In the 1970's before the freighter were all equipped with radar they would have to lay anchor and stop for the day or night during dense fogs to avoid collisions.
We would hear the clang of the metal chains as they dropped anchor, sometimes right in front of our house, and wail mournfully throughout the night with three long blasts of their horns as warning to other river traffic. Visitors would spring out of their beds at the unexpected sounds, but we natives who had become accustomed to these fog sounds would sleep right through them all.
After the freighters became more sophisticated and were equipped with radar, they did not stop for fog. Instead they continued slowly on their way, issuing a warning three blasts when it seemed necessary. Although we complained about the fog horns during the years when they were blowing, we missed them when sophisticated new hardware made them obsolete.
Sometimes we would talk to the captains of the freighters on our CB's. That was a real thrill. The crewmen were usually quite friendly, too. They would often return our friendly waves when they were on deck. In 1971 when my cousins visited me from Brussels, Belgium she brought a gift with her, a cashmere Belgian flag from the Mayor of Brussels.We had a high flagpole down by the river in front of our house where we hung the American flag with the Belgian flag below it. My Belgian cousin and I were sitting by the water's edge when along came a ship from Antwerp, Belgium. Seeing their natiive flag flying, the ship gave us their horn blast as a captain's salute. My cousin was so thrilled, she could hardly believe it.
In the early 70's the freighters had living quarters up front for the officers and more living quarters in the back of the ship for the crew. When ships became larger, more modern and more democratic in their "caste" system, the living quarters were all moved to the back of the ships. Now, instead of a couple of decks, these living quarters rose to many decks which contained more amenities for the crews.
Sometimes the wives of the officers were invited on board to ride part of the way, from Detroit to Toledo, on the freighter with their husbands. I knew one of the men on the Sterling, the flagship of the big line of ships that were rented by the Cleveland Cliffs line. I was invited by his wife to accompany her on one of these excursions, and although I desperately wanted to make such a trip I was deterred by the news that I would have to climb from the dock to the deck on a rope ladder to board the ship. The mere idea terrified me. Her husband, jokingly, said that they could always lower one of those big rope nets to scoop me up off the dock, along with the rest of the freight. But that did not appeal to me, either - so I never took the trip. So much said for timidity and lost opportunities.
Lorraine