Remembering

     We had our first sign of winter today, hail fell and covered the deck it was the size of peas, I don't look forward to winter for the cold but admit the first actual snowfall is exciting.  But for now its raining  it has been raining so much this summer I have this feeling its going to be a very snowy winter.  There are bad storms out on the lakes its that time of year though, the warm air fighting with the incoming cold air.  The bad weather has been going on  for a few days. Lots of ships anchored or weather routing to keep safe from the winds and waves. Handy that Anders is hugging the shores of Lake Huron so his cell phone is working really well. Makes the rainy day a little more bearable to be able to chat with him once in awhile when he isn't too busy.  

     I used to travel with Anders on the ship at least once or twice a year but since we've moved to Vermont it just hasn't worked out.   Big Garden, lots of Animals, oh and of course GRANDBABIES! ..:) But I still have some great memories of my trips with him and luckily I have a journal of all of them which I am going to share here from time to time if I have nothing better to say.  This is my first trip, my first experience with seeing what Anders does for a living.

This trip was June 18th thru June 27th  back in the year 2000. This is the story I wrote about my first trip. (prior to me owning a good camera)

     I left Chester, Vermont on Sunday, June 18th somewhere around six in the morning. Anders had told me the night before that he was expecting to be in Lambton,Ontario at eight that night.  It was going to be a ten hour drive and because of that I wanted to be sure to give myself extra time just in case I got lost somewhere. I also wanted to to try to be there early so I could get to see him dock the ship.   So off I went on a great sunny day, I do so love it when the sun shines, always makes me feel like I'm getting a big warm hug. 

     Well I got about 3 hours from home when Anders called me to check to see how the drive was going. He also told me that things were delayed and the ship wasn’t going to be in Lambton until around 1:30 A.M. So now I was going to have to get a room out there to wait for him. Okay, no problem, it was so close a few more hours of waiting would be way okay. I got lost once along the way which didn't matter since I had extra time to waste so it worked out fine.   I arrived at the St. Claire River around 4:30 pm and oh wow was it ever so beautiful!  I started driving south along the river and the first thing I saw was a big  *Exclamation Point.   Soon after that I saw a ship coming down the river, the first one I'd ever seen in my life and was amazed that something that big could be so quiet!  I had butterflies in my stomach though looking down the river knowing Anders was on his way, but I had awhile to wait!

     I continued on my way until I came got to the Hydro plant that the ship would be docking at much later on. I wanted to find it in the daytime and not be searching for it at 1:30am!!  So, after I found it I backtracked to find a hotel to stay at and found one about 4 minutes down the river. That way when he got there I would see him going by in the Coolbeans.   I got a room at the Driftwood Marina Bar and Grill. There were a couple guys singing out on the back deck of the bar. I went to throw my stuff in my room and went down to the river, crashed on a dock and called my Mom, my kids and Anders to let everyone know I had arrived. I ended up falling asleep there for a bit then went in my room to take a nap. 

Around 7pm I woke up and realized there was going to be a beautiful sunset on the river so I got a blanket out of my truck and headed down to this nice park by the river. I sat and watched the sun go down all the while looking down river knowing that Anders was on his way and on my, I was very excited to see him! During this time the band was still playing and there was some tug of war practice going on at the bar so I had plenty of entertainment. Also some boaters gave me some extra entertainment as they tried to bring their 20' powerboat into the marina and didn't know how to drive it so they jumped out and pulled it in! It was very interesting! I was laughing thinking that Anders would really be enjoying that!!

     After the sunset I walked back to my room and made a valiant attempt to fall asleep. I think I woke up about every hour waiting for my phone to ring and Anders to tell me he was there.  Around 12:30 and heard this sound outside so I went out to see what it was . It was an Algoma ship that I knew because I could see a bear on the stack. It wasn't the Algoma Ship I was waiting for though. He called about an hour later and said he was almost there. I've never got ready to go anywhere so quick in my life! I was packing up my truck when I saw the ship go by all lit up. It was so quiet just like a hum as it slowly went up the river.

