, the air was thick with moisture and I was ready to leave empty handed. As has often happened on previous trips, this last stop would prove to be serendipitous. Across the water, ships were moving. Was this an unscheduled departure? No, it turned out to be the Mangal Desai being moved from Harvest States in Wisconsin, to another dock in Minnesota near the liftbridge. We were in the perfect place to observe. (No one at canal park would get to see this!) We zipped over to the other end of the parking lot near the fishing pier. The ship was moving rapidly. The tugs had pulled and pushed it backwards out of the slip and had already turned it and were bringing it our way. The mist was becoming more of a drizzle as we hurried down the pier.
We had the place to ourselves, except for one other person who parked seconds after we had. A person dressed in black leather, with a large black satchel followed us onto the pier. He looked familiar but I was in a rush and did not dawdle. As it was, we entered the prime viewing area with little time to spare. I began shooting pictures as the "man in black" arrived, opened his satchel and removed his own photographic equipment. I nodded as he commented that he would stay out of my way. "No problem," I said. I knew then I was looking at a kindred spirit. Another boatwatching fanatic. Who else would be standing here in the late afternoon rain in this forgotten spot?
After watching and photographing the Mangal Desai, Vermont and Kansas chugging thru the mists, I started a conversation with the "man in black." I had remembered where I had seen him before! It was last year on this very spot, when we saw the Helena Oldendorff come in, aided by the same two tugs. He agreed that it was very likely, especially when I told him how the Venture North TV program was filming a story segment from one of the tugs at that precise moment. He remarked that its sister ship, the Rixta Oldendorff was at anchor a mile offshore at this very moment. Our conversation centered on shipwatching and how much we liked visiting the area. He thought it would be a great place to retire. I agreed. :-)
It was time to go. We were merely "two ships passing in the rain" and we parted company as my "crew" was ready to "push off" for home. Strange as it may seem, this was probably the most fun I had all day; getting wet, watching the tugs, meeting a fellow boatwatching fanatic, being one of a select few who were at the right time and place to enjoy this particular event. My great fear is that too many people may read this and attempt to imitate my activities, overcrowding the little known places I enjoy so much.
The rain stopped a little way south of the twin ports, and we had time to walk around Amnicon Falls. We showed our guests the highlights. A quick hike around the main falls, across the covered bridge, around the looping trail to Snakepit Falls, moving from basalt to sandstone and back to basalt, the moist vegetation and the cool dampness of the rocks, all made our last stop short but sweet. It may not be a large park, but it sure is neat!
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