Sometimes the water

Sometimes, the water is just not deep enough.

The huge iron ore carriers that sail the Great Lakes are long, narrow giants that plow their way from Duluth/Superior to the eastern steel mill cities. They are weighed down with hundreds of tons of ore, the raw material that is smelted in furnaces of Nebuchadbezzar temperatures. But the danger for those who sail such ships does not lie in the smelting furnaces, but in the cold depths of the Great Lakes on which they sail.

Icy cold, even in the summer months, the water runs deep and dark. The waves roll and toss, and in the late shipping months of November/December, gale force winds have taken way too many ships to the dark depths.

But sometimes, the water is just not deep enough.

When the ships come in for repair, or drift too near the rocky coast line of the North Shore of Lake Superior for example, there is simply not enough water to float the massive carrier. In the latter, the ships run aground, often ripping huge holes in their hulls, taking on water, losing fuel and cargo, and sometimes life. In the former, the ship is brought in on purpose, the water is drained slowly from its berth, leaving the ship's hull exposed to the elements of air and sun, something that parts of the hull have not seen since construction.

At such shallow depths, propellors will only grind away at the sand or rock; rudders are locked in place, frozen not by the cold water, but by its absence. The ship is going nowhere...for awhile anyway.

But while it lies in dry dock, it is being cared for, repaired and refurbished. New iron panels, new rivets, new paint, enhanced electronics, more comfortable crew facilities. The owners who rarely step aboard these beauties, are detemined to see them perform at top speed and with top loads. These ships are made to haul...and then do it again.

Perhaps...right now in my life...the water is just not deep enough because my Owner has determined I'm in need of some refurbishing, some repairs. Such a thought, while only that, is a bit reassuring in this dry dock called now.