Civilians Gather From Around the State To Experience Icebreaking on Biscayne Bay
Program Thanks Those Who Employ Soldiers
By Karen Gould

Busy in the bridge as the Biscayne Bay gets underway Monday, January 28, are Lt. Jr. Grade Joshua Zike (left) and the ship's helmsman, Seaman Jason Manor. The pair listen as orders are called by Lieutenant Cary Godwin (right), commanding officer of the ship, who stands at one of three propulsion consoles as the vessel leaves her St. Ignace mooring.

Looking out past the open water to the ice pack ahead, civilians aboard the Coast Guard icebreaking tug Biscayne Bay braced themselves against the nearest railing in anticipation of the expected jolt. The ship was reopening the track line already cut beneath the Mackinac Bridge that had refrozen with about 10 inches of ice. The track line is a passage through the ice pack used by freighters carrying fuel and salt to and from Great Lakes ports.

More than 25 employers from around the state were onboard the St. Ignace-based vessel as it sailed into the Straits toward the Mackinac Bridge early Monday, January 28. The visitors were taking part in a Department of Defense education program for companies who reemploy National Guard and Reserve soldiers.

Shown cutting through the pack ice in the Straits Monday, January 28, the Biscayne Bay is designed to handle ice up to 24 inches thick. Ice in the Straits moves with the currents and wind, said Lieutenant Cary Godwin, commanding officer. Strong west winds blew into the region Wednesday, pushing ice into Round Island passage. Through the end of the week, the vessel worked to cut a track for freighters between Mackinac Island and Round Island.

When the Biscayne Bay left her moorings at the Coast Guard dock Monday morning, the water temperature was 34 degrees, and winds were more than 20 miles per hour. Winds and current constantly shift the ice, said Lieutenant Cary Godwin, commanding officer of the 140-foot icebreaking tug. During the two-hour icebreaking demonstration, passengers found a variety of sailing conditions. Twice the vessel reversed before moving forward through thicker ice. Thin plate ice broke up as the Biscayne Bay passed under the Mackinac Bridge before hitting open water just west of the bridge.

Those attending last week's cruises soon learned about the loud sound of ice breaking under the ship as on-deck conversations became shouts. To maintain footing, passengers found themselves holding onto railings as the ship rolled through several small windrows.

Lt. Godwin said the crew has spent the last two weeks icebreaking, staying out about four consecutive days per trip.

Their schedule always depends on the ice, he said. In December, the ship headed north to break ice in Lake Superior near Duluth, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Canada.

"Our primary mission is icebreaking," he said. "The area of responsibility is usually the Straits of Mackinac and the St. Marys River."

Last year, however, the 665-ton ship was called on to break ice as far west as Duluth, south to Chicago, east into the St. Lawrence Seaway, and areas in between, said Lt. Godwin.

Crew onboard the Biscayne Bay record ice conditions every 30 minutes. The ice report is given to Sector Sault Ste. Marie, which has overall responsibility for Coast Guard coverage in Lake Superior and the northern portion of Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Each day, the ship receives information from Sault Ste. Marie on freighter travel in the area. Captains of icebreakers, including the Mackinaw and Biscayne Bay, work out a daily plan to maintain tracks for the freighters.

The Biscayne Bay is designed to break ice up to 24 inches thick at a speed of three knots, or a little over three miles per hour. The steel hull is 5/8 inches thick and a layer called the ice belt wraps the hull at the water line, providing an additional 3/8 inches of steel covering.

A bubbler, a compressor that generates low pressure air, sends bubbles rolling out from each side of the vessel. The system helps reduce the amount of ice friction on the sides of the hull, which can slow the vessel. The bubbler, said Lt. Godwin, improves efficiency of the ship more than 30% by reducing horsepower requirements. In open water, full speed for the ship is 14 knots.

While in Canada last year, the crew encountered 36-inch plate ice. To break through the ice, the vessel backed up about three ship lengths and rammed the ice to successfully clear a 400-foot passage before the ice finally stopped the ship.

"We ended up backing up and ramming it again and again," said Lt. Godwin. "None of the ice on the Great Lakes can do anything to our hull. There's no possibility of damaging the hull or the propeller or the rudder with the ice conditions we have on the lakes."

