A grand fraternity

At the end of his monthly report, Duluth-Superior Harbor Club treasurer Gil Porter usually adds a post script.

Club members chuckle when Gil points out that the pre-lunch collection also included something like " … two Norwegian krone, a Canadian loony, three French francs, two Kenyan shillings and a transit company token."

No one admits to slipping the foreign coins into the collection jar, and no one asks. Gil says he doesn't mind the adulteration of the treasury because he has a grandson who's a coin collector.

So the monthly meeting resumes as mostly retired maritime industry personnel share a meal, catch up on Great Lakes shipping news, learn who may be ill, swap sea stories and - probably most important - spend some time in a fellowship that only seafarers would understand.

The fraternity, the camaraderie, among seafarers is historic, almost legendary. Gil Porter knows more than a little about it after nearly six decades on or around ships.

Born in Rochester, N.Y., and raised in Montreal, Clarence G. Porter enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in October 1941, two months before Pearl Harbor. In 1945, as a quartermaster first class, he entered Officers Candidate School at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.

It was the Coast Guard that introduced him to Duluth when he was assigned to the Cutter Woodrush as its captain (1959-1963). Upon retirement as a Coast Guard commander, in 1965, he returned here and embarked on a dual second career.

He was a Great Lakes pilot aboard oceangoing ships from 1965 to 1977 and spent the winters teaching a license-upgrading course at the Lake Carriers' Navigation School in Duluth. He and the late Jack Saunders instructed literally hundreds of deck officers before the school was closed, in 1981.

As if three careers weren't enough, Gil then became a cargo surveyor and also established a business as a marine compass adjuster.

Most of his titles are in the past tense now except one: Grandfather.

One of Gil's closest friends, Wes Harkins, a founder of the Duluth-Superior Harbor Club, slipped me a copy of a letter received this winter by one Logan Johnsen upon graduation from the Maine Maritime Academy.

Wes thought it was worth wider circulation. I thought so, too:

Dear Logan,

Again, congratulations.

Now that school and License are behind you, a whole new world is ahead. School covered the minimum basics. That's what any school does, especially when you have chosen to be a deck officer, where so much of shiphandling is an art rather than a science. Learning continues forever.

Be proud of your profession and constantly give your best effort. You are taking on large responsibilities, which in order of importance are safety of crew, safety of ship and safety of cargo. The owner is in business to make a profit, and you are part of the owner's team.

Be confident in your work, but never arrogant or cocky. Be constantly alert to matters of piloting and navigation, and respect the elements. If you become lax or inattentive, nature will win. Do not hesitate to call the Master if in doubt about anything to do with the ship's safety.

Don't let alcohol get out of hand socially and never let it interfere with or impair your watchstanding.

Maintain good relations with the Master and owner. If the job is not tolerable, seek another job, but leave the present one on the best terms possible.

Your job can be very rewarding, which will come if you do your share willingly and cheerfully.

Keep her in deep water.

Love,

Grandpa P.