A Great Lakes Sailor
The Norway, Part 1
By Janis Stein

Join me in a new sailor's tale as a young man from Huron County sails aboard the Norway in 1949. Inexperienced but eager to learn, this sailor would spend 11 years on the lakes, with the exception of the time Uncle Sam called upon him to serve under the draft.

The year was 1949, and springtime would bring with it a new season of sailing on the Great Lakes. Though the young man had helped to tend the family farm throughout his life, the farm on Klug Road could only feed so many, so at the age of 17, he knew he needed to earn his income elsewhere. He hailed from a tight-knit family, but then big families generally were; his parents would have 17 children before they were done, including 3 sets of twins. Since his parents had plenty of ready-made farm hands, the young man followed in the footsteps of his two older brothers, turning toward the Great Lakes for his keep.

A local captain by the name of Melvin Edwards was always looking for able-bodied young men, so it was he the soon-to-be sailor paid a visit. As February knocked on March’s door, the Huron County native traveled to Detroit’s Federal Building where he would obtain his seaman’s card.

By March’s end, the young man, accompanied by his brother, Al, and another local sailor, Gabe Clor, readied himself for a season on the lakes. The three men traveled first to Port Huron where they promptly boarded a train bound for Chicago. Once in the Windy City, the trio switched trains, the second heading for Green Bay, Wisconsin. Upon reaching their Wisconsin destination, the Huron County natives boarded a bus, which transported them to Sturgeon Bay and the steamer, the S.S. Norway.

He worked as a deckhand aboard the Norway, and the first day on the job, the young man quickly learned some painting techniques he would fall back on in the days and months ahead. While some of the crew was ensuring the freighter was seaworthy, the deckhand, armed with his painting supplies, walked out on the ice to paint some of the exterior; the ice ran half the length of the Norway, but beyond that stood open water.

After the sailor painted the portion of the ship he was able to reach from ground level, the group of deckhands then worked from a higher perch. The young man, along with some of his shipmates, climbed over the railing to hop onto a plank before being carefully maneuvered along the side of the boat. Two sailors occupied two different planks with more deckhands above to supply paint and lower or raise them as necessary. With their six-inch brushes, the men made surprisingly quick progress as a fresh coat of black paint was evenly distributed.

While the young man served as a deckhand, his brother, Al, was wheeling the Norway and Gabe Clor filled the position of deckwatch. Bill Wilson, another area local, also sailed on the freighter; Wilson would later go on to run a hardware store in Harbor Beach. It helped to know a few people aboard, but the sailor soon found out he would be way too busy to be homesick anyway. He also quickly learned that his brother and his friends were just as likely to have fun initiating the newest greenhorn as were the rest of the crew!

Though his brother had experience on the lakes and shared many a tale, that didn’t necessarily mean the novice knew the ropes as soon as the freighter hit the water. Rather, the young man would soon find sailing was a job he would need to experience firsthand in order to appreciate all that went with it.

Before long, the Norway was making her way through the Soo Locks, and the crew told the newcomer he needed to get the key to get the locks open! The young sailor was pretty certain there was no key, so he only listened with half an ear. Instead, the deckhand scrambled onto the landing boom, before his comrades lowered him to the dock where he handled the cables, immobilizing the ship. Lucky for him all that farm work back home had packed a few muscles on his lean frame, for he soon found it was a hard enough drag pulling 100 feet of cable down the dock.

Getting his feet wet meant making a mistake or two along the way. While working aboard the Norway as a deckhand, the sailor was instructed to paint the turnbuckle from the top of the mast down to the deck. Armed with his aluminum paint, the novice noticed the threads had previously been painted, so he gave the threads another coat of paint as well. This excited the Captain to some degree as the threads were not supposed to be painted in case the turnbuckle needed to be tightened. The sailor received a prompt lecture for his mistake, and chalked it up to experience.

On another occasion aboard the Norway, the sailor learned to watch his step on his way to get his supper. The doorway had a sill, and instead of stepping over it, the sailor mistakenly stepped on it. The result was about what one might expect: His head hit the top of the door, chipping a tooth in the process!

Working as a deckhand was physically demanding as well as tiring since the men had to often rise in the middle of the night if that was when the ship traveled through the Soo or reached its port. Cleaning the cargo holds was dirty work, and at the top of the hold a four-inch piece of angle iron always collected a bit of coal. The deckhands would promptly knock the coal from this iron shelf before hosing out the cargo hold in preparation for its next shipment.

All the hard work and fresh air made a sailor hungry, and the young man soon found the Norway’s cook was more than worth his salt. Pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage were common among the many breakfast entrees. Once a week at night, the cook even made hash, but more pleasing to the palate was the weekly t-bone steak served. The cook could do no wrong when it came to food preparation, and well-fed sailors were always the happiest of sailors.

On one occasion during the autumn months, the Norway and her crew were traveling to Ashtabula, Ohio, where they would unload their cargo of iron ore before proceeding to Toledo for a load of coal. The deckhands worked whatever hours were required, and as they approached Ashtabula, the deckhands were told to rise and shine. The men worked until the Norway was secured to the dock, and were eventually given some time off to rest. Though it seemed only a few minutes, a few hours had actually passed when the deckhands were needed again to begin their work of cleaning out the cargo holds. After all the iron ore was knocked off the arches and scooped out, the deckhands then hosed out the cargo holds.

Join me in the continuation next month as our featured sailor shares his ice-cold memories of toppling into the lake!

Copyright © 2005 Janis Stein