I went out birding today. While looking for Bald Eagles on the harbor ice, I became distracted. After all, what little boy does not love boats? Particularly boats which break ice?! Yup, the United States Coast Guard Cutter Alder was hard at work breaking ice in the harbor. This year’s shipping season will open within two weeks. I walked out upon the old Interstate Bridge which was built in 1897 and enjoyed the spectacle.

USCG Cutter Alder (In the second image you are able to see Duluth’s ski hill, Spirit Mountain in the background. In the third image the Alder steams past the Paul Tregurtha, a 1,000 foot ore boat / laker)

Video of the Alder breaking ice (video link for email subscribers)

Winter Layup Starts! The last ship of the season, the laker (ore boat) Kaye E. Barker arrived overnight at the Fraser Shipyards in Superior (across the harbor from Duluth)

Click or press upon to get full effect of image … it was cold very early this morning!

A slightly different treatment of the same photograph.

Last night my wife was ushering for a local theater, and I decided to wonder how I might spend a quiet evening at home. Given the dearth of anything worthwhile on TV, I decided to check the status of our local shipping.

Eureka! A saltie had just sailed under the Aerial Bridge. If you are ever in Duluth, or anywhere along the North Shore of Lake Superior there is a great web page (works very well on a smartphone) named Harbor Lookout. This site gives you information of what ships are expected, and their planned arrival or departure times.

Now back to my evening’s entertainment. The Federal Rhine, was slowly being assisted by two tugs to the CHS Grain Elevator to take on a load of wheat. I suspected the harbor ice and night lights reflecting off the ice would make for a beautiful scene. You be the judge.

As a fyi … I took these images with my Sony A6000 and a wide angle lens. Clicking or pressing upon the images will yield the best night arrival experience (expanded view).

Docking at the CHS Grain Terminal

Making a large turn next to the Duluth High Bridge