     I got the rest of my stuff in the truck and started up to meet the ship. I caught up with it really quickly and drove along side it for a while before Anders realized I was there. Shortly after I was in the spotlight as he put his search light on my truck! I was laughing so hard!! Good thing I was driving really slow! It was pretty neat though, then I drove ahead to meet him at the dock. There were a few people waiting there as well and we all watched the ship come in. It seemed like hours but I know it was just minutes. Some guy who was there looked at me and said to me "You must be Andy's girlfriend" yup that’s me! About 10 minutes later I looked up at the ship and I saw him walking down the deck ( a further note that I am remembering now 11 years later, He was dressed in his uniform from the black shinny shoes  to the Captains hat.)My heart was racing like crazy! It was wonderful to see him again after being apart for 5 weeks we had a lot to catch up on!!

     Anders and I drove my little truck over to the Hydro plant where the Security Guards had told him they would keep an eye on it for us. Then seeing as though it was 1:30 in the morning and it took 6 hours to unload the coal the Algolake (Coolbeans) was carrying we decided to get a few hours of sleep. The guys in the wheelhouse called and woke him up and we headed up to the wheehouse.The Wheel house is a pretty impressive place with all the computers and other "gadgets" up there first thing on the agenda was to go to the Fuel Docks and “gas er up”, than after a couple hours we were on our way. It was a beautiful sunny day as we headed up the river and on our way to Lake Huron. 

     After we were out on the lake we headed down to the galley for some breakfast. Wow, I could see I wouldn't be hungry while I was there! The galley staff was great, everyone had a great sense of humor and they made me feel right at home. The day went by pretty fast and I saw my first sunset on ship.

     

     It was pretty amazing beginning back out on a lake, after practically growing up on one. "Little Lake Champlain" (as Anders calls it ) I really felt so good being out on the water again, of course it was a little different because of the "vehicle" I was in! The ship was very quiet while it was underway and there wasn't any rocking motion to say so (since the lake was so calm) but it sure wiggled a lot. I told Anders it felt like I was sitting on a washing machine! Poor thing doesn't like the shallow water, but Anders takes real good care of her and she seems to listen to him

     The next day sometime we were in the St. Marys River and up into the Soo Locks. Now that was pretty amazing! Going through the river, Anders had to be sure that everyone on shore was awake because he was. So I heard that horn a few times, what a nut!!! When we arrived at the locks I really had no idea what to expect, I had seen them online before but everything for sure looked different from way up in the ship. 

I swear it didn't look like the ship would fit in there at all. Anders was being silly telling me he was sure it had shrunk since the last time he was there! But of course he fit it in and it was really interesting to watch for sure! There were a lot of people there in the viewing stand and they were all really excited when Anders came to the window to wave at them. I was really proud to there with him. Of course they got to hear the horn blast too, and everyone in the wheelhouse got a great laugh from watching everyone jump!

     After the locks we were headed out on Lake Superior, the rain started coming then and the wind picked up. I had to pull out my long pants to go back outside again. The fog rolled in and I could hear the fog horn blasting on the bow of the ship. I think he said that he goes off every two minutes. I really thought it was pretty cool, hearing the fog horn, listening to the sound of the engines, being out in the middle of the lake where you could see nothing but fog everywhere.

     Actually was quite peaceful though I loved walking out on the deck. The waves started coming over the bow of the ship out in the middle of the lake and it was so neat! I wanted to go up front and get splashed by them but Anders didn't want to get wet. He told me he’d watch though and stand on the deck at hatch 4! Needless to say I didn't go...maybe next time! 

   

     Anders and I walked around outside several times. It was so incredible to lean over and watch the waves, the ship puts out a pretty good wake too. When she goes by land, Anders pointed out that the water gets sucked off the shore and after she goes by the water goes back. Its an amazing thing to watch. The kids on shore love to play in the waves it makes too.