The thickest ice seen on the lake is a solid plate of about four feet, although wind can pile ice up to 20 feet high. Called windrows, the best way to handle them, said Lt. Godwin, is to sail around them. Three times last winter, the ship had to cut through them.

"You take out a chunk at time and just keep going," he said. It takes about three hours to cut a passage through the windrows.

The Straits and the river are considered critical waterways, said Lt. Godwin, kept open to maintain safe commerce. Six freighters travel the waterways in the winter.

The Biscayne Bay has a crew of 17 men, he said. Eight of the crew are engineers who monitor machinery to ensure it is operating properly, including the two diesel engines and the generators. Crew members also plan trips and assist with the logistics of sailing, logs are kept, and the ship's position is plotted. Other crew members are responsible for mooring the vessel and ondeck equipment used for rescues.

Built more than 30 years ago before women were stationed on Coast Guard vessels, the ship does not offer separate sleeping facilities for women. New cutters are designed to accommodate female sailors, he said, and cutters like the Biscayne Bay are expected to be replaced in the next 10 years.

On the ship, the berthing area sleeps 12 men who share bathing facilities, while newer vessels are designed with four-person staterooms with a bath area.

With the small crew, the ship is not able to operate around the clock, he said, and icebreaking is noisy, making it difficult to sleep. When away from port, the ship will break ice during the day and pull off the track line during the night.

"We don't have enough people to completely run 24 hours a day," he said. "Even if we did, nobody would be able to sleep."

Monday and Tuesday, 80 employers from southeastern Michigan to the Keewanaw Peninsula attended presentations in St. Ignace and sailed on the Biscayne Bay as it cut a trail through the ice for freighters.

Station St. Ignace personnel, along with the crew from the Biscayne Bay, docked near the station, are working with the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) program to give employers firsthand experience of the Coast Guard in operation.

"The cruise," said Lieutenant Junior Grade Joshua Zike of the Biscayne Bay, "is a way of showing appreciation to employers who have given time off to those who serve in the National Guard and reserve program."

The guests learned about ice rescue operations performed at Station St. Ignace and were given an overview of the crews' year around responsibilities, including search and rescue operations, safety patrols during the recreational boating season, and work performed in maintaining 150 aids to navigation in the U.P. and northern Michigan. One employer volunteered to dress in ice rescue gear, a demonstration that showed the layers worn by Coast Guard personnel, and the practice needed to dress quickly. The station boasts that a crew of four can be dressed in ice rescue gear with all equipment loaded and ready to go to the rescue site in nine minutes.

Meeting at Coast Guard Station St. Ignace before they boarded the ship were employers who have agreed to reemploy workers following their military service. Some employers also help supplement earnings of their employees during military duty, provide health insurance, and continue other benefits.

Volunteers administer the program. Founded in 1972 by the Defense Department when the draft ended, the goal of the organization is to encourage people to join the military, and it seeks support of employers. In Michigan, the program operates with 120 volunteers, including retired Lieutenant Colonel Melvin Bauman, who spoke at the St. Ignace event, is a veteran of two wars, and is now a liaison with ESGR.

Guard and reserve soldiers, he said, comprise about 48% of the country's military.

"If it wasn't for the partnership ESGR builds with employers, and if it wasn't for the support of the employers for guard and reserve soldiers," he said, "we couldn't fight."

Dave Haataja, general manager of the Ojibwa Casino Resort in Baraga operated by the Keeweenaw Bay Indian Community, said the tribe supports military personnel by reserving jobs and seniority. He made the more than four-hour drive to St. Ignace with Melissa Elmblad, who is with Bay Ambulance in Baraga. The trip, said Mr. Haataja, was worth the time to learn more about the Coast Guard.

"It was a great opportunity to see what they do. It was quite interesting," he said. "I don't think a lot of people really know what they do."

In May, ESGR will hold a similar event for employers at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids. A Black Hawk helicopter will be one of the aircraft on site.

In addition to Biscayne Bay, there are eight other 140-foot Bay Class tugs. Four of the ships sail the Great Lakes, including the Neah Bay in Cleveland, Bristol Bay in Detroit, Katmai Bay in Sault Ste. Marie, and the Mobile Bay in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The remaining four vessels sail from the East Coast.