PROMO [MARCUS]: We’ve all seen them – massive ships navigating through the and the St. Lawrence Seaway, transporting cargo to various ports such as , Ogdensburg and Oswego. They’re huge, majestic, and mysterious. What happens on these ships? What goes on behind the scenes? What does the ship look like inside? What do they transport? What is the crew like? In short, what is it like to live and work on one of these freighters? Tune in to “More to the Story: Life on a Freighter.”

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Marcus:

Many people who live and vacation along Lake and the St. Lawrence River stop and stare in awe when massive commercial ships pass by. Artists paint and photograph these freighters and lakers, or cargo ships, built for traversing the Great Lakes, and marketers use their likeness to promote the Thousand Islands. But not many people know where they go, what they carry and what it takes to ensure their safe voyage. Fewer can imagine what the crews are like, the work they perform and the lives they live aboard these vessels. I wanted to find out.

Hello, I’m Marcus Wolf, and I’m a reporter with the Watertown Daily Times. In July, Watertown Daily Times photographer Daytona Niles, WPBS-TV crew members Tracy DuFlo and Ryan Proven, and I boarded a freighter in the near Niagara Falls, and journeyed with it to Eisenhower Lock in Massena. We worked in cooperation with The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in Canada, St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation in the U.S., the company Canada Steamship Lines, or CSL Group, and Transport Canada to arrange a trip to show you the life and work on one of these ships. We spent about 30 hours on board the laker CSL Welland and engaged with the crew on board to give you “More to the Story: Life on a Freighter.”

Marcus (voiceover) [Ship b-roll] The CSL Welland was named after the Welland Canal, which connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario via a series of 8 locks that lower or raise ships, depending on their direction, a total of 326 feet. The Canal is approximately 27 miles long.

The ship was built in 2014 and came to Canada in February of 2015. The Welland is 740 feet long and 78 feet wide, the widest ship that can pass through the Welland Canal. By the way, the locks at the canal are only 80 feet wide, so there’s not much room to spare! 1

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[Time lapse of Welland Canal with music]

Marcus: We boarded the ship at lock 7 in the Welland Canal. It was early July, and the weather was hot and sunny, about 85 to 90 degrees. The CSL Welland was in the midst of a five-day voyage delivering grain from Thunder Bay on the coast of Lake Superior to City, which borders the St. Lawrence River. After a safety briefing, we were given a tour of the ship. Inside, the air conditioning was running full blast, but outside, the steel decking absorbed the sun’s rays and summer heat. In order to be on the deck, we were required to wear hard hats, safety glasses, long pants, and steel-toed boots.

Marcus [Marcus-Stairs_07] There are 9 flights of stairs between the main deck and the bridge. Four in the Engine Room, and no elevator. So getting up and down them can be quite the workout.

Marcus: [Marcus-Bridge_03] So though the door, and up another flight of stairs, is the bridge. But it’s really busy right now, because the crew is navigating us through the St. Lawrence Seaway. But we’ll see if the Captain has a few moments to speak with us.

Video: Captain on the Bridge with Captain voiceover:

CAPTAIN WILSON WALTERS (from Thorold, Ontario, Canada): My name is Wilson Walters. I'm captain of the ship the CSL Welland, and I've been with CSL for 25 years.

I grew up in a little town in Newfoundland, Canada. When you grow up in this town you either fish or you go away to look for work. Fishing was starting to die, so a lot of the people from my town had come to the Great Lakes and found work and they enjoyed what they were doing. So I thought I would go up and see what it was all about.

I think on day one I was sold. I got on a ship and went, "You know what, I think this is for me." I fished when I was a young kid with my dad. I wasn't enjoying the life and I came on these large ships and felt a life that I thought, you know what, this is gonna fit the type of personality that I have.

[Interview setting] MARCUS: What are some of your responsibilities as captain aboard a ship?

WILSON: I have multiple tasks. I navigate all the waters of the Great Lakes, rivers, I pilot in the Welland Canal, same area as River, down the lower seaway. That's my navigational job, but I also run the ship and I have three officers, first mate, , and a that I give daily tasks to keep the ship running, and we have a crew that I'm responsible for, for safety. I'm in charge of the environment and I also wanna make sure that the ship don't get destroyed so the company don't take a loss. So basically safety, environment and protection of my crew.

