Lake Superior
Eight winter sunsets over the harbor
Presented in order from my Instagram account @lakesuperioraquaman. These chronicle the freezing over and thawing out of the harbor, from 12/31 to 2/7. Each picture was taken from out behind Vikre Distillery after one Salty Dog.
Upcoming Duluthy Projects
This Duluth Canal Cam screenshot viewed in Austin, Texas suggests a worldwide performance staged here is not only possible, but desirable
1.) The Duluth Canal Cam Dancers and Marching Band. This is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 29, at 4:30 p.m.
Lake Superior Aquaman Interview with DailyPlanetDC.com
The comic book fan site interview
I Demand a Lakewalk
I demand a Lakewalk.
Retired engineer and geologist David Hoag wrote in a Jan. 22 Duluth News Tribune op-ed piece that he feels, “It would be much better to retreat,” than to “shore up, harden, and improve the lakeshore in areas near the Lakewalk and Brighton Beach that were battered by recent storms.”
Retreat to where? Are we going to let the lake have the rail line, and Fitger’s? Are we going to cede Canal Park to the lake? Are we going to abandon all infrastructure because it needs fixing? Are we going to tear down the bridge and the canal and move them to higher ground? Set fire to the ports? Should we flood the highway and designate it “boats only”? Is Leif Erikson Park to be abandoned to the waves, and we’ll just watch as it crumbles? Should we watch as Lake Superior undermines and claims the Rose Garden? Are our Park Point citizens to be forgotten? (more…)
Viking Octantis cruise ship plans Duluth stops in 2022
Another cruise line is planning stops in Duluth. WDIO News reports that Viking Cruises plans to bring its Viking Octantis, currently under construction, to port here multiple times in 2022. Two weeks ago the Duluth Monitor reported Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will bring the Hanseatic Inspiration to Duluth twice this summer.
Arrival of Hon. James L. Oberstar in Duluth
A crowd of photographers and ship watchers convened at Canal Park on Jan. 14 to watch the Oberstar glide through the icy water concluding its final voyage of the shipping season. Come along for the ride as the ship chugs out hot plumes of steam and cuts a path through the ice.
Snow-Fort City, Day 8
I am running for Mayor of #snowfortcity. (more…)
Freediving the Edmund Fitzgerald
It would be possible to dive to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the strength of a single breath. Even at the wreck’s depth of 530 feet, it might actually be safer to dive unsupported by scuba tanks than to scuba dive to it. This essay is intended to hypothetically explore the intersection of different types of diving, the wreck itself, and the lake in general. At a minimum, I am suggesting that the freediving possibilities of Lake Superior have not been fully explored.
My interest is provoked because I utilize some freediving breath-hold techniques in my underwater videography as Lake Superior Aquaman. I have never scuba dived, and so I think of the lake in freediving terms. I do not intend to offend the families of the deceased by invoking the Fitzgerald tragedy. However, its iconic stature as a deep wreck in Lake Superior makes it ideal for these illustrative purposes.
I am not suggesting any actual dives to the Fitzgerald. For one thing, both freediving and scuba diving present significant risks, especially beyond 100 feet deep. Also, it has been illegal to dive to the wreck since 2006, unless approved by the Canadian government in whose waters it lies. This is because of successful lobbying by the victims’ families to keep the wreck sacrosanct. (more…)
The Richardson Brothers Podcast: New Episode
This week: “SuperDuluth, the Living City,” a hallucinatory vision of the city awakening in a dream of light and water.
The Richardson Brothers: SuperDuluth, the Living City
richardsonbrothers.libsyn.com
Lake Superior Aquaman: My Origin Story
Aqualad and Aquadad
“Water is the commonest symbol for the unconscious.” – Carl Jung
How did I start dressing like Aquaman to chronicle my adventures in and around Lake Superior?
