Nelson "Mickey" Haydamacker spent his youth as a deckhand sailing on the freighters of the Great Lakes. During 1962 and 1963 Mickey sailed on five different Interlake Steamship Company boats: Elton Hoyt 2nd, E.G. Grace, Samuel Mather, J.L. Mauthe and the Colonel James Pickands. He later went on to become an arson expert with the Michigan State Police, retiring with the rank of Detective Sergeant.
Alan D. Millar, to whom Mickey related his tale of sailing, spent his career as a gift store owner, The Mole Hole of Grand Rapids, and often wrote copy for local newspaper, TV, and radio ads. Like Mickey, Alan is now retired and living in West Michigan.