MARCUS: How did you work your way up to captain? 2

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WILSON: There's two ways of going about becoming captain. The slow way, which is what I did. Or there's a fast track, which is a system. And A cadet system today you can do in four years with all the exemptions you have you can actually become a captain within four years, or I should say you could have the certificate in four years. And then with a couple years training you can be captain in five, six years. The way I did it, I came up through the ranks. I started as a deckhand, then I went wheelsman, then to third mate, second mate, first mate, and then I became captain. So because I worked and had a family, I would go to school on my time off. So I would work eight months a year and basically go to school for three. That's how I did it, so it took me a long time. Where young kids, they have a much better chance of becoming captain faster.

MARCUS: What was it like when you finally became captain?

WILSON: I'll use an expression that I tell everyone and they think I'm joking, but it's basically true. Bad day captain is still better than a good day first mate. So all you first mates that are ... get your captain's license.

MARCUS: How many crew members are there on this ship?

WILSON: We have 15 crew members in total. But at times like now, we do a lot of training on here. So we have extra people on board for training. I have a fantastic crew. Everybody thinks they got the best crew on the lakes, well I definitely don't think it. I'm pretty sure I got the best crew on the Great Lakes.

MARCUS: Are all crew members men or do you have some women on board?

WILSON: Today we only have one female on board but in the spring I had two. No ... Women are taking over the industry as well. The trainer that I had in the spring, it was a female. She's gonna be our next captain. She's gonna be the next one trained and the next one captain. We have first mates that are females. We have second mates, third mates, we have cooks that are here. We have deck hands. We have wheelsmen. We have Ma’s in the engine room. We have engineers. We have oh ... yeah, we have probably one of the greatest second engineers in the industry on this ship here and that's a female. So.

MARCUS [Voiceover] Crew members work a varied schedule. They can choose one month on, one month off; two months on, one month off; six weeks on, six weeks off, even six months on, six months off. Shipping stops for three months in the wintertime.

WILSON: The captains do ... Some do two months, some six weeks on six weeks off. Most of the chief engineers, six weeks on, six weeks off. Most of the second engineers, six weeks on, six weeks off. Our first mates are more two and one. And the crew, they work a little longer. They do like three months on and one month off. So it's different. If you're a non licensed person, you have to work a little longer. The officers, they work a little less.

MARCUS: But you, yourself. How long are you on and how long are you off?

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WILSON: I do two months on and one month off. So I worked April, May. I had June off. I work July and August, take September off. And then I work October, November and then I have December. So, I'm usually home for Christmas. But then I have December, January, February and March off and I come back to work in April. And it kinda works good for me because my kids are older now. So I don't need July and August so they try to pair me up with people with kids. And I don't like the warm weather so I'd rather be on the ship when it's hot in July and August. And be home in June and September when the temperatures are a little cool. So it kinda fits my style. Next year, I've already told the company that I don't want that. I want six weeks on, six weeks off.

MARCUS: And what keeps you in the company and keeps you in the sort of shipping lifestyle?

WILSON: If you do a job that you love, you don't feel like you're working. I've got 40 years working on ships. And I can't find five days of my life that I said I don't like what I do. Or don't love what I do. I love my job. I enjoy being out here. I enjoy the time off. I love working with the people that I have on my ship so for me, it's work but it's a great job. It's a great job. I make a great living. I've had my family all over the world because of the life that I have. I have a home, vehicles because of the life that I have. I have a lot of stuff because of the life that I chose.

WILSON: The sacrifices, by all means, this wasn't easy. This wasn't an easy road for my family. They sacrificed a lot to see me gone a lot and then come home and go to school. My kids, my wife sacrificed immensely but I always convinced them it was a means to an end. And that's when I became captain. They seen the means to the end. They seen that, 'you know what, it paid off.' Now I have lots of time off. We travel, we do a lot stuff together. We're a great family.

