Monday, May 19, 2014

A Fog Shrouded Mesabi Miner

I was waffling about going back to the Canal Park because I didn't think I would catch her before it got dark.
 Also, it was pretty foggy.  I was thinking she might wait outside the breakwater until the fog lifted.
 You could barely see the channel.  I kept an eye on AIS to make sure she didn't stop.  If she ended up stopping, I would get back in the car and head back to the hotel.
There is still a fair amount of ice.  I've read some stories that say the ice may be around into June.  That is pretty amazing when you think about it.
 A fog shrouded Aerial Bridge.  It was still raining a little bit and with the wind whipping from the lake, it was pretty cold.
 I could barely see across the channel.
 As I got closer to the North Lighthouse, I could hear the sound of metal passing through ice.  The foghorn of the South Light would sound every so often.  As the sound of metal got louder, the Mesabi Miner started to return the horn sounds.  Hers was much louder though.
 Soon, I could start to make out the shape of the Mesabi Miner.  It is hard to think of fog so thick, that even the thousand footer is obscured.
 I knew that I wasn't going to get a full shot of her, but this is pretty cool
 A shot of her bow.
 Based on this picture, I would say visibility was about 300 feet.  I could kind of make out the pilothouse.
 And the pilothouse starts to emerge.
 A little clearer.
 She passes the entrance.
 And starts to slip back into the fog.
 As you can, see there was quite a bit of ice in the channel.  It must have shifted.
And soon, I could only make out her light.

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