Looking ahead to winter: Snow-Fort City
Looking ahead to winter
It was a good summer. The lake was warm enough to swim for a span of several weeks. I took full advantage of the aqua-recreational opportunities, which I chronicled here. I have no natural love of fall, but this year I am looking at it as what it is: the long, slow, beginning of winter. And since I feel fortified against the coming colder weather, snowfall, and ice conditions, I am making plans. (more…)
Summer Surf on Stoney Point
This video by Erik Wilkie documents a Sept. 3 surf outing at Stoney Point on Lake Superior, just south of Knife River.
Lake Superior Aquaman’s Duluth
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13xUzaotRXCX4Q5tX_01IiJbDvUmJEYW5&usp=sharing
I first launched this sort-of virtual tour of the area in January 2018. I just updated it with more than 30 new features, including more than 130 new photos, several video links, links to news articles, the paths of my various “skate patrols” and “flamingo patrols,” The People’s Free Skate, a greater spread through the region, and all my latest activities. Enjoy.
Video: Pictured Rocks Cliff Collapse
Minnesota-based nature photographers Jon Smithers and Craig Blacklock shot this video near Shipwreck Point on Lake Superior’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore at Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. When a section of the sandstone cliff collapses, a group of kayakers is just far enough away to avoid injury.
Hey look, a 45-inch Lake Superior trout
Nearly 4-foot lake trout might have been state record - Duluth News Tribune | News, weather, and sports from Duluth, Minnesota
Monster trout caught and released near Duluth Friday was 45 1/2 inches long.
duluthnewstribune.com
Caught by Steven Gotchie and Jordan Korzenowski on Lake Superior, about five miles out from the Aerial Lift Bridge.
Lake Superior Trust Fall
Lake Superior water temps rise to roughly 60°F in late July, but even that can feel like a “frigid ice box” for folks like photographer Kip Praslowicz.
Lake Superior Aquaman in internal St. Louis County weekly news recap
Someone sent this along.
Duluth Rock-Skipping Contest Recap
Duluth skipped its way toward competing internationally yesterday at the inaugural People’s Free Rock-Skipping Contest. (more…)
Duluth rock-skipping takes rightful place as greatest thing ever
With Duluth’s natural renewable bounty of perfect skipping rocks, the time is now to claim the mantle of one of the top rock-skipping destinations in the world. I propose a Duluth League that plays by its own rules, owing to our iconoclastic position as Outdoor Adventure Capital of the United States. Envision a day when Duluth’s rock-skipping force fans out over the globe to win championships and decimate festivals. Tomorrow (Saturday July 13, 2PM Leif Erikson Park) will usher in such an age. A Facebook comment about the contest said, “I remember a rock-skipping contest in Duluth in the 1950s.” It’s revealing of Duluth’s decades-long funk that this never blossomed into an annual contest, or festival, in the intervening 70 years. By comparison, look at what the Michiganders of Mackinac Island have going: they just had the 51st Annual Stone Skipping Competition and the Governor comes and skips the first stone. If Duluth had kept its 1950s contest going, we’d be ahead of Mackinac Island by 20 years… (more…)
Announcing the People’s Free Rock-Skipping Contest
This Saturday, July 13, 2PM, Leif Erikson Park beach. Prizes are gift certificates etc. donated from local businesses (Pizza Luce, Vikre Distillery, Hoops Brewing, Sir Ben’s, Global Village, Whole Foods Co-op, Duluth Coffee Company). If the weather turns on us we will reschedule, but it’s supposed to be full sun and little-to-no wind, which is critical for great rock-skipping. From the folks behind the People’s Free Skate, this is the first of what must become an ongoing rock-skipping festival, either annually or more, a lifestyle choice. Aren’t we having informal rock-skipping contests all summer anyway? All I know is, Lake Superior produces truly great skipping rocks, and Duluth deserves to be known as The Rock-Skipping Capitol of the World. Read on for contest rules!
Lake patrol continues
Working closely with the Sheriff to keep y’all safe over the past few days.