MARCUS (VOICEOVER): The CSL Welland is one of the biggest carriers of grain, or wheat, on the Great Lakes, transporting around 31,000 metric tons from Thunder Bay to Quebec City. That’s approximately 68,343,300 pounds of grain within its five holds! Before its construction, the largest grain carriers on the lakes would deliver as much as 29,000 metric tons, or 63,934,056 pounds.

Fabian LeFrense: If you want to look inside, you can actually see the grain. We unload in Quebec, we turn around and go right back to Thunder Bay. We’ve got these big overseas ships that come over and they load up the grain and take it overseas.

WILSON: We leave Thunder Bay. It is basically a five day trip to Quebec City. It's two days of unloading in Quebec City and then basically five days back. So a round trip, it takes about 12 days from start to finish.

Well, some of the biggest challenges are traffic. Traffic is up quite a bit so, a day like yesterday, you get into Welland Canal and there is seven boats downbound, seven boats upbound. You got to stop a lot. So your day gets to be a long day. So we have some really long days in the Welland

Canal. Normally, if there's no traffic, I can probably go through the Welland Canal in 10 hours.

But my days now are anywhere from 14 to 16, sometimes up to 17 hours going through the 4

Welland Canal cause there's a lot of traffic. Page

The boat being very wide, you gotta make sure that you're not going too fast because if you go too fast, you'll do damage to the ship for sure. So we keep our speed down. We try to maintain going through the Welland Canal with a slow speed so we don't do damage to the vessel.

MARCUS: So, what would you say is the most scenic portion of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway?

WILSON: Oh, definitely it's the St. Lawrence Seaway at the Thousand Islands. 40 years I've been doing this and it's amazing how beautiful it is. I see something new every time. It might be one small little item but there is something new every time you go through the Thousand Islands. It's the most beautiful scenic view in the world. I've been all over the world and I never get tired of the Thousand Islands. It's so picturesque. It's amazing. (e) Everybody that comes aboard for a trip, I won't let 'em sleep during that period. I don't care if it's night or day. They have to see the Thousand Islands. It's impressive.

[Time lapse – St. Lawrence River; CSL Welland going under 1000 Islands Bridge, with music]

MARCUS: What type of weather do you guys usually face on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence seaway? And how do you address it when you're navigating?

WILSON: Real good question. I used to work deep sea when I was a young kid and I've seen some really nasty weather. Some real high seas and some bad storms. But the Lakes, we don't get as bad on the lakes. You know what, when it comes to 30 to 35 miles of wind, we're usually looking for cover. We're very lucky on the Great Lakes that we have places that you can slide in around an anchor and get out of a nasty storm. What happens when the storm is coming most of the captains are on the phone, phoning each other, 'Yeah, I've got bad weather here. So, if you're coming this way maybe you should ... like Long Point Bay, go into Long Point Bay. It's got really good shelter on Lake Erie.' When the storms get bad and you'll hear a captain say, 'You know what, you better go inside.' When we get on Lake Superior being the worse, we get nasty storms up there. Anytime you go out 45 and 50 you don't wanna be out in that stuff. These boats are not built for it.

These boats are built for lakes. They are built for 30, 35 at the very most. Anything over 35 miles you want to be well under cover and.

MARCUS: So and how often do you communicate with other captains of other vessels? And what are some of the reasons that would prompt a call?

WILSON: Weather is probably the number one reason we call each other. We want to make sure that no one is put out in a position that could get them in trouble. And we have a lot of new captains in our company now and it's a few of us old guys that try to work together to help these young kids. And a lot of the young kids call us up and say, 'Would you go out on Lake Superior.

The wind is gonna be from the south west and it's gonna be 35.' They'll call us up and say, 'I'm

kinda on the fence, not sure.' We'll kinda walk them through. 'No, that's not a good idea.' We 5

usually give the advice, if you're not sure, don't take a chance. Page

MARCUS: How would you describe a day in the life of a captain on the CSL Welland, duties and all?

