Mrs Captains December Sailing Story page two

Mrs Captains December Trip 2006 page two

We spent the night at anchor having a nice dinner while watching a movie I had brought from home. Anders got the weather forecast which said there was a Gale warning with southwest winds to 35knots. We stayed put until around 5AM when he got up and checked the forecast again. He says, "Okay we are going" so that's what we did, we get dressed , go up to the wheelhouse, tell the mate to take the watchman and go up to the windlass room and crank up the anchor, then off we go full speed ahead. By 6:30AM we were underway. (12/20) We had a nice trip up the lake , we took the western shore line so the waves weren't bad at all. Took a nap around 2PM since we' ld be up late again tonight getting into Thunder Bay. I woke up around 3:30 to the sound of Anders bathroom door swinging back and forth. So he got up and tied it up so it wouldn't bang around. Now that's something we don't have at home. Ropes to tie our doors up! Its pretty funny when the ship is rolling I went into brush my teeth later on that afternoon and I started laughing because while I'm trying to stand up I notice my body compensating for the fact that I am leaning forward than backward. Its pretty funny actually. When I look out the window the horizon is going up , then it goes down over and over again! Wheeeeee!!! The photos below I took while we were underway to Thunder bay. The data on the first photo says it was taken at 8:05AM the last one in this series at 8:48AM just a pretty start to the morning.

This photo at 4:08PM was an attempt to show the waves and the ship working in them but its pretty hard to do. Thought I would include it anyway though as the water was just so pretty!

We could see the mountains of Thunder Bay in the horizon when the sun starting setting around 5PM that afternoon.

We got to the terminal and the unloading gear noise started around 7PM that night. We went to bed around 10 then got up when the noise stopped around 7AM the next morning.

Look what we saw out the window then.

We went down for breakfast but I brought my camera with me so to take photos of the amazing sunrise while we were down having breakfast. Took advantage of grabbing a quick shot of the 2nd cook (Jackie) and AB ( Sam) while in the Galley. ( They are married by the way! Great that they get to work on the same ship! )

Good thing I brought my camera downstairs the view just kept getting better!

This was a weird thing to me. We were unloading coal , then loading coal at the same dock, Yep it was different coal. :o) I've learned so many things since I met Anders 7 years ago! So, we were going to be here awhile so took advantage of it and went into town to go visit one of the ships crew who is in the hospital there in Thunder bay. ( Anyone who's reading this story, please say a prayer for Mike ) We spent some time there with him then went to the mall for a bit , had lunch and did a bit of shopping for things Anders needed for the ship.

When we got back to the ship it was a pretty sunny day and we noticed the Montreal Canadians flag was flying high since they had beat Anders team the night befoe. Allso the

coal pile the ship had unloaded looked about the same as it did when we left! It was going to take awhile for the shore crew to move a Coal pile of 30,000 net tons .Considering what they are moving it !!!

3 dump trucks being loaded by one pay loader, with the dump trucks driving from the dock to the power plant a few miles away! I wonder if its all moved yet as I write this. :o) Below are some of the views I saw from the wheelhouse while waiting to get the heck out of here.:o) I love the mountains here they are so very beautiful even on cloudy days!

We were getting ready to go that evening after dinner. The sun was setting behind Thunder Bay.

At this point on December 21st I'm going nuts. First Anders hears that we are going to be laying up early , then a couple days later someone else tells him that the ship will be out until Mid January. Then a few days later something different. The crew is asking Anders every day what he's hearing about lay up, but he just says when he knows then he'll tell them. Its really tough now, they all just want to go home. Me, well I just want to bring Anders home, I know I can't stay until Mid January the kennel would cost a fortune! So we discuss where I would get off if indeed the ship does make more trips to stay out later than the first part of January. Not something I want to happen but I knew we had to make the plans just in case.

On Friday the 22nd of December we are still out on Lake Superior on our way to the St. Mary's River. We got up around 7AM today the ship is gently chugging along with the occasional bounce from the waves. I slept great last night! I tried to catch the waves breaking over the bow but everytime a big one would fly up there I wasn't ready! oh well these aren't too bad..:o) These photos were taken in Whitefish Bay where we actually had winds as high as 42knots.

By the time we got to the river it was raining like crazy, this is what I was seeing out the window, luckily Anders center windows have windshield wipers. BIG ONES!

