Another broken bone, "down" for a little bit

[coastie56]

I was a Bosun on the 110' ft harbor tug Raritan. After we steamed into Lake Superior to search for survivors of the Edmund Fitzgerald we assumed our winter ice breaking duties out of the Soo Locks. I was surprised when we were sent even farther North to look for some Canadian Indian fisherman who had lost their rudder and were stranded in the pancake ice off the Canadian Shore. The winds were out of the Northwest and I remember taking the deck force out to chip ice off the port side with fire axes and buck knives! When we finally reached them they were huddled inside stripping the wood off the bulkheads and furnishings into the little pot bellied stove for warmth. The two fat ones were looking funny at the one skinny guy who was majorly pissed at his shipmates who reportedly were talking about eating him! They were too weak and cold to line handle so I had to put on a wetsuit and crawl through the slush and brash ice to pass the towing howser and tie on LMFAO! I was so cold it took a week for "Mr Happy" to recover from the shrinkage! Walked from the docks to the local bar to recover with shots of peppermint schnaps and "Old Milwaukee" chasers, antifreeze in a glass! Back then ships were made of wood and men were made of steel!

[Road King Cole]

Let's keep on on subject please.

Fixed it for you:

Originally Posted by coastie56

I was a Bosun on the 110' ft harbor tug Raritan. After we steamed into Lake Superior to search for survivors of the Edmund Fitzgerald we assumed our winter ice breaking duties out of the Soo Locks. I was surprised when we were sent even farther North to look for some Canadian Indian fisherman who had lost their rudder and were stranded in the pancake ice off the Canadian Shore. The winds were out of the Northwest and I remember taking the deck force out to chip ice off the port side with fire axes and buck knives! When we finally reached them they were huddled inside stripping the wood off the bulkheads and furnishings into the little pot bellied stove for warmth. The two fat ones were looking funny at the one skinny guy who was majorly pissed at his shipmates who reportedly were talking about eating him! They were too weak and cold to line handle so I had to put on a wetsuit OVER MY BLUE CHAPSand crawl through the slush and brash ice to pass the towing howser and tie on LMFAO! I was so cold it took a week for "Mr Happy" to recover from the shrinkage! Walked from the docks to the local bar to recover with shots of peppermint schnaps and "Old Milwaukee" chasers, antifreeze in a glass! Back then ships were made of wood and men were made of steel!

I was on a similar ship, the Tamaroa 110 foot "tug" out of Governers Island, however we called ours a "Sea Tug".

We lost our anchor one night, the captain who I think liked to wear blue chaps in his private quarters had everyone on deck with our little battery powered flashlights looking for the anchor buoy (to supplement the high powered search beacon).

rkc

[coastie56]

Ya, The LT jg who sent us out to look for the Fitz prolly looked good in his assless blue chaps too. What a nitwit, remember the op specs said we were't spose to go out in over 50 mph winds and when Perkins checked the tower at the air base with the wind device had blown over in the 90+ mph winds. We were in sonar level feces the minute we passed the Algonac pier head. Heard we weren't even brought up in the board of review because of the huge error in judgement LMFAO. Flashlights? AT sea in da big ocean?! Yer lucky you weren't washed overboard. Hell I was stuck on the helm most of the night cuz they were afraid to send anyone up the outside ladder to the bridge to relieve me and Weasel, my sea daddy. I also lost an anchor chain on a Nav bouy when I forgot to put the pin in the clevis on the end of the buoy weight chain! The Boats in charge made me dive in the river to retrieve it (only about 13') It wasn't too funny when I found out I couldn't surface with the weight of the chain holding me down. Boats was also pissed I dove in naked (wearing white chaps with a diagonal orange stripe) as it was a Tourist area. Weasel had to throw me a line HA!

[coastie56]

When they retired the Raritan I heard they retired her to be a display at Governors Island. Was Cape May wiped out in the storm?

[Road King Cole]

Originally Posted by coastie56

When they retired the Raritan I heard they retired her to be a display at Governors Island. Was Cape May wiped out in the storm?

No, Cape May weathered the storm OK. A friends nephew was going through camp at the time. The evacuated everyone. I can ask him if your ship was there.