THE GREAT LAKES

[Tony Wilding]

I have been up as far as Detroit to load scrap iron, and other Ports on earlier Trips, the Lakes were allways calm, no Ship movement at all, apart from one violent electrical storm as we transited the staircase locks at night in the Welland Canal, the whole Sky lit up by Sheet Lightning, i have never encountered the bad weather that can build up, has anyone had a rough trip up there, ? i believe it can be severe at times.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Ah! Tony, a lake system I never sailed on and according to people I sailed with I am very lucky not to have experienced it.

[Captain Kong]

I never sailed on the Lakes, but I believe it can be very bad up there, even 20,000 tonners have sank in heavy weather. Fresh Water doesnt help.
Brian

[j.sabourn]

Have done the Lakes on two different vessels. Weather wise you were lucky can get as rough as any ocean. Been right up to Duluth and Lake head. One was a 35000 ddwt vessel supposedly the biggest salt water ship up there at the time. She was fitted with tension winches which wasnt too bad getting through the Locks. The other a conventional 18000 ddwt cargo ship with conventional winches etc. a work house with broken wires etc. Once up there though some great ports. Was up there for a holiday a couple of years ago and saw things at the time didnt have time to see. regards John Sabourn

[Duke Drennan]

Made several trips up the Lakes. What made them special was the O.T. Tons of it, having to stand-by at the locks.

[Jim Brady]

I watched docu on the Edmund Fitzgerald,she was a big laker which sank.Reported waves of 30ft.Some good stuff on google about her.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Geoff Bray]

Sailed up there from 1965-1970 on the Canadian Pacific "Bearver Boats", except for the winter months we would sail in to St John New Brunswick. Had some real bad weather one trip on Lake Ontario, unbelievable from Montreal to Toronto, I think with the locks it only takes about 18 hours normally, we were hove to in the lake for a whole day, never seen anything like it. Another interesting trip we made up there, was to Bay City in Michigan. We went for a cargo of dried beans it was the whole crop in hundred pound bags loaded in the tween decks. They paid the crew five dollars an hour to work the cargo as there were no dockers. The cargo was destined for heinz in the UK. We were there for quite a while and had some good runs ashore.
Happy Days up the Lakes

[Bob Hollis]

Done a couple of seasons up the lakes with Headline, one trip we were hove to in lake Michigan for a spell, on the way to Chicago. Those special automated winches could be a disaster at times as the drop in the locks was so fast. We used to knock them out of auto and take manual control as we could react faster. An update on a more modern ship was worse. The second mate wore a box of tricks around his neck the only trouble was his brain, it wouldn't let him turn each of his hands in different directions. I was the boom jumper entering the Welland canal from lake Ontario, we were moving up the lay-by, order from bridge shift stern line, he slackened away but immediately order came to heave spring. Both his hands turned the same way and although I was alert he still got the skin off two fingers ant the half severed from another.
I wrote somewhere before that in the early 1960s it was claimed the Great Lakes had the highest loss of tonnage in the world. Peacetime that is.

[Ivan Cloherty]

We went for a cargo of dried beans...................... and had some good runs ashore.
Happy Days up the Lakes

The mind boggles, hope they were cured by the time you sailed Geoff

[Ray McCerery]

Regular run on the TMA ships, Thunder Bay and Duluth for grain.

Ray