With the warm air and the rain there was alot of fogginess in the air. Below are some photos of the ships we met on the way to the locks.

The foggy air made for intersting photos, here we are going by Point Louise, one of the call in points in the river. Anders was hoping that the crew at the soo would give him the Poe Lock since the wind was so very strong it would keep him right up on the wall there , the McArthur Lock the wind would be pushing him off. The center photo shows the channel in the water, the darker water being deeper, that is quite visable most of the way down the river. The Last photo, the St. Clair dissappearing in the fog on their way out to Lake Superior.

The Poe Lock it was and these are the last photos I took while there as it was getting increasingly darker all the time. In fact going down the river there wasn't a star in the sky and there was fog coming in too. Many times we couldn't even see the range lights , which are VERY bright! But of course they've got lots of other ways to navigate the river, so Anders had his eyes on the radar screen most of the way. A little more work for him for sure. By the time we got out at Detour around 10:30PM that night (12/22) It was really foggy, so the fog horn was turned on , I love hearing that fog horn.:o)

(Photos below are of the international bridge between Sault Ste Marie, Canada and Sault Ste Marie, USA many times the traffic is backed up way across the bridge, tonight it was pretty light though)

Anders had listened to the weather forecast and there is another gale blowing ( typical for this time of year since the water was still pretty warm and the air was turning colder, their is sort of a war between the elements so to speak..) The winds were blowing out on the lake at SW 35Knots with gusts to 40. When I looked at Anders to see what he was thinking he says " ahh, 40 Knot gusts are no big deal , its just like a puff, puff. :o) We were however going to go the western shore to stay out of the worst of it. The waves were expected to be 4 meters, or 11 feet high.

We got up around 7:30 the next morning after a good nights sleep and saw that the lake was pretty choppy indeed. Makes me wonder what the middle of the lake looked like, we for sure were riding nicely and everyone was much safer over here closer to the shore. Anders strongly believes in weather routing which makes me very happy and his crew too. You can tell they trust him and his decisions, he takes care of his crew and his ship really well. Its now Saturday December 23rd. The waves even over here near the shore are 8-10 feet high. Around 8:30AM, Anders and I went up to the wheelhouse as there was going to be a course alteration and he wanted to do it so the ship took it smoothly and safely. He called down to the deck hands, engineers, the galley etc and told them what was going on so that they would be prepared if the ship rolled a bit. Then he told us all in the wheelhouse "If the ship takes a dip and things start flying around up here then just let them fly, people get hurt that way." So we all got prepared and he started altering course 5 degrees at a time. Things went fine but it was pretty neat watching the water fight with the ship with the waves flying over the ships side and the water almost "boiling" , there sure was alot of wind fighting with the ship too. But there was no "dipping" Photos below show the effects of the water and wind on the ship as we made that alteration to head for the St. Clair River. You could hear other Captains calling ships that were in different areas to find out wind and seas information. At one point the Captain of the Sam Laud called Anders to ask him how it was when he made his alteration for the river, after that it wasn't long before he was on the same course that Anders had picked for us to follow.

The photos here show the horizon "dip"a bit as the ship rolls a bit in the process.

Later on that morning Anders and I went down for some left over breakfast then came back up as he had work to do at his desk. I was talking to him at one point and hes looking right at me and his chair rolled across the office I starting laughing hysterically it was so very funny! My chair didn't roll since it didn't have wheels but his sure did! He told me about some of the times when he would have to anchor his foot on his desk so he could sit there and work while the ship was rolling in the seas. We took a nap after lunch then that stupid buzzer next to Anders bed went off to tell him that it was one hour to bouys 11 and 12. Time to get up, take a shower and go up to the wheelhouse. It was around 3PM it was going to be a long trip to Detroit. I looked out the window and it was raining again and really foggy. Weird December thats for sure!

Here we are approaching the river, you can see the Bluewater bridge in the fog, it connects Sarnia, Ontario with Port Huron, Michigan. In the night it is lit up with blue lights. Then there is my light house again. This time I caught it shining its light on us. :o)

Below are the light displays in Port Huron, I took tons of photos of them but on a moving ship in the dark it wasn't too easy.