WILSON: Well, it's for sure, you're either gonna be in a river, in the Welland Canal, or you're tied up in a port. So for sure you're working somewhere that day doing navigation. You have to make sure that the crew is doing their daily duties, daily chores. And at the end of the day, you like to sit and relax, maybe watch a little TV and have a chat with your crew. Because no matter what you say, this boat is a piece of steel. What makes the boat is the people on it. And I'm very lucky to have a crew that's fantastic. A crew that you want to go spend time with because they're almost like family. No, take it back. They're not almost like family. They are family.

MARCUS: Yeah, how would you describe the work that goes on in the bridge upstairs?

WILSON: I'll start with when I'm on the bridge, I'm in command of the ship. So when you're on the lake, I leave the bridge and I hand it over to the ... Whatever officer, third mate, second mate or first mate. But as soon as we get to the river, we work together. I'm in charge and I pass duties off to my wheelsman. I'll say to the wheelsman, 'We're coming on the river. I'll dictate at which wheel you gotta put on. Up 10 degrees port wheel on, Up 10 degrees starboard, come to 0.75 as a course.' So basically together the wheelsman and I and then the officer that's out with me, the third mate, second mate, who’s ever out at the bridge at the time, he's in charge of radio. So he's in communication with traffic control. He's in communication with other vessels.

MARCUS: Have there been any technological advancements that you guys use here on this ship that make these ships more environmentally friendly to the Welland Canal? The Lakes and the St. Lawrence? And if so can you describe some of that technology that allows for that environmental friendliness when you're in the waters?

WILSON: We used to use 40 tons of fuel a day. We're down to less than 20 a day. So we've taken 20 tons of fuel a day with all that smoke in the atmosphere and taken it out. So yes, we are way advanced in the environmentally ... We are environmentally friendly company. It takes 270 trucks, I believe the numbers 270 eighteen wheelers on the road to match one ship, that we do in five days. There's no comparison. We don't run no fuel compared to what 270 trucks would run. So, we are as environmentally friendly as you can get.

MARCUS [Voiceover]: Crew safety is crucial to shipping companies like CSL. In 2012, it instituted a multi-pronged safety program called Safe Partners, which includes policies, practices, tools and training to reduce, if not eliminate, worker injuries, property damage and environmental harm. According to the company, the program has helped the company reduce the number of employee injuries by 75 percent since its implementation.

Paul Miller, Reserve Master (from Newfoundland, Canada):

The safety of the crew is number one. Safety to the environment would be number two, and then 6

basically, it's the safety of the ship and CSL's assets. Page

Everybody wants to be safe. Everybody wants to get the job done as safely and efficiently as possible, so basically, with Safe Partners, we all kind of look out for each other, you know. We look out and we come down in the morning and the Mate comes down and he knows he got a job to do in the morning or there's different things. And they sit down to have a toolbox talk they look at how to go about the job, what safety things you need to do for that particular job, and then they'll discuss it.

MARCUS: [Voiceover] New technology aboard ship has made navigating vessels through the Great Lakes safer and easier. 3-D navigation systems have replaced traditional radar. These systems use GPS to pinpoint with incredible accuracy, the location of the ship and obstacles surrounding it, no matter what the weather.

Locks in the Welland Canal use a hands-free vacuum mooring system to safely position ships in the locks. Vacuum pads, or suction cups, mounted on steel arms attach to the sides of the ship and move with the ship as the vessel is raised or lowered in the locks, keeping the ships a fixed, safe distance from the lock walls. After communicating with the captain, the operator deploys the hydraulic arms that attach to the vessel. Each vacuum pad provides up to 20 tons of holding force. Every automated lock has six vacuum pads. The hands-free system shaves off approximately seven minutes per lock. This system eliminates traditional mooring methods, which are time consuming, labor intensive, and potentially dangerous.

MARCUS [Marcus-Chief_Eng_08] A ship this size is an engineering marvel. It takes a skilled crew to keep her running. So right now we’re going to talk with the to see how it all comes together.

Jean Louis Girard, Chief Engineer (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada): My name is JeanLouis Girard; I’m a chief engineer for CSL since 2005.

