My April Diary
(NOTES BY DONNA M RASMUSSEN A.K.A MRS. CAPTAIN) Photos taken
with her new Canon Rebel Xti...:o)
Normally
I don't think most people post their Diary's on the internet. However, because
of recent events, and your interest in my web site I've decided to fill you
in on a few things that happen here being a wife of a Great lakes Sailor.
So here goes.:o)
My
husband Anders was called back to work the end of March after having one really
nice long winters vacation together. If you read my last story in December
2006 you would of read that we got home together January 7th for the start
of Anders winter holidays. His ship the Algolake would be laid up until Spring.
We had a great winter traveling to Vermont
( see more photos I took there on my hobby page)
a couple
times and also to South Carolina to visit my Mom and my brother in Myrtle
Beach. 
We
returned home the end of February because of the Algoma winter meetings. This
is where we find out Anders schedule for the following season along with when
the ship will fit out for the upcoming season as well. Word was that it would
be the end of the next month and the call came that they would need him on
the 25th of March. There was a lot to do since they were going to tip the
ship to replace a prop blade so they needed the Captain guy around to oversee
that procedure. Now the ship was in Sarnia which is only 3 hours away from
home but, I let the limo come get him. I love picking him up and I'll drive
where ever to do it.(In the past have driven 10 hours to see that Man walk
off that ship!) But, I draw the line at taking him to work, to put it bluntly
I hate it. People always tell me, " Donna, what do you have to complain
about? He's been home with you all winter. " You know I really can't
explain it, only can say after you've been with someone 24 hours a day 7 days
a week and then all of a sudden they are gone. You notice that. Sure we talk
on the phone, I am totally spoiled in that aspect. Anders calls me 3 or 4
times a day, but the absence of seeing his forever smiling face or getting
a hug from that big sailor guy is something that takes me a bit to get used
to being without. So meanwhile he's at the dock in Sarnia for pretty much
a week with all the inspections and the work that the still needed to do.
Takes pretty much all my will to not hop in the car and drive up there!
So finally the ship was underway April 2nd. First trip was to the fuel dock then all the way to Superior , Wisconsin to load the ship with Coal for the Hydro plant here down the road. Well that was a great thing as I knew it should be there the 8th of April at 11:00AM and I' ld be able to pick him up and bring him home while the ship was unloading at the plant. So I was expecting a great present from the Easter Bunny.:o) But alas the ETA was changing, a gale blowing on Lake Superior , from the North was going to keep the "coolbeans" at anchor in Detour until it calmed down. Well , the gale turned to a storm and before you knew it, there were 8 ships anchored with him and more all along the St. Mary's River and more in Whitefish Bay. No sense in fooling around on Lake Superior for sure. Made me feel better to know he was safe at anchor but the storm was changing his arrival at Nanticoke by the hour, oh by the day actually. The ship ended up being at Anchor for 5 days before the weather cleared enough to get safely across the big Lake. There was still ice in the St. Marys river but luckily he got clear of it. One ship behind him, can't remember which one though, but that ship got stuck and had to wait all night until the Coast Guard could come free it. So my ETA was now April 13th at 8AM . Well that didn't take long to change as once the Ship got to Superior, there was a line up of ships that had been anchored for weather and now they were all showing up to load at the same place. ETA now April 13th 1PM. No make that 6PM now.:o) Course Anders had to tell me that the 13th , was a Friday.....so Friday the 13th...hmmmm
The ship was loaded and underway towards Nanticoke when another Gale started on lake Huron from the East, just can't win! So the anchor went out again in the same place in Detour ! I sure am glad the Algolake has good strong anchors! I was glad all the crew was safe for sure, but now my ETA was April 14th at 8AM. Down the lake the ship went the next day and through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers. Meanwhile all those ships that loaded in Superior were unloading in Nanticoke. Another problem, more wind down here which was preventing them from being able to make the dock safely! What a crazy April it has been so far! ETA now was changed to April 14th 1PM but it wasn't long before it was changed to April 15th 8AM. Okay, there he was anchored in Long Point Bay. If you don't know where we live, well let me clue you in..:o) If I got in the car and drove 15 minutes I' ld see the ship along with 3 others waiting in the bay . I didn't by the way as I've see the ship anchored in that bay before! So close but yet so far away hits hard! :o)
Finally the last ship in line before him gets to the dock so the Algolake is next in line. I am preparing for a phone call for my one hour notice on the ships arrival to the dock around 2AM. The phone rings and I hop up and get ready to go pick him up. The dogs are all excited to go pick up their "daddy" so we all load in the car and drive down to the plant. I flash my ID to the guard at the gate and he tells me that the ship at the dock was just leaving so it was going to be at least another 1/2 hour before the Algolake is at the dock. Hmmm , I thought, Anders usually is right on with my one hour notice so I think that the guard is wrong but I go park the car to wait anyway. So an hour later , as I've been playing solitaire on my cell phone, the guard signals that I can drive down to the ship to pick up my sailor guy. I find out that the ship at the dock couldn't get their engines started so Anders had to sit off the dock and sort of "idle" while he waited! Interesting , glad that there wasn't too much more wind! So I got to bring Anders home we got back around 4AM and visited a bit then exhaustion set in and we went to bed to rise later around 9AM. Play our usually backgammon game , had some breakfast and then the phone rang. The ship was almost finished unloading so 10AM I'm driving him back to the ship. It was so great to see him but oh I didn't want to bring him back for anything.
I'm going to take a trip with him in the Welland canal before I head east to visit my daughter and son in Vermont. So now the ETA's are going again and even now as I type this , another Gale is blowing out on our Lake and Anders ship is anchored again right in the same place it was before he got home , in Long Point Bay. 40 Knot North winds pretty much impossible to go out in the middle of the lake to clean up the ship, plus pretty impossible to get to Toledo where the ship is headed. So I wait. Right now he says it looks like I'll be meeting him around Midnight in the canal in a few days....so I guess I'm going to have to change my sleep patterns so I can stay awake the 10 hours in the canal with him..!!!