While the lighthouses in Duluth were amazing (remember my post from yesterday?), the real reason we went to the shore while we were in town was to see a ship.
I know- that doesn't sound too entertaining- but do you see that boat in the distance?
(Yes, that one to the left of the lighthouse!)
Well, it was HUGE...
And it was headed straight for us!
A few times a day, hugs ships like this pass through the canal on their way to and from the rest of the great lakes.
And when I say big, I mean BIG!
The M/V Paul R. Tregurtha is 1,013.5 feet long!
The number was hard for me to fathom... but if you stood this boat up on it's end, it would fall just a few feet shorter than the Chrysler Building here in NYC (which stands 1047 feet).
Isn't that incredible?
The boat passed by us at around 11:30am, on its way to load coal at Midwest Energy.
Here's an interesting tidbit: the M/V Paul R. Tregurtha is the flagship boat for The Interlake Steamship Company.
She (because boats are female, right?) is also the longest ship on the Great Lakes!
The ship can carry 68,000 gross tons of freight- or in this instance, 68,000 gross tons of taconite pellets or 71,000 net tons of coal. (This means nothing to me, but I suspect the male and/or scientist/engineer readers of this blog will send me an email to tell me what that means!)
Built in 1981...
This ship was originally names the William J. Delancey...
But in 1990 was renamed the Tregurtha after the Vice-Chairman of the Board at Interlake.
I've gotta say- that's a pretty cool corporate incentive! If only my job named cool things after its employees... that would be awesome!
After the Tregurtha loaded her coal in Minnesota, she was scheduled to head back to Michigan to unload in St. Clair and Monroe.
According to some paperwork distributed in Duluth, the "Paul R." as she is commonly called, it considered the classiest laker sailing today.
I suspect this couple on the back of the ship agreed- since they didn't look like they were hard at work, we suspected that they were staying in the ship's berth.
Considering how long the ship was, it steamed through the canal pretty quickly!
The engine horsepower is 17,120, which should explain a lot!
Not only does the ship move quickly, but it also works efficiently.
Her unloading system and 260-foot boom empty her five cargo holds in about eight hours.
It was a total fluke that this great ship happened to be passing through town when we were there...
So I feel pretty lucky to have seen such a great machine in action!
But before I knew it...
The ship was gone, the bridge was lowered, and everything was back to normal!
If you're ever in Duluth, I highly recommend heading down to the canal to watch the big ships pass through- it's so interesting!
Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!