The main engine is a 6-cylinder, that's a HEMI engine, it's over 11,000 horsepower, so that the engine is burning the heavy fuel 380. That's heavy fuel, I don't know if you know about the fuel. You got the gasoline, you got the diesel, after that you got different kinds of heavy fuel. You got 90, 180, as long as you're going down to the bottom of the distillation plant, only the bottom quality of fuel so it's cheap to use, but we use low-sulfur most of the time, again, to protect the planet, too, the environment.

That fuel needs to be heated to almost 100 Celsius to be able to be injected to the main engine, to have a proper injection. Otherwise, if you try to inject that thing at the normal temperature, it's going to be the nightmare, you're going to block everything.

Marcus: One of things that we want to ask you is, the crane that you're showing us, what was that crane for, and how does it work?

Jean Louis: That crane, we call that crane "provision crane", so we can get all the stuff that we

need on the ship, or get off the stuff that we don't want to have on the ship. That's that's the goal 7

of that machinery. (e) We burn a burn a lot of garbage on board, so all the ashes and all the oily Page

rags goes in these kind of drums. We dispose everything ashore, with a specific company taking care of that, and making sure that the environment will be protected, as much as we can. Nothing goes in the water, absolutely nothing.

Marcus: What's your favorite part about being an engineer on the ship, on a freighter or laker?

Jean Louis: I think, it's not a standard job, and I mean, anything can happen, I'm on standby 24 hours a day, so I can have a phone call during the night. It's not a dull job. You know what I mean? It's always something to learn, it's always something happening.

Marcus: How difficult is it being away from family?

Jean Louis: For me, it's not the biggest deal here, because some guys are doing three months in a row, and me, I'm doing only six weeks.

When I was younger, I did that that way, three or four months in a row on ship, but right now, with the quality, where I am in my career right now, that's the schedule that I have. Six weeks on, six weeks off.

Marcus: What would you say is the greatest challenge you have ever faced being an engineer on a ship?

Jean Louis: I think it's on the human side, that's the human side, you have sometimes to, you work seven days a week when you're on board. Sometimes, you're sick, you have to work, you have responsibilities there too, so you have to manage those kinds of things.

You have to manage some character too, that we have to work with. Sometimes it's not easy all the time, but you have to be, I would say, made to do that job, but it's a terrific job. I'm working six months a year, the other six months I can go anywhere, where I want, you know?. I can be with my family, I can be with people that I love, so I think it's a terrific job for that.

JEAN LOUIS GIRARD DEMO LOGBOOK:

Jean Louis: The log book is a big book where all the information in the engine room is written. Every watch, 24 hours a day, all year long. And if something happen, an accident or something like that, you know, they gonna take that book and you can check all the records that we have.

Marcus [Marcus-Engineering_05]: So right past the main deck here is the Engine Room. It’s like 3 or 4 stories, and I really want to learn how this ship works. So we’re going to be speaking with Blair, here on this ship, to teach us all about the bells and whistles. But be careful, though … I hear it’s really hot down here.

Blair Rudderham, Third Engineer (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada): 8

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BLAIR RUDDERHAM_02 excerpt: About 85% of the engines and generator is done from these two computers. These are the brain, the neuro center or the brains of the engines and generators, actually of the whole engine room. They control the power management system for the generators, power distribution, and at any moment, we can change over and go to the main engine. Tells us all the temperatures, parameters, anything. If something's getting hot, we'll have an alarm. If some pressure's low, we'll have an alarm. Pretty much everything's monitored from inside here, the control room.

Blair: My name is Blair Rudderham. I'm from Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia. I'm an employee, third engineer with the Canada Steamship Lines. And I work on this vessel, CSL Welland. It's the newest vessel in CSL's fleet. Highly computerized, works good. No problems yet.

Third engineer, we monitor the engines, we monitor all the computers for the fuel systems, the power systems on board, and we do frequent rounds around the engine room, make sure there's no leaks, no fuel leaks, oil leaks and make sure everything's running efficiently.

This is the master control panel with all our breakers for the stern thruster, bow thruster, and our three generators, and any big consumers, where motors kick in or whatever, all run off this board here.

