Page 40 - 2011 Lake St. Clair Guide Magazine
P. 40
Nelson's Sand Bar Restaurant & Marina ence of the area, but does not run the ship.
on Bouvier Bay / northern Anchor Bay On a 1000’ ship, when you are in the
Best SthuensLaekt eV!iew Pilot House, which is in the back of the
on ship, you cannot see 800 feet in front of
you. There are bow looks outs, however.
10 TV's including 4 Big Screens When fully loaded, it takes more than
New menu with daily lunch, dinner, & drink specials one mile to stop. As is everyone’s fear
when fishing in the rivers, one time Dave
Boat wells starting at $500 said they almost ran over a boat under the
Gated & Secured Boat/Trailer Storage at only $.75/day Blue Water Bridge when a guy was right
in the middle of the river and couldn’t
Transient Dockage get his boat started. Another dumb thing
he’s seen are people trying to touch the
See map page 4 for vicinity - page 16 for GPS ship while the ship is moving in the river
(dumb!)
Plenty of dockage at restaurant, Phone: 586-725-5355
stop on by & dine inside or out! When you’re off for 8 hours, it can get
boring. To help pass the time, there is the
7479 Dyke Road (M29), Clay Twp., MI internet, satellite TV, internet movies, a
library, and a weight room. There are also
Life Aboard a Freighter Cont. from pg 36 crew with you, and on the Great Lakes it’s card nights with poker, Euchre, etc. Dave
As for time, it takes about 6 days for a spends time lifting weights and keeping
1000’ ship to start in Duluth, MN and do more common to have a different crew up with the sporting world.... Geez, what
a complete round trip. A 1000’ freighter did guys do before internet, satellite TV,
averages speeds of 15-16 miles per hour. which makes it difficult to have consisten- and cell phones?
No speed limits are on the lakes and
certain areas are limited to 8-12 mph on cy. Crew members are Dave’s worst weather experience so
the rivers. You do see some competition far has been 15 footers on northern Lake
all on different rotations, Loading the Michigan...on the ocean he was in 20
Typical Crew Quarters some for only 30 days,
between the ships, since some ships are some for 60. There are Pathfinder footers in the
faster. You commonly see races to the Caribbean. He
Soo Locks where 80% of the ships can not many women on the said he doesn’t
only use one lock. If you get beat you get scared...or
generally lose 1 hour of time. freighters, you run into seasick...he’s
an adrenalin
There are typically 18-28 crew on the one or two occasionally. junkie. We’ll
ship. You don’t always have the same ask him again
Dave works four in 10 years.
Unloading in
Manitowok, Wisconsin, hours on and 8 hours off When you
on Lake Michigan pull into a port,
24 hours a day, seven and you’re
not on watch,
days a week on naviga- you are free to
get off the ship...as long as you get back
tional watch, and then before your watch begins or they leave!
On the Great Lakes, it’s go-go-go, so
loading and unloading
One Engine
cargo. As an officer, Dave is also respon-
there’s not as much time in port as when
sible to oversee daily operations, includ- he worked the Ocean. Your family is also
allowed to visit on board also if they pull
ing deck maintenance, safety checks, into a port and they’re nearby.
unloading plans, and chart corrections. The food on board is pretty good.
You don’t get any choices; you just eat
Safety checks are run regularly to ensure whatever the steward (chef) cooks. You
everything is up to Coast Guard specifica-
tions.
The most stress on board usually
comes when loading or unloading the
vessel. While unloading, the bending
movements of the equipment in the wrong
place can cause the ship to fail, or crack
structural members. Also, it's precarious
entering the St. Clair River from Lake
Huron because you gain 5-8 mph more
speed with the fast current rushing under
the Blue Water Bridge.
I heard about pilots and Dave said that
when a foreign vessel travels through the
Great Lakes (a salty), an American pilot
must board for the transit of the vessel.
He’s there for his knowledge and experi-
