Preparing to get underway are Lieutenant Cary Godwin (left) the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking tug Biscayne Bay, and new crewman Seaman James Fiaccone at the helm of the 140-foot long icebreaking tug. The ship and crew are preparing to cut ice in the Straits Tuesday, February 3. "It's a new experience every day on the ice," said Seaman James Fiaccone on the Coast Guard icebreaking tug Biscayne Bay. "Ice never does the same thing twice when you are going across it, and it definitely depends on the type of ice."

As the ship sailed west from St. Ignace toward the Mackinac Bridge Tuesday, February 3, Seaman Fiaccone was at the helm.

"It was difficult at first," he said of steering the vessel, "but once you get the feel for how the ship acts and reacts to things, it just becomes reactionary, like driving your car, but nothing like driving a car. Your car is 20 feet long and this is 140 feet. It's like driving a car, but it's not."

The 24-year-old sailor from Texas arrived onboard the St. Ignace-based vessel seven days before Christmas. He is one of three new crew members stationed on the ship, with Boatswain's Mate Third Class Kyle Elliot and Seaman Joel Sebastian.

A buoy lies on the ground awaiting the spring thaw, while nothing but ice is visible behind Boatswain's Mate Third Class Kyle Elliot. He stands at the St. Ignace mooring site of the Biscayne Bay. BM3 Elliot is one of three new Coast Guard crew members experiencing their first winter in the Straits. The primary mission of the Biscayne Bay Tuesday was to introduce employers of National Guard troops and Reservists from around the state to the expertise and responsibilities of the Coast Guard by taking them on an icebreaking mission. The ship made three sailings last week, taking about 60 guests to demonstrate the contribution they make by allowing employees to fulfill their military obligations.

On its voyages, Biscayne Bay reopened a track line for commercial vessels that transport road salt and fuel during the winter months to Great Lakes ports. The 740-foot freighter Algowood could be seen on the western horizon, just beginning to make her way into the Straits.

Watching the ice crack and break from the Captain's Walk of the Biscayne Bay are St. Ignace Coast Guard Auxiliary members Bob Belonga (left) and Steve Peterson. Round Island is to their left. Seaman Fiaccone, one of 19 men stationed aboard the Biscayne Bay, steered the vessel through ice about 16 inches to 20 inches thick as she headed under the Mackinac Bridge.

The Biscayne Bay is his first Coast Guard assignment and his first time in Michigan. He wanted to be on a small icebreaking ship when he was graduated from boot camp in Cape May, New Jersey, and he expects to be in St. Ignace for more than a year.

His ultimate goal is to work in Coast Guard public affairs. His father and grandfather were in the Army and his great-grandfather was in the Italian Army.

"I like it in Michigan so far," he said. "I can't wait to see what the summer is like and actually see what the water looks like under all this ice."

Tending lines during Tuesday's icebreaking, Seaman Joel Sebastian of the Biscayne Bay prepares for docking as the vessel continues to break ice in the Straits on her way back to port in St. Ignace. The Great Lakes are experiencing an icy winter, observed Lieutenant Cary Godwin, the commanding officer of the Biscayne Bay.

The Straits of Mackinac are frozen from Mackinac Island west about 40 miles. Even the Chicago area has ice this year, which is rare, he said. Green Bay on the northwest shore of Lake Michigan is completely frozen over, and the entire western half of Lake Superior is iced over, which hasn't happened in about 12 years.

"We've got more ice now than we've had in the last 10 to 12 years," he said. "We are looking at a pretty wild spring unless we get a good thaw here."

Last year, Biscayne Bay broke ice from mid-January until the end of April. This year, the ship started icebreaking duties December 15, one month earlier.

"I would not be surprised if we're breaking ice into May," Lt. Godwin said.

The St. Ignace-based Biscayne Bay heads west toward the Mackinac Bridge, breaking ice to widen the track line for passage of commercial vessels Tuesday, February 3. With a wind chill of about -10 degrees, employers from around the state were bundled up as they traveled as guests of the crew for several hours. The employers take part in a Department of Defense program that promotes cooperation between employers and the military. He has seen his ship cut through about 30 inches of solid plate ice and still move at a continuous 3.0 knots, or about 4.5 miles per hour.

