The winter storm that’s swept across the Upper Midwest has dropped more than a foot of snow on Sturgeon Bay. Schools, restaurants and businesses have been closed due to the snowfall, but things at the shipyard go on as usual. This photo was taken on the deck of the Anderson, the ship famed for it’s role in rescue efforts surrounding the Edmund Fitzgerald.
On the left, a head assembly in place. On the right, a piston awaits a head.
James and I spend many hours everyday on top of the engine. We installed the air intake, seen as the long tube on the left of the photo. This carries charged air from the turbo to each head. We also installed safety valves, air start valves and fuel injectors. In the top center of the photo you can see a yellow DeWalt radio lodged between the exhaust stacks. All day it spews static and pop music, and at times it causes James to lose his concentration and dance around and sing wildy for a bit. It’s always fun to watch.
Gear heads: the force required to open a valve is 450 pounds.
Imagine three men from Louisiana working at a shipyard in Wisconsin. Mornings when the temps are sub zero, they walk into the ship and say, “Y’all are crazy for livin’ here.” They all have thick southern accents, and James has a touch of Cajun in his drawl. Last week I worked with James installing pistons, he’s a great co-worker and a good man. Today I was on an upper deck cutting gaskets, he was on a lower deck cleaning parts. After a couple hours of solitude he began protesting and causing trouble. He was soon roped off and a warning was posted.
I heard his voice bouncing off the metal walls, but didn’t know he was in trouble. I was absorbed in making gaskets for the engine, a task I was learning for the first time. After a couple of tries I was turning out a good product.
At the end of the day I accompanied the southern boys to “Hot Tamales” for a satisfying meal of fajitas. With a full stomach James was a happy man.
Tomorrow we will work together again. I’m guessing it will go one of two ways: we will be productive, or both of us will be roped off with a larger, more detailed warning sign. Maybe I should pick up some poster board on the way in….
