I spent six weeks one summer as a crew member on a Coast Guard ice breaker making the rounds of the Great Lake ports it helped keep ice-free in winter. What it meant was parties at the docks in Duluth, in Cleveland, in Detroit. I spent my summer between junior and senior college years fulfilling my obligation to the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. That summer I was assigned to the CGC Mackinaw, an adventure I had totally forgotten about until an email arrived from the Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum in Mackinaw City, Michigan, where the old lady (the ship) retired as a tourist destination.
Bob Kalish observes life from a placid place on the island of Arrowsic (motto: You’re not in Georgetown yet). You can reach him at bobkalish@gmail.com.
The icebreaker Mackinaw, commissioned in 1944, was known as the “Queen of the Great Lakes.” According to the museum’s publicity, visitors can tour the ship and even spend a night or two in an “overnight adventure.” That’s what caught my eye, because I did remember that afternoon in Cleveland where I saluted the flag, hoisted my duffel bag onto my shoulder and followed my sailor guide down a ladder to the enlisted sleeping quarters. The space was filled with ceiling-to-deck poles from which seemingly hundreds of hammocks hung (alliteration, always a nice touch).
“Where do we sleep?” I asked my guide.
“You’re looking at it.” He paused. “Officers get beds.”
The first night I lay on my back staring at the bunk under which there was about 2 inches between my nose and my bunkmate’s back. To turn over I had to slide out of the hammock and crawl back in the other way. Until then I thought only pirates who said “Argh, matey” slept in hammocks.
A few days later we were called to general quarters to change course and head for where a large oil tanker had run aground. We spent two days working with thick steel cables that if snapped would “slice off your head like it was a stick of butter,” according to an old salt, trying to dislodge the tanker. What I remember most is how we worked through the night and just before dawn the smell of homemade bread wafted through the ship. The cooks had prepared a sumptuous meal, featuring loaves of bread right out of the oven.
Back at the Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum website I took a virtual tour of the ship and saw for myself that the hammocks had been upgraded to bunk beds and the ship looked as modern and clean as you could expect for a ship that was 70 years old. To be realistic, I’ll probably never get to visit the Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum. But if I do, I’ll be sure to write.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
