by Lakercapt » March 26, 2020, 9:42 pm
Back to my days on a self unloader, the Algorail. We were to proceed to Thunder Bay to load a cargo of potash for Toledo. It was a trial load to be shipped from the old CN ore dock. This was to be the first on many to unitize the old facility if successful. I did not know it but too much handling or rough treatment breaks the grains of potash down and it is not so good at what is supposed to do.
It was dense fog when we got past the Welcome Islands and I was rather apprehensive about getting into the berth. It was a Saturday evening and the crew were all looking forward to a night in port without working and I must admit the idea appealed to me too. Faint hearth never won a fair lady so I decided to give it a try and approached the piers very slowly watching the radar which was not that great. Through the piers without seeing them and headed for the old high dock. I knew when we were getting close, but had no way of judging the speed as the fog was too dense even to see the water. A stoke of inspiration when I told the mate to take his Styrofoam coffee cup and throw it in the water and walk down the deck to keep it level with him. This gave me an idea of how fast we were moving. The old saying that speed kills are not always correct but I certainly did not wish to hit the concrete dock hard. Fortunately, we were just creeping and then the mate said he thought we were close as he could hear voices high up. Only moments later he said the dock was only a few feet away and we gracefully touched, swung the deck hands out and got the boat moored. I big relief and I think the crew were thankful we got in and they could get some R & R. The voice the mate heard were in fact the shore crew getting the system set up on the top of the dock. (for persons not familiar to this old and very efficient loading system it its the same still used at Marquette were the railroad cars are unloaded into hoppers which are high up and the shuts lowered into the holds and the gates opened and a shot of abut 300 tons is dropped)
Next day we departed and the fog which had cleared and we had a beautiful fall day on our way down Lake Superior. It was only clear for a little while and the fog set in again. Fortately all the boats about were obeying and keeping to the appropriate tracks. In the morning we woke to a very sad sight. During the night birds migrating south had got disoriented in the fog and the light of the boat had attracted then and they flew into the boom. Hundreds were killed by the strikes or succumbed to exhaustion I don’t know. Being I thought, kind I had the cadets collect as many of these still alive and put them in the windlass room with the intention of releasing them at the Soo. Approaching the locks, I asked the cadets to release all the survivors and when they did, to our horror, the ones which we saved were attacked by the seagulls and eaten. Such is nature I suppose!
Back to my days on a self unloader, the Algorail. We were to proceed to Thunder Bay to load a cargo of potash for Toledo. It was a trial load to be shipped from the old CN ore dock. This was to be the first on many to unitize the old facility if successful. I did not know it but too much handling or rough treatment breaks the grains of potash down and it is not so good at what is supposed to do.
It was dense fog when we got past the Welcome Islands and I was rather apprehensive about getting into the berth. It was a Saturday evening and the crew were all looking forward to a night in port without working and I must admit the idea appealed to me too. Faint hearth never won a fair lady so I decided to give it a try and approached the piers very slowly watching the radar which was not that great. Through the piers without seeing them and headed for the old high dock. I knew when we were getting close, but had no way of judging the speed as the fog was too dense even to see the water. A stoke of inspiration when I told the mate to take his Styrofoam coffee cup and throw it in the water and walk down the deck to keep it level with him. This gave me an idea of how fast we were moving. The old saying that speed kills are not always correct but I certainly did not wish to hit the concrete dock hard. Fortunately, we were just creeping and then the mate said he thought we were close as he could hear voices high up. Only moments later he said the dock was only a few feet away and we gracefully touched, swung the deck hands out and got the boat moored. I big relief and I think the crew were thankful we got in and they could get some R & R. The voice the mate heard were in fact the shore crew getting the system set up on the top of the dock. (for persons not familiar to this old and very efficient loading system it its the same still used at Marquette were the railroad cars are unloaded into hoppers which are high up and the shuts lowered into the holds and the gates opened and a shot of abut 300 tons is dropped)
Next day we departed and the fog which had cleared and we had a beautiful fall day on our way down Lake Superior. It was only clear for a little while and the fog set in again. Fortately all the boats about were obeying and keeping to the appropriate tracks. In the morning we woke to a very sad sight. During the night birds migrating south had got disoriented in the fog and the light of the boat had attracted then and they flew into the boom. Hundreds were killed by the strikes or succumbed to exhaustion I don’t know. Being I thought, kind I had the cadets collect as many of these still alive and put them in the windlass room with the intention of releasing them at the Soo. Approaching the locks, I asked the cadets to release all the survivors and when they did, to our horror, the ones which we saved were attacked by the seagulls and eaten. Such is nature I suppose!