The river was pretty quiet tonight for the most part. Anders let the Sam Laud pass by us on Lake St. Clair since we were going to be checking down to make the turn into the Rouge River. Below you can see the city of Detroit, it sure is beautiful with all the lights at night. Next there is the Casino in Windsor, Ontario. I must have taken 50 photos to try to get this shot. I like the rainbow colors!

When we were almost to the Rouge, Anders found out that the John J. Boland was already at the dock there unloading at Zug Island, the agent thought that they would be done by the time we got there so he hadn't told us about him going to that dock. Anders tried over and over to get someone at their ship to answer the radio or phone but was having no luck so the tug that we had coming to assist the ship into the river went over to talk to the mate on the Boland to find out when they were leaving and to get someone to radio us to let us know what was going on. Meanwhile the Manastee had been fueling across the river at Sterling Fuel and was ready to go but needed to turn in the river as they would be going downbound to Lake Erie. All of a sudden things were getting really busy! Finally the Boland got ahold of Anders and told him that they were about done unloading there at Zug Island but they were thinking of staying there because they wanted to go to sterling fuel but thought that another ship coming up the river was going to beat him there. After a bit of discussion the Boland said they'ld leave and take the Manastees place as the other ship coming up wasn't in the area yet. So as we went by Sterling the Mannastee started her turn right off the fuel dock. Then shortly after while Anders was making his turn in the river the Manastee snuck right behind us to head down the river. Then we hung out in the river to wait for the Boland to come out so we could take their place. Photos below are my best attempt of photographing the Boland coming out of the Rouge River entrance.

After we got in there and everything was secure, we headed downstairs I was so happy that Immigration said I didn't have to go ashore to see them like the last time I was here! Its midnight now, the beginning of Christmas Eve Day. The unloading gear started up and we went to bed. It was still running when we got up at 7AM. We had breakfast and I'm still really tired. Anders had alot of paper and computer work to do so I went up to the wheelhouse to take a few "scenic" shots of Detroit. :o) Photo below shows the pile of coal that was coming off the ship ontop of another pile already there! Then there is the Rouge River Bridge where my friend Wade works but I don't think he was there today.

By looking at this wet yucky "dock" I could see why Immigration didn't come down to see me, yuckers!

Another hockey flag flying , this one for the Bruins. I bought this flag for Marvin seeing as though he was the only one cheering for the Bruins and they are the team I root for too. I guess they must have won last night since the flag was flying high! ( Anders thought this hockey team flag flying competion would be a good moral booster since its pretty tough time of year for these guys to be out here. They sure were having fun with it too!)

Then we got the news that they didn't expect we'ld be done til around 3 this afternoon. By this time I was pretty sick of hearing that unloading gear noise, its sounded like we had a room next to a construction site. We had a nap after lunch and after I put a pillow over my head to block some of the noise I was out like a burnt out lightbulb! Normally the noise doesn't even bother me but it had been going on for over 12 hours now and it was getting old! :o) We went down after we got up around 1pm to get some left over lunch and watched football on TV until it was time to get out of there. Photo below shows the guys lined up looking at that last cargo hold watching it empty out. They are ready to get out of here too!

If a steel plant can be pretty, I guess its at night with the lights and flames, although pretty is only skin deep right?

So we FINALLY we out of there 5:30PM I went down to the galley to bring Anders and I some dinner to eat in the wheelhouse. It was chicken wing night. :o) He backed the ship out of the Rouge and we were on our way back up the Detoit River. It was Christmas eve, as you can see Anders is dressed for the occassion below. He is relieving Sam the AB and there is the 3rd Mate Audrey in Command. You can see our only Christmas decoration sitting on the table there. Its a singing Hallmark decoration that Audrey bought in Thunderbay, it was so very cute! I took a video of it when it was playing to send my daughter over my cell phone. Anders had Audrey navigate the river the whole time she was on watch. Its pretty neat that shes 24 years old and doing this. Hope to see her back next season! She thought it was pretty weird though when Anders sat down behind the wheel and she had to give him orders :o) It was a pretty quite river tonight. It was also a pretty sad place to be on Christmas Eve. The mood was pretty sullen thoughout the whole ship, even though they all were trying . Going up the river we could see everyones homes with all their pretty Christmas lights in and out. And could see families with their children very excited about Christmas coming the next day. Everybody here was wishing they were home with their famlies as well. It made me really sad when the guys would tell us about how they'ld be talking to their children on the phone and they are asking if they'ld be home for Christmas. Not Christmas but hopefully soon, we still don't know when the ship is laying up yet. Although we do know we are going to Sarnia. It was nice that sometimes people would see us going by and they'ld flash their lights at us, so Anders would blow them a salute and flash the spot light on them. At Midnight greetings of Merry Christmas were passed around the ship and over the radios , I called my daughter since I knew she was up having Christmas at midnight with her boyfriend. It was really nice to talk to her since I missed her alot! My son was over having Christmas with my future daughter in law in Germany. By 12:30 Christmas Day we were clear of the river and went down stairs. Santa had left Anders and I some chocolates so we sat and ate some then went to bed.

