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A Winter Seaway Tableau

To ply the St. Lawrence Seaway between Montreal and Escoumin a river pilot is required.  They are trained to know every nuance of every inch of river. The fierce currents, the strong tides, the submerged rocks and sand banks and the many...

The Handing Out of Names

You could tell he was nervous by the way he carried himself.  His movements seemed stiff, almost robotic, and his eyes darted around the deck of the big ship as he took everything in. Whenever someone walked past him, he squared his shoulders as though...

The Quiet Violence of the Restless Heart

On entering the St. Lawrence estuary from west to east, that no-man’s-land where the fresh meets the brine, you will immediately become aware of the tide. If it is with you (the ebb), your passage will be swift, if against (the flood), a...

Big Ships Like Us

Nighttime, the third of November and I haven’t written a word in 46 days.  I have only recently rejoined the ship after a month off in which I had intended to work on my writing and hammer it into some kind of saleable form.  I...