Day 8: Drill time

Every other week, we have a fire and life boat drill to make sure we remember what to do in an emergency. This week, the "fire" was in the second assistant engineer's room. 

Day 7: Back to the start

Just 7 days ago, I met the boat here at the Soo locks headed up bound. This makes one complete trip that I've made and looking forward to many more over the next 85 days. Here we are tying up and preparing to enter the locks. 

Day 6: An entire trip complete.

I've now been on the ship long enough to see an entire trip from load to unload. It seems as if Gary might live up to its horrible reputation, but here we are unloading 71,000 tons of iron ore. 

Day 5: sunsets are nice

After a day of standing watch coming down the St. Mary's river, I had this as a view before I hit the bed for the night. 

Day 4: it's a suite life aboard this ship.

I can't say that I ever expected much in the way of living quarters aboard the ship for the summer, but I must say it is not as  bad as I thought. I have 120 square feet of windowless charm to call my own bit of home for the summer. The good news is I can sleep even during bright daylight and I have my choice of 4 beds to pick from every night!

Day 3: More than "driving" a boat

While the most obvious role of a deck officer (mate or captain) while aboard ship is safely navigating the vessel, another critical component of the job is managing cargo loading and unloading. This morning's watch is rather quiet on the navigation side, but the mate is busy managing ballast water levels and loading cargo correctly. 

Day 2: Time to get to work

I was assigned my watch (aka work schedule) today - working from 4-8 am and 4-8 pm with the first mate. We just pulled into dock at Two Harbors, MN and preparing to load some taconite. 

Day 1: And the Sea Project Begins

Here's the first photo of the day - the Speer waiting to enter the Soo Locks where I will board. 

A Whole Year Complete!

It is hard to believe that the last time I updated this blog I was just beginning my first semester and now I am already finished with the entire first year! The past nine months have been quite the adventure - I have started a snow plowing business with one of my fellow cadets, had two successful semesters of school, maintained two part time jobs, made some amazing friends, and even became an uncle for the second time. However, since this blog is mostly about my journey as a cadet at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, maybe I should stick to more things school related.

After two academic semesters studying subjects such as rules of the nautical road, damage control, naval science, firefighting, ship handling / watchstanding, and navigation, the time has come to apply some of what was learned to the real world. Throughout the course of this program, each cadet completes a total of three "sea projects," which are 90+ day semesters at sea that serve as hands-on training. Two of the sea projects are completed on a commercial vessel (one on the Great Lakes and one on the oceans) and a third sea project is completed aboard the school's training ship the T/S State of Michigan. Traditionally, cadets sail on the training ship as their first sea project, but I had an opportunity to switch the order of my trips and will be sailing on a commercial vessel this summer. 

The Edgar B. Speer is a 1,004 foot long bulk carrier that ships taconite pellets (used for steel production) primarily from Two Harbors, MN to Gary, IN. Starting on the 23rd of May, the Speer will be my home for 92 days as I learn what real life on a ship will be like. My plan is to upload a photo a day from this summer's trip. I'll upload the photo here and on Instagram (@wesclanton). 

I'll post more from the ship when I board in a couple of weeks, but here is some more info about the ship that I will be on this summer as quoted from www.boatnerd.com:

This twin-screw self-unloading bulk carrier was built in two sections. The forward cargo section was built by American Shipbuilding Co., Toledo, OH and was transferred to the Amship yard in Lorain, OH where it was mated up with the aft section. The thousand footer was launched May 8,1980 and was christened Edgar B. Speer on June 4, 1980 for the Great Lakes Fleet of the United States Steel Co., Duluth, MN. She is powered by two Pielstick V-18 cylinder 9630 horsepower diesel engines driving 2 controllable pitch propellers making her one of the most powerful vessels on the Great Lakes. Her rated service speed is 14.75 knots. She is equipped with a bow thruster. The Speer's 20 hatches feed 5 holds where she is capable of carrying 73,700 tons at her maximum mid-summer draft of 32 feet 1 inch. Her unusual self-unloading system consists of a stern mounted 52 foot transverse shuttle unloading boom designed specifically for shore hopper loading.

With the Edgar B. Speer entering service in 1980, seven smaller lakeboats were sent to the scrap yards. These were the Eugene J. Buffington, D. M. Clemson, Thomas F. Cole, Alva C. Dinkey, D. G. Kerr, Governor Miller, and the J. P. Morgan Jr. The Speer's first cargo consisted of 55,000 tons of taconite pellets from Two Harbors, MN to Gary, IN.

Her unique unloading system restricts the Speer's cargo to taconite pellets. The only two locations that can accept the Speer's unloading boom are located in Gary, IN and Conneaut, OH. Her fleet-mate Edwin H. Gott, also built with a similar self-unloader, was converted to a standard self-unloading system with a 280 foot stern-mounted discharge boom thus increasing her flexibility.