August 28, Thursday – Of Sunsets and Spars

Throughout my journey along the Great Lakes I’ve been fascinated by the history and the boat traffic. As a bulk freighter at Sault Ste Marie entered the Soo Locks I noticed a crew member swing out from the area aft the pilot house and rappel down to the lock apron. He then caught a line from the ship and proceeded to walk along side the ship as she nudged forward toward the open lock gate. When I was on board the Valley Camp, I noticed a set of port and starboard spars folded back onto the deck. I realized that these were the poles that were extended out from the hull and were used to lower crewmembers to wharfs or lock aprons. However there was one spar on the ships that I could not figure out. It was attached directly on the ship’s bow but instead of being vertical like a ship’s flag staff, it jutted out at almost a 45 degree angle. Why was this??
While in one of the visitor centers in Painted Rocks National Lakeshore, I was browsing through a book on Great Lake boats and found a photo of the bow of a ship with that forward pointing spar. I took the book up to the counter and asked the woman why was the spar pointing out instead of up.
[Rant: Many years back uniformed park service personnel were everywhere. They manned the information booths, the visitor centers, the campgrounds, the backcountry patrols, the trail crews, the search and rescue teams. The concessions were the only thing run by companies – their college-aged employees were fondly called “savages.” Then the US Park Service started dabbling in volunteerism beginning with the SCA (Student Conservation Association). It has now become the backbone of the service. The majority of the personnel that a visitor now comes in contact with are volunteers. We now have USPS Volunteers in the Visitor Centers, Campground Hosts; private contractors doing the trails; local law enforcement agencies provide search and rescue. The National Park Service has been neutered. I realize that the lack of funding from the Federal government shoulders most of the blame for this. It was the only way left for the Park Service to continue – ask for help from the people they serve. Having paid uniform personnel to me it was one of the best ways of spending my tax dollars. End of rant]
I was delighted to see a USPS uniform sitting behind the counter. She didn’t know the answer but without hesitation said her father-in-law would know. Again the wealth of “local knowledge” came into play. Patti said that she would talk to her father-in-law and email me the answer. Late last night I got the answer. The forward pointing spar is a navigational aid used by the helmsman on rivers and narrow bodies of water to give him a sense of direction of the vessel. It is called a “steering staff.” Take that GPS!!!! Love it! And thank you, Ms. USPS Ranger for your service.

To soften my rant I have included some of the photos of the best sunset that I’ve enjoyed on my Circle Tour; taken as the sun slid down behind the largest lake in the world.