by standuffer » January 23, 2011, 4:16 pm
ML wrote:Standuffer. I know you came on the Ziesing the year after I did. We should have left the boat in good order for you. We layed her up in Sturgeon Bay, I believe rafted to the Clemson. Do you remember who your bosun was? Mine always called them fern(ferring) strips. Never heard them called batons. you must've had an educated bosun on your hatchfarm ride. Ahh, the good ole days, manual labor at it's finest.
ML, as best I can remember the Ziesing was in pretty good shape when I arrived in Sturgeon Bay to fit her out on April 1, 1973. I believe the boatswain was a guy named Paul who was slender, in his mid to late 20’s, and loved to hang out, farting around with his deckhands, down in their cabin. Paul was the union representative onboard and by mid June he left the Ziesing to pursue what I think, was a job with the Steelworkers Union, Local 5000.
The first few days aboard the Ziesing I experienced a very strong feeling of ‘culture shock’. The Ziesing was my 2nd boat and what an eye opening experience she was when you consider my 1st boat (6/71 – 2/72, + 4/72 – 6/72) was The Callaway. I went from the comfort of being the 4-8 deckwatch on the Callaway to a deckhand on the Zeising. What a change and an awakening for me. On the Callaway we had 2-man rooms with our own head, sink, and shower plus the connivance of AC power throughout the boat. It was like a hotel compared to the Ziesing with its 3 deckhands to a cabin off the dunnage room. The head and showers were on the other side of the dunnage room. Luckily for me and along the lines of what John Dunlap mentioned earlier, we had a rather large turnover of personnel that April and by mid-May I was once again standing watches as the 4-8 deckwatch. By far an easier job than deckhand but I still had my fair share of exposure to the tarps and wedges.
Fit out was hard work, as it is on any boat I suppose. Sunday was spent working on deck, bringing in and storing the dead wires and singleing up on the deck lines. After lunch we spent the afternoon removing the pilothouse shutters and carrying them down to the dunnage room for storage. No way were you leaving that dunnage room empty handed though, on our way back up we struggled to get tarps up to the spar deck. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were spent on a raft or sitting on a scaffold that was hanging over the side of the ship. We were painting the entire shipside, rolling that hull red on as fast and thick as possible. The most fun I had those 3 days was hanging over the end fantail, sitting on a scaffold, trying to reach the curved underside of her classic “counter’ stern to roll on yet one more coat of paint. Thursday was spent getting the deck ready for day-to-day operations. That was my introduction to tarps, proper tarp handling techniques, battons, wedges, small sledgehammers, strong backs, ‘J’ shaped butterfly clamps, and all of the steps necessary to Safely secure the deck. Friday we finished securing the deck, cast off, got under way, and had the ‘life line' up by lunchtime.
We had a good and stable crew on the Ziesing that season. By June our captain, (R.G. Carr ?) retired and our 1st mate, Roy Henze (from Two Harbors) was given his fist fulltime boat. Al Nelson (who looked a lot like the actor Conrad Janis, the father on Mork & Mindy) moved up to 1st mate and 20 years later captained ‘the footers ‘ Gott and Spear. We had a set of twins who were wheelmen and roommates (I always thought that was pretty cool). One of the watchmen took the boatswain job after Paul (the union guy) left and beside me having to get off/on the boat a number of times to take care of a legal problem, our crew was stable for the remainder of the season. The crewmembers that I can remember are, John B. from MN., he was a watchman who liked listening to and playing (guitar & harmonica) music, he also weaved nylon hammocks for fun and profit. My watchman, Mac was a crazy little guy from ME who had lots of saltwater sailing experience and came to the lakes to “take it easy” and be closer to home. He was an experienced and talented AB who taught me a lot. Mac called everyone “pard” (partner) and couldn’t wait to get off the boat to go up-town. He was regularly the first one off and the last one back aboard. Little Kevin E., also from Two Harbors, was the last deckhand to join the crew that season. As I recall Kevin came aboard mid-summer and like the rest of the crew, stayed aboard until we laid-up, in the graving dock, at Fraser. To my surprise, I saw Kevin E. again in the mid-90’s as I was checking in with security before being allowed to enter a customer site, the guy behind the security desk looks at my name on the sign-in sheet and asks “were you on the Ziesing”? As it turns out, Kevin was now living in Cleveland just a few miles away from me. What a small world.