The ship cuts through the ice with its knife-like bow, unlike polar ice breakers, which ride up onto the ice to crush it.

"She's powerful," he said of the Bay-class tug. "She really can't get stuck up here with the ice you find on the lakes. It's due to the power she has and the overall length. We can ram through ice stacked up as high as 15 feet," he said. "It just takes a little time and effort."

The ship's main icebreaking responsibilities are in the northern Great Lakes. When the Soo Locks close in mid-January, there is no icebreaking on Lake Superior.

The busy time for icebreaking is in early March prior to the opening of the Soo Locks, said Lt. Godwin. Icebreakers open Great Lakes channels and ports in preparation for the shipping season.

"Laying a track line" is the term used by the Coast Guard when it cuts through the ice to make a path for other ships. Freighters often will follow anywhere from 500 yards to two or three miles behind the cutters.

"The worse the ice, the closer they are," he said.

If a freighter is beset in the ice, the crew will perform a mission to free it. Biscayne Bay will cut ice in circles around the stuck freighter, relieving the pressure on the hull and allowing it to move forward.

Specifically designed for icebreaking, Biscayne Bay is one of six cutters based on the northern Great Lakes. Even though she is 30 years old and at the end of her projected service life, projects over the last four years have been designed to increase her life by 10 years. Both diesel engines have been overhauled and the generators replaced. The ship also has new navigation and radar systems.

Biscayne Bay has 5/8-inch thick steel at the ice belt and has a reinforced bow. Considered very powerful for her length, she has 2,500 shaft horsepower. Bubbles sent out along the side act as a lubricant to reduce the friction in heavy ice. The system also improves the efficiency of the ship.

Another new crew member on Biscayne Bay is Boatswain's Mate Third Class Kyle Elliot, 20, of Granville, Illinois. He joined the Coast Guard in 2006 after researching other military services and talking to his uncle, who also is in the Coast Guard.

His first assignment sent him to Coast Guard Station Rio Vista, a small boat station on the Sacramento River just inland from San Francisco Bay. The area is a deep water shipping channel. He enjoyed the small boat station assignment and prefers driving the 25-foot boats.

Before arriving at St. Ignace November 23, he completed petty officer school in Yorktown, Virginia. This is his first trip to Michigan, and he expects to be here for three years.

"I wanted to be on the Biscayne Bay," he said. "I've never been underway on a big boat. The 140s are icebreakers and it just seemed like a whole lot of fun."

His goal is to advance as high as he can and eventually to retire from the Coast Guard.

Onboard the Biscayne Bay, BM3 Elliot has a variety of responsibilities, including working with deck equipment, and he is quartermaster of the watch while underway, which is to maintain safe navigation. He just returned from ice rescue training in Bay City where he learned to become an ice rescue trainer. Now he can train other crew members on the Biscayne Bay.

"I'm having a blast," he said.

His family has a boat and they are planning to visit St. Ignace this summer and sail in the Straits.

Seaman Joel Sebastian, also new on Biscayne Bay, joined the Coast Guard to help people. With its emphasis on search and rescue, he said, the Coast Guard was the right choice for him. His family has supported his decision.

"My parents tell me all the time they are proud of me," he said, "because I'm 18 and I'm doing this. It's really important."

From North Branch, he arrived in St. Ignace in September. He had hoped to be assigned to Port Huron to be closer to his family and girlfriend, Heather, although he is happy here.

Since coming aboard, he has qualified as a helmsman and stands watch when in port. He also has attended fire school in Toledo, Ohio, and is qualified in shipboard firefighting. When his tour of duty is complete in six years, Seaman Sebastian plans to be a firefighter and to serve in the Coast Guard Reserve.

He also has signed up for training in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to become an aviation maintenance technician and work on helicopters.

He is enjoying being a member of the Coast Guard and a part of the icebreaking crew. He also enjoys being underway and taking on the large waves as they break over the ship's bow and in helping freighters transport materials to Great Lakes ports.

"I get to help the lakers [freighters] out," he said. "That's a pretty big deal. It's an important job."