THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

LOOKING NORTH TOWARD THE BIG LAKE AND CANADA

LOOKING SOUTH TOWARD THE RIVER...

...DITTO

THE THOUSAND-FOOT AMERICAN SPIRIT (Boat Nerd files)

Wednesday,  8:15 AM.  20 degrees F on the back porch.  Wind SW, very light with some stronger gusts.  The sky is overcast, the humidity is 88% and the barometer is trending down, and now stands at 30.47".  We have another trip to Duluth today, this time for my issues.
   On our trip to Duluth yesterday we had good views from the Blatnik Bridge over the Duluth/Superior harbor, which gave us a feel for what is happening with Great Lakes shipping as we plunge further into winter.
   The first photo above shows, from near to far; the ice within the harbor, Barker's Island (which forms the harbor breakwater),  the still-open waters of Lake Superior and the north shore of the lake and Canada in the far distance
  The second photo, looking south,  shows a huge grain elevator in the distance and the stern of a large grain ship in the foreground; the third photo shows the stern of the ship again, next to four grain bins.  It looked like the ship was still being loaded, and all three photos show that the ice has been broken up by the Coast Guard ice breaker so that ships can continue to enter and leave the harbor.  The huge grain and ore boats will continue to traverse the lake until the Soo locks between the eastern end of Lake Superior and Lake Huron are frozen shut.  Storms render this is a very dangerous time on the lake for even the thousand-foot ore boats.
   It is quite interesting to see the varied cargoes being shipped back and forth between Duluth and other US and international ports.  For instance, an outgoing ship containing iron ore from Minnesota may return with a cargo of coal from Pennsylvania.  And if unknowing and uncaring politicians and bureaucrats shut down the eastern coal fields through severe restrictions on the use of coal, that will negatively affect the cost of shipping iron ore from Minnesota.  And so on and on.  We cannot let distant, uncaring and ignorant authorities ruin a prosperous and very complicated American economy with politically correct decisions dictated by dogma promulgated by left-wing intellectuals!  We have been caught in that deadly trap for years, and we must escape it if we are to survive as a prosperous and free nation.
   Yesterday there were six ships arriving or departing from the harbor, carrying various commodities, such as grain, coal, salt and petroleum products, which are too bulky to transport at reasonable cost except by ship.
   To follow Great Lakes shipping real-time; name, length,  destination, cargo, flag, etc., go to BoatNerd.com.