May 7 - Return to Zug Island

Not only do I have the hockey game tonight (Ottawa/Montreal), CNBC uses the CBC feed.  Don't have the big flatscreen, but this is OK with me.  Looks like I might get the Leafs game tomorrow night. Made it to Warren, Indiana, which is a little south of Fort Wayne.  Here's what it looks like:  Day 1

Crossing the Ambassador bridge from Windsor to Detroit today  brought back memories of my one and only trip to Zug Island.  This place creeped me out like no other and apparently 40 plus years later,  is still creeping people out. When I first joined Dearborn, as a trainee, I had the job of servicing the CSL (Canada Steamship Lines) boats at the various ports that they entered.  For the main part this was Hamilton (Stelco), Sault Ste Marie and Toronto.  There were about 30 boats in the fleet and our contract called for two calls per boat each season.  Problem was catching up with all of them and by December there were always a few errant boats.  That’s how I got stuck with Zug Island.

My boss told me I had to go to Zug Island where one of our errant boats was docking overnight. I crossed the bridge on a cold, dark and rainy evening, at least happy with the thought I had found my boat and in a couple of hours would be back to Windsor. Ya I wish!  First of all, I couldn’t find Zug Island.  Back in those days, Detroit was a pretty crazy place and asking for help along that waterfront was out of the question.  Every corner there were people standing around fire barrels trying to get warm.  As I slowly passed by, they would stare and for sure must have been saying  “ What the F.. is that guy doing here ”   I just figured if I kept near the waterfront, sooner or later would find something – anything that said Zug Island and I did.  I crossed a narrow little one lane bridge to a gatehouse where a guard directed me (sort of) to my boat.  What you need to understand is that this was a large steel mill and my boat was delivering coal.  There is coal dust on everything and in the rain, wipers on high, my windshield was a myriad of colours.  There were huge trucks driving in every direction honking their horns, trains moving around the complex and every so often, I had the sense I was driving on railway tracks.  I was thick in coal/ore slop and just praying to see my CSL boat. (all this for $650 a month)   I finally found my boat, only to discover they had no gangway.  At least I had been warned about this minor detail.  My equipment was sent up on a pully and I ascended on a rope ladder. Many hours later, I was back in Windsor, job done and just happy to be alive.

So what’s so creepy about Zug Island today.  Check this out :

 The Windsor Hum

As the song goes: Going to Kansas City; Kansas City Here I Come.  That's the plan for tomorrow.  Gonna get out my coveralls. See y'all tomorrow.