We got up the next morning around 7:30 and went down for breakfast, passed around our Christmas greetings, then watched the Christmas Parade on TV. We went back to bed til around 3:30 that afternoon as it would be another all nighter in the St. Mary's River. Anders got up to listen to the weather forecast and then we went downstairs for a great Christmas Dinner Feast. The chief cook had asked me to make type up the menus and make them decorative, that was fun and nice to be part of the celebration. You can check that out here to see what yummys we had for dinner. :o) Shortly after we were entering the river. We tried to call Cathy in Detour but we got her answering machine instead. Anders gave her the usual toot though and then we continued with our usual conversation on the exsitance or non existance of Mud Lake which was part of the St. Mary's River. You see it starts from the South as the St.Mary's River , then a channel is dug though Mud Lake so that the ships can transit through, then more river until you come to a channel dug through another lake, Lake Nicolet and then more river until you get to the Locks.( Acutually there is a channel dug through the whole system ) Anders doesn't like to admit that there are Lakes in the St.Marys River..:o) The Soo locks radio guy was his usual cheerful self on the Christmas evening.

. I don't remember excatly who this ship was but thought it was interesting to take a photo of what we were seeing at night. It was taken at 9:45 on 12/25 . The last two dark photos are showing the locks we are approaching taken at 10:30PM. We had to tie up to the Poe lock wall and wait for a ship to pass as they have now closed the Mac lock for the season. There were Christmas well wishes throughout the night and then at Midnight we welcomed in another holiday.BOXING DAY! I wished everyone a happy boxing day and for some reason I guess its not something that they usually did. But It wasn't long before everyone else caught on. Of course the meaning of Boxing Day was discussed quite a bit as well, anywhere from the tradition starting from a Boxing Match to , gifts in Boxes. But the biggest thing was, they didn't care what the holiday was only that they got double time and a half for it! ha ha ha! We were out of the river and in bed by 1:30AM on 12/26.

We woke up as the ship was rocking enough that things were banging around so Anders did his usual tie up the bathroom door trick and stuffed his office chair into a corner. Then we went back to sleep for a bit. By the time we woke back up the ship had settled down as the winds must have died down a bit. We went up to the wheelhouse to get the ETA for the piers in Duluth, should be 5AM tomorrow morning. Wow! I won't have to stay up all night again? neato! We went down for some left over breakfast then Anders set to work at his desk again. ( I bring crossword puzzles and books to read while I'm there..:o) We opted to take an hour nap that ended up being several hours. You know its just to relaxing here and the ship just rocks you to sleep can't help it!

Saw the Roger Blough in the distance coming around the Kewinaw Penninsula there was now a race to Duluth and seeing as though his course was closer to shore it looked like he might beat us there, not that it really matter though as he was going to a different dock then we were. Then later on we had a great leftover turkey dinner upstairs in Anders "Apartment" then saw this beautiful sunset. There was the Roger Blough ahead of us in the horizon.

We watched the new Pirates movie then went to bed. The dang buzzer was ringing around 3:00AM though..1 hour to Duluth Pier. Here it is 4:45 Am and I'm up, why? Because of where we are , there is the Duluth aireal bridge in the distance. We got to the fuel dock then took a nap for a few hours.

When Anders heard the Canadian Progress give their 1 hour notice he took the ship over to hang out in the harbor utnil they headed out. I thought this photo was pretty neat, taken from the fuel dock looking out at the lake, there is a ship anchored out there. It just seems so very big against those houses in the foreground!

Below are some photos I took on our way over to Superior Midwest Energy Terminal.