[quote="ML"]Standuffer. I know you came on the Ziesing the year after I did. We should have left the boat in good order for you. We layed her up in Sturgeon Bay, I believe rafted to the Clemson. Do you remember who your bosun was? Mine always called them fern(ferring) strips. Never heard them called batons. you must've had an educated bosun on your hatchfarm ride. Ahh, the good ole days, manual labor at it's finest.[/quote]
ML, as best I can remember the Ziesing was in pretty good shape when I arrived in Sturgeon Bay to fit her out on April 1, 1973. I believe the boatswain was a guy named Paul who was slender, in his mid to late 20’s, and loved to hang out, farting around with his deckhands, down in their cabin. Paul was the union representative onboard and by mid June he left the Ziesing to pursue what I think, was a job with the Steelworkers Union, Local 5000.
The first few days aboard the Ziesing I experienced a very strong feeling of ‘culture shock’. The Ziesing was my 2nd boat and what an eye opening experience she was when you consider my 1st boat (6/71 – 2/72, + 4/72 – 6/72) was The Callaway. I went from the comfort of being the 4-8 deckwatch on the Callaway to a deckhand on the Zeising. What a change and an awakening for me. On the Callaway we had 2-man rooms with our own head, sink, and shower plus the connivance of AC power throughout the boat. It was like a hotel compared to the Ziesing with its 3 deckhands to a cabin off the dunnage room. The head and showers were on the other side of the dunnage room. Luckily for me and along the lines of what John Dunlap mentioned earlier, we had a rather large turnover of personnel that April and by mid-May I was once again standing watches as the 4-8 deckwatch. By far an easier job than deckhand but I still had my fair share of exposure to the tarps and wedges.
Fit out was hard work, as it is on any boat I suppose. Sunday was spent working on deck, bringing in and storing the dead wires and singleing up on the deck lines. After lunch we spent the afternoon removing the pilothouse shutters and carrying them down to the dunnage room for storage. No way were you leaving that dunnage room empty handed though, on our way back up we struggled to get tarps up to the spar deck. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were spent on a raft or sitting on a scaffold that was hanging over the side of the ship. We were painting the entire shipside, rolling that hull red on as fast and thick as possible. The most fun I had those 3 days was hanging over the end fantail, sitting on a scaffold, trying to reach the curved underside of her classic “counter’ stern to roll on yet one more coat of paint. Thursday was spent getting the deck ready for day-to-day operations. That was my introduction to tarps, proper tarp handling techniques, battons, wedges, small sledgehammers, strong backs, ‘J’ shaped butterfly clamps, and all of the steps necessary to Safely secure the deck. Friday we finished securing the deck, cast off, got under way, and had the ‘life line' up by lunchtime.
We had a good and stable crew on the Ziesing that season. By June our captain, (R.G. Carr ?) retired and our 1st mate, Roy Henze (from Two Harbors) was given his fist fulltime boat. Al Nelson (who looked a lot like the actor Conrad Janis, the father on Mork & Mindy) moved up to 1st mate and 20 years later captained ‘the footers ‘ Gott and Spear. We had a set of twins who were wheelmen and roommates (I always thought that was pretty cool). One of the watchmen took the boatswain job after Paul (the union guy) left and beside me having to get off/on the boat a number of times to take care of a legal problem, our crew was stable for the remainder of the season. The crewmembers that I can remember are, John B. from MN., he was a watchman who liked listening to and playing (guitar & harmonica) music, he also weaved nylon hammocks for fun and profit. My watchman, Mac was a crazy little guy from ME who had lots of saltwater sailing experience and came to the lakes to “take it easy” and be closer to home. He was an experienced and talented AB who taught me a lot. Mac called everyone “pard” (partner) and couldn’t wait to get off the boat to go up-town. He was regularly the first one off and the last one back aboard. Little Kevin E., also from Two Harbors, was the last deckhand to join the crew that season. As I recall Kevin came aboard mid-summer and like the rest of the crew, stayed aboard until we laid-up, in the graving dock, at Fraser. To my surprise, I saw Kevin E. again in the mid-90’s as I was checking in with security before being allowed to enter a customer site, the guy behind the security desk looks at my name on the sign-in sheet and asks “were you on the Ziesing”? As it turns out, Kevin was now living in Cleveland just a few miles away from me. What a small world.