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Of Sailing Ships and Sea-Bands
 Something felt a little funny as I interviewed some of the Large Lakes Observatory researchers on Blue Heron. I guess it was my stomach … because when I looked up from the galley table and out the porthole, everything was spinning.
Stumbling up to the pilothouse, I learned that indeed everything was
spinning, as the crew put the new directional and positioning equipment
to the test. Whatever we were testing apparently required rocking the
boat from port to starboard, bow to stern and twirling 360 degrees
around in many circles. Either that or Captain Mike King was just
trying to give my “Sea-Bands” a workout. (Sea-Bands, for those of you
who don’t get motion sickness, are an acupressure blessing for those of
us who do get motion sickness.)
Well, my Sea-Bands worked their magic, my stomach held its ground and Blue Heron and its new equipment performed admirably that day.
I’d call it a good day on a big boat … but that raises
another question that spins endlessly around any port, like ours, that
accommodates both boats and - here’s the catch - ships.
Tom Johnson, LLO director and former member of the U.S. Coast Guard, pointed out to me that Blue Heron, at
86 feet, is a “ship” not a “boat.” Think of it this way, Tom explains,
“if it’s too big to haul out for the winter, it’s a ship.”
I’d buy that. But being a diligent reporter, I sought a
second source. Especially since “what’s a boat” and “what’s a ship” is
such a familiar debate around the Great Lakes. So familiar that when I
called the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and posed my question to
Shellie Golden, who answers the phone, she merely chuckled before
turning me over to Captain Ray Skelton, the port’s director of
governmental and environmental affairs.
Ray, who has a wonderfully dry sense of humor for someone who spends so much time around water, came right to the point.
“In general, boats can be put aboard ships. There are two
exceptions: submarines and lake carriers, both are called boats. Even
though our lake carriers are larger than most ships, they’re still
called boats.”
And what would you call a large research vessel like Blue Heron? I asked.
“Toy boat,” says Ray with barely a smile cracking his quip.
He’s said as much to Professor Johnson, he admits, and I see that I’ve
stumbled into the middle of yet another good-natured ribbing around the
port.
The “boat” could be a “ship” by his standards, Ray
acknowledges, if it has a lifeboat on it. And any ocean-going vessel is
a “ship.”
“And I want you to know that there are really only two kinds
of ships,” adds Ray. “There are submarines … and there are targets.”
Well, I didn’t need to know a boat from a ship to figure out the answer to my next question. “And what’s your background, Ray?”
“Submarines.”
Ah, so here is a former Navy submarine man who knows his ships … no ifs, ands or boats about it.
Konnie LeMay
Editor
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