Hot Air Balloons

Hot air balloons are incredible machines that capture a tremendous amount of energy into one big bubble. The balloons use propane to heat the air over 200 degrees before blowing it into the balloon. With a capacity of 7-10 million btu's, the burners are 30-40 times the capacity of a typical home furnace. These images from last weekends balloon festival show the visible light image alongside an image taken with a thermal camera.
note: the green-yellow blobs below the balloons are people.

Paul R Tregurtha departed Duluth 9/21/2014

After an eventful Saturday afternoon, the 1000 Ft Paul R Tregurtha departed Duluth at 00:20 Sunday morning.

Duluth Balloon Fest 2014

Manistee arrived Duluth 9/21/2014

Manistee arrived Duluth at 9:15 this morning

1000 Ft Paul R Tregurtha grounding

While there is speculation why the 1000 ft Paul R Tregurtha headed off course and went aground in front of Bayfront Park in Duluth this afternoon, there will be a full investigation over the next weeks.
The Tregurtha was pulled free by tugs after several hours sitting in the muck.

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In the following video, you can see the Tregurtha start to make it's final turn towards the bridge, but then you hear the emergency horn prior to seeing the boat stop.