Unclamping the hatches to prepare to load cargo. Below is Anders discussing with Sam the AB how much stress he is under while backing the ship under the bridge. He really looks stressed right? :o) He makes it look really really easy.

Now as we were going under the big bridge there between Superior, Wisconsin and Duluth, Minnisota who should we see down there taking photos of us but Sam and Pat Lapinski, best shots I could get of them as the ship was moving of course!

The Canadian Progress was still at the terminal when we came into the harbor, Anders just backed the ship and waited. He says the last time they were here the whole harbor was frozen solid and he just set the ship in the ice and she didn't go anywhere while they waited some 4 hours because of some break down ashore. Not much ice around here now though, just around the edges mostly.

The CSL Niagara was over loading Iron Ore across the harbor while we still waited.

So they finally left and we headed in to take their place, and there was the Toronto Maple Leaf flag flying high for the Captains team who won their game last night:o)

So the Canadian Progress headed out onto Lake Superior heading to Nanticoke to feed the Power Plant there. Audrey and Jimmy were on deck giving Anders spots on our way to the terminal.

Soon we were "right up" to the dock and the men were landed, I still think it looks like fun, don't you? :o)

We got here around lunch time so Anders called Ken Newhams from the Duluth Shipping News to see if he wanted to come down for lunch. He did come down and we had a great visit. He brought us these neat playing cards he had made with photos of 52 different ships that he photographed. The Algolake "coolbeans" is the 4 of Spades. Very neat!

He even took some photos of us with Anders holding the Algolakes card in the deck. You can order these cards on Kens site the Duluth Shipping News. :o)

Anders had called "Mrs. Sponge" ( Andrea) to see if she wanted to come down too but she was out of town and couldn't get here before we were going to be leaving. Maybe next time! But because of great news we got after lunch she would have to wait until next season! We were going to Nanticoke then to layup! Yeah!!!! Anders face was very excited and happy when he got off the phone with that news! He called down to make the announcement right away. I think I could hear the cheer coming from all over the ship! :o)

Photos below are showing the shiploader and the big machine she is controlling with that thing shes got hung around her neck!

So Anders called the Canadian Transport and gave them an hour notice and before you knew it we could see him coming under the bridge. Then they sat there and waited for us to leave.

Before I knew it we were headed back under the bridge and on our way to Nanticoke then HOME! ( little did I know what lay ahead though!)

Amazing, even a bridge can look pretty when its all lit up at night! :o)

It was really funny later, there were actually alot of people at the piers to watch the ship leave so Anders shined the spot light on all of them. They all waved and yelled it was a fun time. Everyone was happy, they got to see a ship, and we were headed home!

The next day while we were out on Lake Superior Anders started his lay up work, lots of paperwork and forms and computer work. Lots involved in laying up a ship. We took a walk around on deck so Anders could inspect the deck and lockers to make a list of things he wanted done by the deck crew before lay up. It was pretty cold out so we bundled up pretty good before we headed out. First we went deck to deck to check the lockers. I sat on the swing there while Anders checked things out. Looks like a nice place to relax on a warmer day!

During our walk around, the ship made a course alteration which I couldn't tell at all bu,t you certainly can see it in the water. :o) When we were way back in the stern I thought it would be a neat photo to shoot through the "fairlead" ( no I had no idea what that was called, I was going to just call it a thingy but again I have Anders sitting right here so its very handy to ask him ship lingo.:o)

This photo is for Laurent, hes always asking me to take photos of the engine room , I got really close this time!! :o)

After that we headed up to the bow of the ship and then it was really cold! Take a look at that anchor chain! No wonder why they don't anchor like I used to when I owned a boat in the past! ( we used to just pick it up and toss it over the side. ) Somehow I don't think they could do that.:o) Theres me holding a link, and Anders too. Its along ways back to the wheelhouse from here!

There was a bit of ice on the deck so we were careful walking around up there. Theres me , Mrs. Captain on deck, freezing!!! So then we walked back and saw the Christmas Tree in the Crews dining hall. That would be coming down later and packed up until next season. The galley was quiet for now but there are times when its really busy!

After dinner we went to bed to take a nap since of course we'ld be getting up around 11:30PM.....yes, getting UP at 11:30.....unfortunatly neither of us slept that well since we had slept so well the night before

Heres Anders writing in the "Captains Log" just like Captain Kirk!

Okay lets go on to the next page and on to Lake Huron!