Working ON the Water... in the Shipyard

Bay ship has 15 boats overwintering in the yard…some having work done, others just waiting out the ICE.

I call them boats, but aren’t they ships?…Yes they are ships, but the local workers and ship personnel call them boats…I asked that same question 35 years ago when I started working in the shipyard.

Fitters on Deck

My buddy Jeff is working on the 1000' Edwin Gott while she is having the main engines replaced.

The engine room extends forward of the deckhouse out under the main deck. To access the machinery space, they cut out a large section of main deck and the water ballast tank below that. Then pulled the original engines out and dropped the new engines in, rewelding the removed deck sections back in place….outside in the cool, 10 degree weather.

Now he is working in the balmy, heated, engine room with the machinists and electricians…refitting the floor grating and handrail system around the new engines as they are finished. Jeff was laid off all summer, now he is back to work busting his A*$ working 6 to 7 days a week…such is shipyard life.

Lookout's shelter up forward

The Gott was originally built in the early 80’s with a thicker hull as an experiment to see if year round shipping on the lakes was possible…the ICE won. On its maiden voyage to Superior, WI through Lake Superior, the captain who thought he had a 1000’ ice breaker, managed to damage one of his rudders and punch several gashes in the hull up forward while backing and ramming. It wasn’t an ICEbreaker.

The cool thing about the Gott for me is that when it came into town with its original low speed diesel (100 rpm)…the windows on the house would rattle from the vibration…even though we couldn’t hear the engines.

Indiana Harbor

The Indiana Harbor ran aground last fall and is now in the graving dock having some bottom work done…it took over 24 hours to move the Pine Glen out of the dock and move the Indiana Harbor from her berth into the dock…because of ICE.

Indiana Harbor being moved by the SelvikTug Mary Hannah

Four tugs heading into Green Bay ICE to...where?