When I’m in Duluth during the summer I try to make it down to the Waterfront Plaza Marina where the sport fishing boats are docked. I usually see them heading out when I’m photographing the sunrise. They come back in around 11:30 and 4:30. It is fun to see what they are catching. This year was a very good year. In past years I’ve seen people return with no fish but every time I watched this year they had fish and usually quite a few fish. This was clearly the best day I had witnessed.
I spend a few days wandering around the Duluth, Minnesota waterfront taking photos of various things. These are some of the photos that didn’t fit into any particular category.
A carnival was at the DECC during the fourth of July week. I happened to walk by in the evening and took a photo just before the rides closed for the evening.
I’ve always wanted to stand in the road and take a photo of the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge as it was going up. I finally had the opportunity.
It was a foggy morning in Duluth. I happened to be walking along the Lakewalk toward Fitger’s just as the fog was lifting.
A photo of the Waterfront Plaza Marina.
Construction continues along the slip for the Pier B Resort. Later in the day we stopped by the Silos Restaurant for lunch. I had by firs Lamb Burger. Probably was thinking of Lamb because of our recent trip to Iceland.
The Vista Star tour boat approaching the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge.
Late in the evening I noticed some nice color in the sky over Lake Superior so I decided to take a late evening walk along the lakewalk to the harbor entrance. By the time I had reached the lighthouses I noticed the sky had lost some of its color.
North Breakwater Light
As I looked back over the city I noticed that there were some clouds that were just reaching peak color.
Waterfront
I walked from the lighthouses under the lift bridge toward Waterfront Plaza. The clouds had reached peak color over the hills above Duluth. I took several shots of Waterfront Plaza and the surrounding area with the sunset in the background.
Waterfront Plaza Marina
Waterfront Plaza Marina
Water Towers
The sun quickly set so I walked over to Bayfront Park to get some photos of the reflections off of the harbor. There was almost no breeze to interfere with the reflections. The only thing making it difficult was the number of mosquitoes.
Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge
Blatnick Bridge
Late one afternoon I was on a walk along the Duluth Harbor and notice some beautiful reflection shots in the water.
A few photographs of the sunrise shot from Canal Park in Duluth, Minnesota.
North Breakwater Light Duluth Minnesota
North Breakwater Light Duluth Minnesota
Waterfront Plaza Marina Duluth Minnesota
When I’m in Duluth I can’t happen but notice the sport fishing fleet as in heads out of and into the harbor. The fleet gathers on the harbor side of the Aerial Lift Bridge at sunrise. When the Lift Bridge rises they usually head out through the Ship Canal in mass. I usually try to be on the end of one of the breakwaters so I can get a photo of them heading out into the sunrise.
They usually come back to the docks around eleven thirty in the morning. If I’m in the area I try to be at the docks to see if they had any success.
Around one thirty in the afternoon they head back out with their afternoon clients. They return again around five thirty.
A couple of weeks ago there was an article in the Duluth New Tribune about a new locally owned boat company that is building a hybrid boat. The Hull is aluminum and the rest of the boat is made of wood. Two of their boats can be seen at Canal Park Boat Rental which is located next to the blue bridge in Waterfront Plaza Marina. They are on the pricy side, running 35-40 thousand dollars.
In an earlier post I had posted some landpool shots from the Duluth Ship Canal. Because the water was so calm I walked over to the harbor area and took a few more shots. This is a shot of the convention center reflected in the harbor.
These two shots are of the William A. Irvin reflected in the Waterfront Plaza Marina.
The final shot is of the Vista Star anchored in the harbor.
More photos from canal Park can be found on my website.
Early in the morning I normally walk out to the Lakefront using the walkway next to the Canal Park Brewery. I taken this path many times but this is the first time I noticed this shot. It was take at the end of the walkway.
A little while later I noticed this dawn shot of Lake Superior with East Duluth in the background.
After sunrise I walked over to the Waterfront Plaza Marina. This photo shows the William A. Irvin on the left with the commercial fishing boats and sailboats on the right.
More photos from Canal Park can be found on my website.
At sunrise almost every day the Duluth sports charter fishing fleet leaves the harbor at sunrise. This last visit was no exception. Usually they all gather at the lift bridge and head leave the harbor at the same time. This particular weekend they headed out in smaller groups. The lift bridge went up about five times in less than an hour to let them out.
The charters usually are for a half day so just before noon they return to Waterfront Plaza Marina to drop off the morning charters and then head out again with the afternoon charters. I had never gone down to watch them come in and clean the catch but last weekend we had some time so my wife and I walked down to take in the event.
It usually involves hanging the days catch on some hooks for a photo session then cleaning the days catch.
We happened to be at the harbor when the blue pedestrian bridge over the marina entrance came down when a cable broke. I noticed it was down when I was taking photos. You can just see it over the left arm of the fellow cleaning the fish. Turned out it was a major problem. The charter fishing boats that were in the marina couldn’t get out and those out fishing couldn’t get back in. It took several days to repair.
Philip Schwarz Photography Blog 