A GREAT LAKES SAILOR
Gary Thompson, Part 1
by Janis Stein

Join as I share the memories of this Great Lakes sailor who worked aboard the boats beginning in the mid-1990s. When Gary Thompson stepped aboard the Wilfred Sykes for the first time, he couldn’t help but stand in awe of the sheer massiveness of the vessel.

Growing up on the shores of Lake Huron, Gary Thompson was no stranger to the Great Lakes, however never in his childhood did he consider he’d one day earn his living sailing the inland seas.

Upon graduation from Harbor Beach High School in 1991, Gary pursued work at Regency Plastics in Ubly. After two years, factory work proved tedious, so Gary began driving the fuel truck for Thompson Oil, the family business owned and operated by his parents, Gerald and Dorothy Thompson.

The months passed by with Gary working in whatever capacity was needed, from painting fuel tanks to delivering fuel to customers ranging from homeowners to tugs like the Gregory J. Bush docked at the old Hercules dock. One particular day Gary was driving the fuel truck with his father in the passenger seat along for the ride. Unexpectedly, his father suggested Gary think about working on the lakes.

The senior Thompson explained he hoped to retire within a few years’ time and didn’t want his son saddled with the restrictions and hassles of running a fuel business. Initially, Gary thought the idea absurd. Though his grandfather had held a sailing card and had worked on a Detroit fire boat as well as working on Miss Pepsi, Gary knew nothing at all about sailing on a freighter. Mr. Thompson, though, encouraged him to try it and if he didn’t like it, there would be a job at Thompson Oil waiting for him when he returned.

Over the next few days, thoughts of sailing repeatedly crept into Gary’s mind, so much so that he sought the advice of Randy Klump, a local sailor who could share a firsthand view of life on the Great Lakes. Randy Klump explained the steps, the paperwork and the process Gary would need to complete to obtain his merchant mariner’s card, which would be issued by the Coast Guard in Toledo. Gary understood it might take a good deal of time before he received his card and, then too, there was no guarantee he’d land a job immediately. At best, a shipping company might need him to work as vacation relief for the seasoned sailors looking for a bit of time on land.

Within six weeks, Gary received his mariner’s card, and Randy Klump gave him a list of shipping companies, the list including reputable businesses like Oglebay Norton, Inland Steel, American Steamship and Interlake Steamship Company. Gary started making telephone calls, seeking employment. In June 1995, Inland Steel responded in kind, requesting Gary to report to East Chicago, Indiana, where they needed him to work two weeks aboard the Wilfred Sykes as a deckhand. With any luck, he would bounce from ship to ship, relieving those sailors on vacation.

What Gary knew about the Great Lakes, he had learned from reading books, hearing stories about the Edmund Fitzgerald, seeing a freighter lock through the Welland Canal on a family trip and from his parents taking him to Dawson Museum in Detroit. When Gary arrived in East Chicago, however, his scant knowledge did not prepare him for the sight of the massive vessel looming before him.

Once aboard, Gary made his way to the wheelhouse to report for work, all the while contemplating what he had gotten himself into, all the while in awe that the Wilfred Sykes was moving as he walked across her deck. Upstairs in the pilothouse, Gary filled out paperwork and, looking aft, he noted the sailors rinsing down the deck. In a few moments, he would join these deckhands. For Gary, it was a good start.

Inland Steel’s boats were very distinctive in their day. Boat watchers looked for the white strip that ran along the boat as well as the red Inland diamond sitting on a backdrop of gray.

Gary’s two-week tour at Inland Steel turned into six months. During that time, Gary learned the art of rinsing the deck, chipping and painting – and painting some more. At 23 years of age, he didn’t exactly know what he wanted to do with his life, but he did know he didn’t care so much for chipping and he knew he hated everything to do with paint. After all, he had painted enough fuel tanks for Thompson Oil to last him a lifetime. When Gary made it to port, the first thing he did was call home to tell his dad about all this chipping and painting. His dad laughed in his ear, proud his son was giving this sailor’s life a fair go, despite the paint!

The Wilfred Sykes mainly hauled iron ore and limestone, though she also carried coal and slag, which is a powdered coal by-product from the blast furnace and used for roadbeds. So often did she ply her route, the Sykes seemed to know the way, traveling north to Gulliver, Michigan, known at the time as Port Inland, to fill her holds with limestone, before heading south to Inland Steel’s homeport in East Chicago, Indiana. Too, the Sykes traveled to Grand Haven and many other little ports dotting the Lake Michigan shoreline. Measuring 628 feet long, these ports accommodated the Sykes, as well as other small boats running the lakes.

Upon his high school graduation, Gary had attended a one-month military academy in Texas, the Marine Corp’s version of summer camp. Because of that experience, Gary had no trouble adjusting to being away from home. Though there was a great deal to learn every day, Gary settled into his daily routine with ease, despite not personally knowing anyone aboard. Most of the Sykes ' crew were U.P. boys, and all, in Gary’s humble opinion, spoke with the funniest of accents!