It's not backbreaking work, but you gotta know about computers, a lot about ships and that. And sometimes the hours, you have long hours, you have breakdowns, you gotta stay up, get the engines fixed or whatever the case may be. And usually long hours.

The thing today is it's highly computerized. Everything is controlled by computers, monitored and everything, where years ago it was all pressure gauges, analog pressure gauges. Now it's all digital and computerized.

BLAIR RUDDERHAM_03 excerpt: Blair: The Captain wanted the bow thruster on. We need more power. We'd have to manually start a generator ourself from the control room, and we'd have to synchronize it with the one that was already online, manually. But today, it's highly computerized, it's all done by itself. (e) We're fueled on the Great Lakes at a couple different spots. We pull in, the orders put in 24 hours in advance, for heavy fuel and diesel. And we pull in, it's like your car, you pull in, you put the hose in, you fill her up. Usually takes anywheres from two to four hours, and we get heavy fuel and diesel and we're gone. (e) We're talking probably about 500 metric ton, of heavy fuel and 100 metric ton of diesel.

Blair: We work in the winter up till the end of December, usually. Some boats go past that. But usually these ones here that go through the seaway, the lock system, usually New Year's Day, everything's tied up, or frozen up. Everything freezes up, so we all go to the wall for the winter.

Right now it's summer time and it's 30 plus degrees outside, so you can jack on another 15, 20

down here. Every day down here is like 35 to 45 degrees, depending on the humidity and all that. 9

It's very hot in the summer. July and August is very hot. Page

Video key note: 30 degrees Celsius = 86 degrees Fahrenheit 35 degrees Celsius = 95 degrees Fahrenheit 45 degrees Celsius = 113 degrees Fahrenheit

We'll get bad weather in the fall time, November is famous for bad weather. High winds and rough seas.

Winter time is good down here. It's cool, the fans are on all the time, which bring in the cold air which mixes with the warm air, so it's actually nice working conditions down here. Meanwhile, outside on the deck, the deck guys are freezing.

Marcus (Voice over): While winter weather can be a trial for the crew, summertime presents its own special challenges, particularly for the ship’s steel decking.

Paul Miller, Reserve Master (from Newfoundland, Canada): Oh, basically, when the ship is loaded, we turn on the sprinklers on deck. We try to get the water up on deck, because what happens with steel, the river water right now, or lake water, is cold. So cold on steel, it stays the same. But when heat hits steel, like the sun, when it hits the deck itself, it causes expansion in the steel. When steel gets warm, it expands.

So basically, what it'll do, it'll arch the ship. So basically, what happens, we'll turn on the sprinklers to keep this flexing from happening.

If you don't do that, if you come down at a certain draft, due to the expansion of the top and the contraction of the bottom, it'll actually bend it, kind of like a banana.

We put the sprinklers on board the deck, just to try to keep the deck up top cool and reduce the amount that it flexes and bends.

Marcus: (voice over or on camera) Working on a laker breeds a unique routine and lifestyle all of its own. Much of the 15-member crew found themselves drawn away from a typically nine-to- five job for a career on the water for good pay and something different, although weeks, if not months, away from home can be challenging. We spoke with several crewmen, most who have come from northern Canada, but a few who have travelled as far as the Philippines, and a couple in training to learn about life on their home away from home.

Alexis Duval, Deck Cadet: (Victoria, British Columbia) So, I started with CSL last year on the Atlantic Huron and I spent three months there and so far this year I've been on the CSL for six weeks, so I've been a deck cadet for a total of four and a half months.

Deck cadets are kind of like apprentice officers, so we try to learn as much as we can every day

about basically every operation that happens on the ship, so while we're on deck we learn as 10

much about general seamanship practices like using the wenches, setting up gangways, Page

accommodation ladders, like launching life boats, knowing how to use survival crafts. When we're on the bridge, we learn as much as we can about navigation and using the navigation equipment to its fullest potential. Yeah, we try to learn as much as we can every day and there's no limit to how much you can learn on a ship. That's for sure.

