The Beacon

Great Lakes Adventure

Last week I began writing about a trip my brother, Tom Allen, took on the lake freighter “Herbert C Jackson” July 2-10. his friend, Charlie Ontko, had invited Tom to go on a working trip on this boat. They left from Toledo (Oregon, Ohio), loaded with coal, went across the western end of Lake Erie, up Detroit River, Lake St Clair, St Clair River and most of the length of Lake Huron.

They were actually in the Poe Lock at Sault Ste Marie at ten p.m. on the Fourth of July with fireworks and sirens going off around them as Sault Ste Marie, Michigan celebrated Independence Day.  By the next day, the boat had unloaded at Algoma Steel Company at Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. Now they were heading off to the west.

And the story continues…

On July 5 the “Herbert C Jackson” was traveling “light ballast” (no freight) as she made her way out the St Mary’s River, through Whitefish Bay and thence onto mighty Lake Superior.  Destination: Duluth, Minnesota, at the extreme western end of the lake.

The weather was good, sunny and fine. However, the water temperature of Superior was only 48 degrees so that kept things cool.  The guys wore jackets or sweatshirts most of the time.

On Saturday night, just as darkness was coming down, they passed the Keweenaw  Peninsula jutting out from the Michigan shore. Tom called home and said they were close enough to see lights from vehicles on shore. He had learned that there was a web-cam at Duluth and that arrival there would be late the next morning (Sunday, July 6).

Here at home, brother-in-law Mike Crone found the web-cam images of Duluth and it was in “real” time. So I logged onto it and figured a simple way to find it easily the next morning when I would need it.   

Next day I hurried home from church and sat down in front of the computer.  I did some paper work - but kept watching for the approach of the boat on the computer screen.  But I had not reckoned with the time difference; Duluth is an hour behind us. After a while of not seeing her, I thought I had missed the “Herbert C Jackson” as she entered the river at Duluth.   

Friend Carolyn Werner came out to watch the computer with me.  She sat down, I showed her a printed picture of the “Herbert C Jackson”, and was just starting to explain how the web-cam images worked when, on the screen, we immediately saw a “blob” way out on the water. Every time the camera image changed the blob got bigger and was coming in fast.  Then, when she was close enough to the camera, we recognized it was definitely the boat Tom was on.  We saw the boat in entirety as they entered the river pier and we printed a couple of good pictures.

Carolyn and I truly could not believe our luck.  Just imagine that, we thought.  We had actually seen the boat that Tom was on enter the harbor at Duluth. Amazing. This technology stuff is soooooo great.

Later we learned from Tom that they actually had gone up a twist-y, turning river, under bridges, etc., to Superior, Wisconsin.  Duluth had looked like a clean, nice town as they passed. At Superior they loaded coal for Marquette, Michigan. They didn’t get off the boat at all because they were waiting for officials to check their identification papers. Soon they were underway again, back out the river and heading toward where they would round the Keewenaw Peninsula and then “short-cut” down to Marquette.

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At Marquette they unloaded the coal, moved to another dock and loaded iron ore pellets. Tom told us later that the loading and unloading procedures are fascinating.  The boat carries ballast water and while loading and unloading the boat is kept level fore and aft.  Sometimes loading is slowed while ballast water is pumped out. The crew can actually load freight faster than they can pump water out!

While at Marquette Tom, Charlie and others got off the boat and went into town. Tom bought a few souvenirs to bring home.

But back to the story...  While they were getting into the second dock at Marquette, heavy fog came in. While loading, the fog cleared, but upon departure they were socked in again. However, the boat is equipped with sophisticated radar systems so can still move at a good speed; the radar will indicate any obstacle or other boats nearby.  So now “Herbert C Jackson” moved out onto the great face of Lake Superior once again.  On the morning of Tuesday, July 8, at breakfast, the Captain said they were 48 hours from home (Toledo).

By the time the boat got back to the “Soo” locks, the fog had cleared away. Again they were in the Poe Lock; but his time “down-bound”; again Tom found it just as fascinating as before to watch the big boat maneuver into the lock.  The water drained out until they were at the lower level and they moved out of the lock without incident.

Just to the east of the “Soo”, the grocery boat, “Ojibway” came alongside to bring groceries, equipment and other supplies and to carry away trash.  All this is accomplished by lifting pallets from the smaller boat with a boom extending over the freighter. It takes place while underway and is a “routine” operation.

The iron ore pellets they were carrying were destined for Toledo so Tom and Charlie were now on the last leg of their journey.  They covered the same waters as before, except that the down-bound passage is slightly different from the up-bound passage. In one spot they went through “The Rock Cut”.  There extensive dynamiting has been done to accommodate the big lake freighters that use that passage.

In the Detroit River, the mail boat came out to meet them.  Called by the sailors, “mail in a pail”, a pail is let down and mail and other items are transported to or from the freighter in a closed bucket. Also, another sailor came aboard at this time, leaving the smaller boat and climbing up a ladder on the side of the big boat. Since the “Herbert C Jackson” was so heavily loaded and low in the water, the new man coming aboard did not have far to climb. Again, all this happened while the two boats were underway and, again, is “routine”.

Back at home we had learned from Tom that there was a web-cam at Belle Isle on the Detroit River.  I couldn’t find the site, so missed seeing the boat as she passed through the Detroit area.

There would be an approximate six-hour wait to get into the dock at Toledo because another boat would get there before the “Herbert C Jackson”.  So Tom and Charlie would be delayed in getting off the boat.  They cleared their belongings out of their stateroom early because it had to be readied for another passenger who would be coming aboard.  They said good-bye to the crew and disembarked as soon as the boat docked.

Family members picked up the two travelers and brought them back to Port Clinton.  That night we showed Tom all the pictures and information we had gathered about the boat and his journey. Later, film taken while on board was developed and more pictures were added to his collection. And our sister-in-law in Delaware sent along images she had captured from various web-cams. Tom bought some charts of the area he had traversed, too.  So he has some interesting mementos to keep – reminders of the eight days he spent on the Great Lakes.

And Tom told us all about it - how the boat was designed, how the freight was loaded and unloaded, about navigation, about the crew.  You name it – we heard about it.  And we loved it.

I think Tom would tell you that it was one of the most interesting adventures of his life.  And he had a really good time.  So did all of us who went with him, albeit only mentally.  It was awesome.

I’m exceptionally glad that I had the opportunity, through my brother, to find out about freighters on the Great Lakes.  I’ve watched them all my life and I’ve been to Sault Ste Marie several times where I found it fascinating to watch the big boats go through the locks. In fact, I’ve even gone through the locks myself, on a little tourist-y excursion vessel.  

But from this time forward I know I will be completely intrigued by the lake freighters.  I now think of them as gentle giants. Probably I’ll love them forever.  I know they will never be “just another boat” to me - because I’ll always remember that my brother had such a great time being aboard one on his “Great Lakes Adventure”.