A GREAT LAKES SAILOR
Gary Thompson, Part 6
by Janis Stein

Join in the continuation as sailors working on the Great Lakes learned about the September 11 tragedy. For personal reasons, this would be an especially difficult day for Great Lakes sailor Gary Thompson.

The years slipped away, while Gary continued his career on the lakes. In 2001, Gary returned to the Block, with a brief trip back to Harbor Beach in August to visit his ailing father, now battling cancer.

On September 11, the Joe Block was bound for Duluth to retrieve a load of taconite pellets. As Gary lay in his bunk listening to the vibrating tune of the Block’s engine, he knew they should have made Duluth already. Wondering why he hadn’t been called to work, Gary decided to get dressed and investigate. Grabbing a cup of coffee in the galley – most sailors were coffee fiends – Gary realized the rec room was filled with sailors; all eyes were glued to the television.

Gary’s mates told him the country had just been attacked, with an airplane flying into one of the twin towers in New York City. In disbelief, Gary rolled that around in his mind and, at the same time, he realized the Joe Block had checked back. Something was not right. Sailors could feel it in the air. The only time they checked back was if another boat was in port or if there was a shipping emergency. Neither scenario applied.

Gary sat down while he pondered that, only to watch the second plane slam into the second tower.

While air traffic came to a halt in the skies, boat traffic stopped within the inland seas. The Joe Block couldn’t get into port, so her crew waited on the lake.

So close was the Block, sailors could see the Duluth shoreline. They could also pick up a signal for the bag cell phone mounted in the pilothouse. Then Gary received a telephone call from home: His father had passed away.

Gary felt so helpless. He lost his father, a man who had been mentor and friend, a man who lit up every time Gary spoke of sailing, the man who made sure he passed his AB test. Helpless, too, because he couldn’t get home to help his mother. Gary told his mother to proceed with the arrangements; he would get home as soon as he could.

In that one day, everything changed - for Gary, for his shipmates, for the shipping industry, for the country.

By 7 p.m. on September 11, the Joseph Block finally made port. With her holds filled with taconite pellets, she would begin her return trip for East Chicago, Indiana. The captain, who had lost a brother to cancer and knew something of Gary’s journey, knocked on his door, telling Gary he would get home, but he had to wait until they got to the Soo, a day’s sail away. The captain also told Gary he could take the day off, but Gary needed the work, needed the business of sailing to keep his mind off things.

The Block loaded in record time; Gary was grateful there hadn’t been any snags. When the Block checked back at the Soo, six boats preceded her. Everything was jammed, the sight an epiphany. It hit Gary, then, all the sailors really, the seriousness of the country’s situation. The National Guard had been deployed; the country was keeping an eye on the locks.

Gary left the Block at the Soo. With security tight, it was a struggle, but finally Gary was on his way. Inland Steel gave Gary a week. His dad had been everything; Gary took two. He needed to share that extra time with his mother, to make sure he was there should she need a shoulder to lean on.

After two weeks, for Gary, it was back to the lakes. Though he went through the motions and would for a while longer, his heart was no longer in it. Everything had changed. Nothing was as it was.

In reality, things had begun to change for Gary prior to September 11. The company he worked for had changed hands, and with new ownership came new rules. Manning requirements changed within the Coast Guard regulations. Crews were cut; overtime was cut. The deck crew positions changed as did the engine room and galley. Gary’s maintenance job title was cut, and he became a glorified deckhand. There were still five on the deck crew, but their title was now deck utility. Some in the shipping industry called it progress. Gary had a few other words for it.

Be sure to look for the continuation next month as Gary Thompson worked toward achieving his QMED (Qualified Member of the Engine Department) certificate.

© 2009 Stein Expressions, LLC