     I spent every minute Anders worked in the wheelhouse with him. I really enjoyed watching every moment. Pretty amazing actually, seeing him dock a ship that’s longer than the town we live in. (well almost! )The guys in the wheelhouse were pretty cool too and before too long they knew what an exclamation point was too.

     I don't know what day (I had a hard time figuring out what day of the week it was while I was there!) We arrived in Duluth in the late afternoon sometime after dinner. Now that was pretty awesome! Going under the aerial bridge, there were a bunch of people "boat nerds" standing waiting for the ship to pass by, the loudspeaker was announcing the ship and telling people about where it was coming from, going to, what she was carrying and who the "Captain guy" was. Of course the horn blew the salute and everyone cheered, it was a pretty neat thing to see! The weather was kind of cruddy so Anders said there weren't as many people there as usual but it was pretty impressive to me. The wind was pretty strong, in fact,they said we were having gale force winds so Anders set to work getting ready to concentrate on docking the ship at Murphys Oil dock. I can't even explain how I felt while I was watching, listening to the guys spotting the distances for him, watching the deckhands prepare to dock, I found it pretty exciting actually.

     While we were "gassing up" the customs and Immigration guys came up to his office and I had to answer a few questions from them, no big deal and then who appeared at the door? None other then Ken Newhams from the Duluth Shipping News! He and I had been corresponding for several weeks after Anders asked him to send me a picture of the Algolake that he had taken.

Anders, invited him to join us for dinner after he had taken a few pictures of us. So we went down and had a great dinner (one of many) and visited with Ken until they were done fueling the ship. This picture of us was taken by Ken Newhams..Thanks Ken!

     Back up to the wheelhouse to prepare to get underway again. I believe it was this dock that Anders had to turn the ship around and back her under a bridge and to the dock behind it. Now that was pretty cool! Of course he made it look really easy, when we got fairly close to the bridge I could hear the deck hands spotting and Anders told me to come over where he was so I could see what I could see of the bridge. Of course the guys were spotting the bridge abutments, which were totally invisible to Anders. But he knew very well were he was I know. Makes me smile now to think about how incredibility good he is at what he does. When we got to the dock and started loading he and I got a taxi and went to the Mall in Duluth, Minnesota. We had a great time just walking around picking up the little things he needed for the ship and trying to find a place to mail a package for my brother Jeff. ( A hat Anders was sending him) Never did find a mail box big enough so it would have to wait till the mail boat in Detroit. We got back to the ship and took a nap and waited for the guys to call him back to work. I believe that night we headed back out around 2am. Even then there were several people waiting at the bridge to watch the ship pass by, and Anders had a good time using the search light on them! One couple tried to hide from it behind a lamppost but he got um! It was pretty funny ! After we got underway we went back down and got some sleep.

    

Back to the Soo Locks again...this time Anders and his Wheelsman

Norm checked out the people on the viewing decks to see who would jump the furthest when he sounded the horn...pretty funny. I don't think either one of them picked the right person because they all jumped pretty good. Everyone was taking pictures and the little kids were so excited to see the Captain and of course the Captain was waving back to all of them. Its got to be the best part of the job from what I can see.. :o)

     Anders hung out "my flags" for me and they hung out there for several days and nights...he said so other people would know that DH was onboard the ship, I thought that was pretty cool.

     After going through the locks we went down the Saint Marys River...River???? There was much discussion at that point to the fact that it sure LOOKED like a lake, and after examining the chart it does appear that there a couple of Lakes IN the river hmmmm Either way it sure was beautiful, I believe it takes 10 hours to go through the River (Lake) so Anders was pretty busy.

     Soon we were out on Lake Huron and headed back down the St. Claire River. We waved at my little truck as we passed by Lambton where we left her parked there. I really think the St. Claire River was my favorite part it was really very pretty, lots of things to look at, and the lake in the middle was the most beautiful site I believe I have seen in a long time The color was almost turquoise and I swear it looked like the ocean.