I'm working towards my Office of the Watch ticket. That consists of being able to be on the bridge by yourself and for a certain period of time have like full responsibility for the safety of navigation of the ship.

At first when I was on my ship last year, the first month was especially tough. That's because I was in a new environment, a new ship and I had to get used to the routine, but after a month, I got used to being on the ship and used to crew, I didn't mind it too much.

So, usually work about eight to 10 hours a day because I'm a cadet, I have to do some homework for my school, so that probably takes up one or two hours of my day. Then I'll probably try to fit in a work out for about an hour a day and then I'll two or three hours left kind of either to for myself as free time or to watch a movie or just to relax.

Paul Miller, Reserve Master (from Newfoundland, Canada): Oh, well, I started off as a Cadet and went to Third Mate, and then Second Mate for a while. And then for 10 years, and I always wanted to go Captain, because that's what you go for, right? (e) Now I'm getting the training in and I'm hoping to be Captain now, later on this fall.

You're going to different ports, and no two ports are exactly the same. You might go back to the same port, but it might not be the same conditions, so every time you load a boat or unload a boat, it's a new experience.

Being away from home, it's not easy on people who sail, and the same thing with the families, but most of them are understanding and like you said, it's something you work through.

Travis Russell, Engineering Cadet (from Newfoundland, Canada): We got access to lots of things. There's a gym, place you play darts, watch TV, internet. The rooms are nice. (e) We do have WiFi. (e) I work from 8:00 to 5:00 in the engine room. I get up in the morning. I have breakfast. Go down to the engine room and one of the watch engineers will tell me what I'm going to do during the day. (e) I wake up in the morning and just know that I'm going to be doing something that I like to do every day.

Fabian LeFrense, (from Newfoundland, Canada): I can remember my first day. It was pretty much, what have I gotten myself into? It was a big difference from what I did before. I mean, obviously, seeing this massive ship was something, but it was a good experience. It was nice. (e) I start work at 4:00 a.m. and I finish at 8:00 a.m. Then, I start again at 4:00 p.m., but on the ship, we say it's 1600. And finish at 8:00 p.m. We just do security rounds, we sound tanks, make sure there's no water, we clean. We maintain ropes.

We make sure everything is secure. We assist in with the dock guys for unloading, if they need 11

anything, or if they need any hatches open, we open up the hatches, close the hatches, sweep the Page

cargo holds when they finish. (e) In my downtime, I talk with family, any chance that I could get. My wife, my two kids, my mom, my dad.

Macaulay Morton, Third Mate: I'm the third mate. I'm the safety officer representative. I'm in charge of the watch keeping, for about eight hours a day; normally the 8-12 watch. Normally, on my off-watch, I'll be doing checks around the boat, like safety wise. Checking the fire extinguishers, fire hoses, anything safety orientated, I gotta check and make sure it's OK and working. (e) I have an alarm that goes off about 7:00. I only take about twenty minutes to get ready, then go head down for about 7:30 to have breakfast. Then I head up to the wheelhouse, if we're out on the lake. Keep an eye out, make sure we don't run into anything. Keep the boat safe as best I can. Just get us to our destination safely, really.

Macaulay Morton (voiceover at Lock): Generally, as a mate, as you're coming in, you're spotting distances for the captain up top. Since we're about seven hundred plus feet away, and he can't see seven hundred feet away. So, you're basically his eyes. You're spotting from the shoulder, which is about right where we're standing, and you're giving him distances he is off the wall, how close he's getting in. As you're going into the lock, you're telling him when the bow is approximately at the center line, so he gets a rough idea how quickly he's coming in, how slowly he's coming in, so that he doesn't come in too quick or come in too slow.

Marcus [Marcus-Cook-1_02]: When I first boarded the ship, I wasn’t sure what to expect for food. But I’m surprised to find a delicious fettucine alfredo as one of the main menu items tonight, so. I see a strudel that’s calling my name, though.

Marcus: How do you guys, or how does the company or you decide what comes on board so you can prepare the meals?

Cheryl Lee Wyllie, Chief Cook (from Thorold, Ontario, Canada): Every cook is different. I really can't answer that, I don't know. I just go in the freezer and decide what I want to make that day. Some people have a menu they follow. Me, it just depends on where we are, where we're going and what we're doing.

