New "Live Stream" camera feature

I am trying out a new video streaming service that may provide us a view from the LaFarge Camera that gives us a real-time view with little delay.  The new display can be selected from the "Live Stream" image at the top of column to the right.

Please take a look at the view. I would appreciate any feedback as to whether or not the service would be worthwhile for me to purchase.

If it is something that works for most of us, then I will take a look at adding it to the other cameras in addition to the existing views.

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Sunday 11/11/2012

Marietje Deborah Arrival

Cason J. Callaway departed at 01:40
American Integrity departed at 03:55
Lakes Contender/tug Ken Boothe, Sr. arrived at 07:05
Hon. James L. Oberstar arrived at 12:00
Marietje Deborah arrived at 16:40
James R. Barker arrived at 17:30
Lakes Contender/tug Ken Boothe, Sr. departed at 22:10

Harbor History: November 10, 1975: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

 A postcard of the Edmund Fitzgerald. (Image: X-Comm.)

This day on Lake Superior in 1975, as most readers are aware, the ore boat Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, taking all twenty-nine hands down with her. The previous day she had loaded 26,000 tons of taconite pellets at the Burlington Northern dock in Superior, Wisconsin, and left port at  2 p.m. that day, taking its cargo to Zug Island on the Detroit River. Just 39 minutes later, the gale warnings came in. It took the Fitzgerald until 1 a.m. to get 20 miles south of Isle Royale, battling 52-knot winds and ten-foot waves. At 7 a.m. the Fitzgerald reported 35-knot winds and ten-foot waves. At 3:30 in the afternoon, Fitzgerald Captain Ernest McSorley radios the Arthur Anderson, who is trailing the Fitz, and tells Captain Cooper his vessel had sustained “some topside damage.” and asked the Anderson to keep the Fitz in her sights. Forty minutes later the Fitz radioed the Anderson once again, announcing that her radar equipment had failed and asking for the Anderson’s assistance. Things got steadily worse for the Fitzgerald, and by 6 p.m. it was listing badly. At 7:10 the Fitzgerald told the Anderson “We are holding our own.” At 7:25 the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared from the Anderson’s radar. For more information on the Fitzgerald sinking, visit S. S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online.

Tony Dierckins | Zenith City 

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Friday 11/9/2012

Alpena arrived at 04:11
Kaye E. Barker departed at 08:00
Cason J. Callaway arrived at 16:15
Alder arrived at 17:00

Duluth harbor Boat Traffic for Thursday 11/8/2012

Herbert C. Jackson departed at 01:00
Frontenac arrived at 14:00
Roger Blough departed at 14:50
Frontenac departed at 23:35

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Wednesday 11/7/2012

Paul R. Tregurtha arrived at 00:16
Indiana Harbor departed at 07:55
Alder departed at 10:43
Roger Blough arrived at 11:28
Paul R. Tregurtha departed at 18:30
Mesabi Miner departed at 18:30
Herbert C. Jackson arrived at 19:00

New Camera Installed

I have completed installing the new LaFarge camera.  I still have some adjustments, but, the basics are up and running.

Camera Upgrade

Lafarge Camera Location

FYI, I will be replacing the camera located on top of the LaFarge Silos (fourth camera from left on homepage) this afternoon. Expect an outage of several hours. The new camera is state of the art and should give us an incredible view of the Aerial Lift Bridge and harbor for years to come.

November 7, 1913: The “White Hurricane” begins

                                A lithographic postcard of the Huronic in Duluth, made between 1915 and 1925. (Image: X-Comm.)

This day in 1913 marks the start of one of the biggest storms sailors on the Great Lakes have ever experienced. The so-called “White Hurricane” (also called the “Big Blow” and the “Freshwater Fury”) was essentially a blizzard producing hurricane-force winds and technically considered an “extrapolated cyclone.” Between November 7 and 10 the storm produced 90 mph wind gusts, 35-foot waves, and whiteout snow squalls, beaching many large vessels. A lull in the storm on November 8 caused many to think the storm was over, and shipping traffic that had been delayed was resumed, sending more vessels out into what would soon become the teeth of the storm. Ports around the Great Lakes raised gale-warning flags, ignored by many ship captains. Cleveland was hit with 22 inches of snow. A brand-new $100,000 breakwater in Chicago was swept away. On Lake Superior, the Leafield was wrecked near Angus Island, taking 18 people down with it; theHenry B. Smith sunk near Marquette, Michigan, with 25 lives lost. Neither vessel has ever been found. Stranded on Lake Superior were the Fred G. Harwell, the J. T. Hutchinson, the Major, the William Nittingham, the Scottish Hero, the Turret Chief, the L. S.  Waldo, and the passenger steamer Huronic (some newspapers  mistakenly reported the Huronicas the Hamonic, its sistership). In all, nineteen ships were destroyed, nineteen other stranded, and 250 people died. Read Wikipedia's description of the storm here.
Contributed by: Tony Dierckins - Zenith City Press

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Tuesday 11/6/2012

CGC Alder 

American Century departed at 06:59
Herbert C. Jackson arrived at 07:25
Alder departed at 13:30
Great Lakes Trader departed at 14:30
Alder (US) arrived at 16:45
Indiana Harbor arrived at 20:15
Federal St. Laurent departed at 20:30
Herbert C. Jackson departed at 21:00
Mesabi Miner arrived at 22:30