Description

By Nelson “Mickey” Haydamacker with Alan D. Millar

Long before popular television show such as Dirty Jobs and The Deadliest Catch, everyday men and women- the unsung heroes of the job world- toiled in important but mostly anonymous jobs. One of those jobs was deckhand on the ore boats.

            With numerous photographs and engaging stories, Deckhand offers an insider’s view of both the mundane and the intriguing duties performed by deckhands on these gritty cargo vessels. Boisterous port saloons, monster ice jams, near drownings, and the daily drudgery of soogeying- cleaning dirt and grime off the ship- are just a few of the experiences Mickey Haydamacker had as a young deckhand working on freighters of the Great Lakes in the early 1960s. Haydamacker sailed five Interlake Steamship Company boats, from the modern Elton Hoyt 2nd and the ancient coal-powered Colonel James Pickands to the Samuel Mather with its backbreaking tarp-covered hatches.

            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 a deckhand.