The purpose of this site is two fold: First, to shamelessly promote our book, Deckhand, a story about life on the freighters of the Great Lakes from the seldom heard perspective of the deckhand. Second, to provide a forum for the exchange of stories, ideas and conversations by and about those that sail the working boats of the Great Lakes. Let us put in our plug for the book, then we would like to extend an invitation which we hope you will find intriguing.
The Book
Colorful port saloons, monster ice jams, a near drowning, and the daily drudgery of soogeying (cleaning the dirt and grime off the ships) are just a few of the experiences Nelson "Mickey" Haydamacker had as a young deckhand on freighters of the Great Lakes in the early 1960s. Mickey sailed five different Interlake Steamship Company ore boats, from the modern Elton Hoyt 2nd to the ancient coal-fired Colonel James Pickands with its backbreaking tarp-covered telescoping hatches. With numerous photographs and engaging stories Mickey vividly relates the trepidation, hard work, daily drudgery, and dangers encountered by the new sailor while helping the reader understand how these boats carry their enormous loads.
Deckhand will appeal to shipping buffs and to anyone interested in Great Lakes shipping and maritime history as it chronicles the adventures of living on the lakes from the seldom-seen view of the deckhand.
Deckhand: 153 pages, 32 photographs, one map. US$18.95
Available at most bookstores and:
The University of Michigan Press
The Invitation
Now for the invitation. We will always welcome your questions and comments about the book as well as other topics that may come up from time to time and will post them on this site. However, we also want to provide a forum for stories by and about the men and women that sail the working boats of the Great Lakes. Our invitation to you is to share your stories, anecdotes, jokes, tales of joy, terror, exhilaration, and just the plain old everyday pleasures of life on the boats of the Great Lakes. We know there are thousands of tales out there just waiting for the opportunity to be told and shared with the world.
THIS PART IS IMPORTANT! We don't want any misunderstandings. Any stories submitted will be published at the sole discretion of Deckhand LLC and we will have the right to publish them in any format. The idea is to publish the stories on this web site but our hope is to also compile enough good stories to have them published in a book. This will be accomplished through a publisher if we can find one who would be interested (shouldn't be too difficult) or self published by Deckhand LLC. This is not a promise to publish a book. It can take several years for a book of this kind to be published, so please be patient. The only compensation we can offer is the opportunity to see your story in print and some day being able to open an actual book and read your story to your grandchildren. That, and a free copy of the book if it should be published.
Guidelines: We don't have any strict guidelines for your stories. We are looking for anything from a paragraph to several thousand words. The language used should be family friendly - remember those grandchildren. We realize conquering the written word can be intimidating. We aren't looking for Hemingways, just clearly told stories. We will edit submissions for spelling, grammar, punctuation and clarity. Include your name and address so proper credit can be given to the story teller and we can send you a free copy of the book when and if (let's be optimistic) it is published.
Stories can be submitted in several ways. You can go straight to this blog and submit your story by clicking on "Your Story" under the Conversations area to the right. This will put your story on the site to share with everyone who visits our Great Lakes Deckhand site.
If you would rather not put your story on the site, or would like us to look at it before adding it to "Your Story", then e-mail it to digger43@comcast.net. Please put "Great Lakes Story" in the subject line and let us know if you want it posted to the site.
If you would like to mail it in or talk to us about it, e-mail us at digger43@comcast.net and we will get in touch with you to work out the details. Again, please reference "Great Lakes Story" in the subject line of your e-mail.
What ever way you tell us your story we want to hear it and share it with others. If we should decide we would like to use your story in the book we will contact your for written permission to use it in the compilation.
Privacy: We will never sell or share your contact information with anyone without your permission unless required by law.
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