Would you look at that?

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!

Ahoy to the South Street Seaport

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
-F. Scott Fitzgerald Look out- you're going to hit Manhattan!
SFS and I took a little trip to the South Street Seaport this weekend, which is next to the Financial District overlooking the East River. It features some of the oldest architecture in downtown NYC and includes the largest concentration of restored early 19th century commercial buildings in the city. The seaport also includes mercantile buildings and sailing ships from the early colonial period. Check out those boats!
Here's a little bit of information on the Peking: The four-masted barque Peking represents the final chapter in the evolution of merchant vessels powered only by wind. Launched in Hamburg, Germany in 1911, she was used to carry manufactured goods to South America and to return via Cape Horn with nitrate. In 1932, she was retired and moored in England's Medway River where she served for over 40 years as a boys' school under the name Arethusa. In 1975, Peking was acquired by the museum and towed to her current home at Pier 16. With a steel hull as long as a football field, and masts as tall as an 18-story building, Peking is one of the largest sailing vessels ever built and the largest preserved by a museum.
On the other side of Pier 16 is the Ambrose: The Ambrose lightship was built in 1908 to guide ships safely from the Atlantic Ocean into the broad mouth of lower New York Bay between Coney Island, New York and Sandy Hook, New Jersey—an area filled with sand bars and shoals invisible to approaching vessels. While a lighthouse is normally used for this purpose, the water here was too deep, and the bottom too soft, and this floating alternative was devised. South Street's Ambrose lightship occupied her original station until 1933, and then served as the Scotland lightship closer to Sandy Hook until 1963. She was given to the museum by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1968. In addition to the moored boats, there are lots of other vessels to available for tours/private rentals... just like this one!
At the end of the pier, there's a pretty spectacular view of the Brooklyn Bridge. (NOTE: You might have noticed by now that the sky looked pretty ominous on Saturday. Apparently Hurricane Bill was on the way- but the weather held, and SFS and I didn't see rain all day... just thought I'd throw that in there! But the clouds make things look pretty cool, right?)
Look at this handsome guy!
I just loved how these old ships looked against the backdrop of the Financial District.
SFS liked it too- this "model pose" was all his idea... I swear!!
Amazing!
So there you have it- South Street Seaport on a Saturday afternoon. Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great Wednesday!