    Coming up to detroit so my brothers hat would be mailed on the J.W. Westcott the little mailboat that delivers all the ships mail..he sure was busy that day as there were many ships going up and down the river around us..Anders and I sure have kept the little guy busy!! Pretty neat they lower a pail and the guys in the tugboat put the mail in the pail and then it gets lifted up on the ship and brought up to the wheelhouse.

     Exclamation Point Alley :o) Heading into Lake Erie.unfortunatly you can't see all the little exclamtion points all the way down but its very very pretty

   






     From there we headed out onto Lake Erie and onto Nanticoke, Ontario to the Hydro plant. While the ship was unloading Anders and I went for a walk outside it was a beautiful sunny day the best weather day we had seen yet. There were rabbits and geese on the front lawn pretty neat. :o) When we got back to the ship I took advantage of the sun and went out to the deck to catch some rays but the poor captain guy had to do captain guy stuff. But he soon joined me, so we stayed out in the sun for an hour or so and I do believe I fell asleep out there for a while. While we were there a barge came in to load oil that was pretty interesting watching them. Later that evening we headed back out onto the Lake again to head towards Sandusky,

     As we approached Sandusky, cedar point was ahead of us. When we got closer, you could hear the screams from all the people riding on the roller coasters! Better them then me!!! Maybe another day. :o) Another beautiful day so Anders and I decided to go for a walk into town. It was really nice...although really warm and as we walked by swimming pools I really wanted to dive in! The town was pretty vacant but very pretty, some interesting displays in the windows, which got us laughing pretty hard! (We seem to do a lot of that anyway! :o) We found a place to have a cool drink and rested a bit then did some shopping, Anders bought me some little sticky flags of my initials (like he had hung up on the ship) I decided he should help me stick them on my truck after we bought some with his initials too. After that we went down to the lake and watched some silly pirate ship, found a place to eat dinner and got an ice cream. Some high school girl found out he was a captain on a ship and I thought she was going to scream she was so excited...it was pretty funny and pretty cool too :o)

     We walked back past all the freight cars that were going to be loaded on the ship. I believe he said 350 cars of coal go on it, took us quiet awhile to walk by them all! But was very interesting to see how they go about loading it all. We got back right at dusk and got cleaned up and ready to go back up to the wheelhouse so Anders could take the ship back onto the lake.

     

 Detroit was a pretty neat place ...there was alot of interesting things going on there for sure...big party going on at one of the docks there...couldn't get Anders to stop so I could go though.. :o)

     All to soon we were on our way back to Lambton and to the end of an incredible journey. When we got there Anders took me out for pizza and we sat by the river saw a few ships go by. It was a nice night and there was going to be a really nice sunset. We went to check me back into the Driftwood Motel since I would be driving back home in the morning. Then we went back to the ship and got my stuff together, for sure didn't want to leave. He walked me to my truck and we said our goodbyes. Then I drove back to my Motel, watched the sun go down and went to bed . In the morning I got up and drove by the dock where the ship was and of course it was gone.  Can't even explain how quickly the butterflies turned to knots.  So I drove the 10 hours home with the knots and then counted the days til I could see him again!

     

*EXCLAMATION POINTS: This all started when Anders sent me a chart of the Great Lakes so I would know what he was talking about when he told me what part of the lakes he was on.  My daughter and I were looking at it and wondered what all the exclamation points were that were marked in purple all over the chart. Well of course when he called and we asked him , he got a good laugh out of it as they are lighthouses or other lit markers. So from that point on we've called them Exclamation Points.

*COOLBEANS _ a term we use in Vermont meaning "way cool" , "far out" "awesome" or something like that. I started calling Anders ship the Coolbeans as I thought it was a pretty neat ship and it made it fun instead of sad when he went to work...?? Well not fun but made me so I didn't dislike the ship so much I guess. :o) Sometimes hard to Share!! I went as far as photoshopping the name on the Ship when he first sent me a photo of it as a joke and I guess it just stuck. LOL