Marcus: (Voiceover): In order to keep her crew on CSL Welland fed and happy, Cheryl pre- orders food and supplies online from Sysco, which delivers it to Lock 7 in the Welland Canal. Other shipping companies typically collect food deliveries from their distributors at ports or fueling stations.

Marcus (voiceover): Captain, crewmen and cadets spend a lot of time together both on and off duty. From playing a game of darts, watching big Ultimate Fighting Championship match, to socializing over special dinners, the crew is a tight knit group that works and plays together. (footage of Fabian grilling steaks)

Marcus: [Marcus-Cook-2_03] One of the crew’s favorite traditions is the Saturday steak dinner. 12

And thanks to Fabian for grilling up some good meats. Page

Marcus [Conclusion]: The laker lifestyle is different from most, and it attracts a different kind of person. However, there are still several parallels between these seamen and the rest of us on land. They come from small towns in search of prosperous and unique careers. They train tirelessly for years to acquire job in their desired industry. They collaborate and bond with each other to create a stable and comfortable work environment. And they talk with their families at the end of a long day’s work, even though they’re hundreds of miles away.

Next time you see a freighter on the Great Lakes or the St. Lawrence Seaway, look beyond its mighty haul carving through the waves. Think of the people like Captain Walters and his crew who use their navigational and technical expertise to help carry this multi-billion, international industry on their shoulders But also remember that they may not be too different from you.

Special thanks to The Seaway Management Corporation, the Seaway Development Corporation, Canada Steamship Lines, and Transport Canada for this adventure. From WPBS-TV and Watertown Daily Times, thank you for watching and tune in next time for “More to the Story.”

UNDERWRITER: “More to the Story” is brought to you by Advanced Business Systems, proudly serving the central and Northern New York regions since 1991. With over 27 years of service, our offerings have grown from copiers and printers, to an assortment of business technologies. Advanced Business Systems, connecting you with your business technology.

(Fonts: American Typewriter & PBS Explorer Black) (Credit Music File: “Poetry in Motion Benjamin Maisonet.mp3”

Host: MARCUS WOLF

Executive Producer: TRACY DUFLO

Producer: TRACY DUFLO

Scriptwriters: TRACY DUFLO MARCUS WOLF

Camera: TRACY DUFLO RYAN PROVEN ANDREW JONES ROQUE MURRAY

KANE GRANT DAN DUFLO 13

Additional Footage Provided By: Page

CANADA STEAMSHIP LINES

Photographs Provided By: DAYTONA NILES

Editor: TRACY DUFLO

Production Assistance: JAMIE MONTAGUE THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY MANAGEMENT CORPORATION THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION CANADA STEAMSHIP LINES TRANSPORT CANADA DAYTONA NILES

Graphics and Animation: ANDREW LACKEY

Special Thanks To: NANCY ALCALDE ANDREW BOGORA BRIGITTE HÉBERT GENEVIÈVE LEVASSEUR CAPTAIN WILSON WALTERS THE CREW OF THE CSL WELLAND

Music: (as applicable) STOCK 20 PRODUCTION MUSIC LIBRARY STUDIO CUTZ PRODUCTION MUSIC LIBRARY SIGNATURE PRODUCTION MUSIC LIBRARY GENE MICHAEL PRODUCTION MUSIC LIBRARY APPLE PRODUCTION MUSIC LIBRARY DIGITAL JUICE ‘POETRY IN MOTION” BY BENJAMIN MAISONET

Programming JOLINE FURGISON

Corporate Support KRAIG EVERARD COLIN BURNS MARC MUGLIA

Marketing and Communications

ANDREW LACKEY LAUREN UMSTEAD RYAN PROVEN 14

Page

Engineering Support MICHAEL ORTIZ ROSS NEY

President and General Manager LYNN BROWN

A Production of WPBS-DT (use logo) Watertown, New York wpbstv.org

© 2018 St. Lawrence Valley E.T.V. Council, Inc.

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