Cape Breton's Magazine

Join the Team... If You've Got the Stuff, We've Got the Life! THE CANADIAN COAST GUARD COLLEGE Put some colour into your future: sea green, sky blue, and Canadian Coast Guard red and white. The Canadian Coast Guard College needs men and women with ambition, with mathematical and physics skills, and who know how to handle a challenge. A limited number of men and women are accepted each year for demanding programs in navigation and'marine engin? eering. The Canadian Coast Guard College four year pro? gram is tough, but it pays off with a colourful career. • Free tuition, school expenses paid, and a training allowance. • Guaranteed employment in your field after graduation. • Valuable, practical experience while attending college. • Modern private rooms, equipment and facilities for academic, physical and social activities. THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFE TIME! Joignez-Vous a Notre Equipe... Nous Sommes La Pour Vous! LE COLLEGE DE LA GARDE COTIERE CANADIENNE Mettez des couleurs dans votre vie: celles de I'eau et du ciel, avec le rouge et blanc de la Garde co-tiere can? adienne. Le College de la Garde cotiere canadienne a besoin d'hommes et de femmes ambitieux, forts en mathema- tiques et en physique, et d'brouillards. Un certain nombre d'hommes et de femmes sont re'us chaque annee a nos programmes de navigation et de mecanique mar? itime. Les quatre annees de formation au College de la Garde cotiere canadienne exigent beaucoup mais assurent une carriere sans pareil. * Aucun frais de scolarite, depenses reliees a la forma? tion toutes payees et allocation. * Emploi garanti dans le domaine d'etudes. • Experience pratique et avantageuse pendant le sejour au College. • Chambres privees, equipement et installations des plus modernes pour les activites scolaires, sportives et sociales. UNE EXPERIENCE INOUBLIABLE! the ice'is actually looking for a new sur? face. You're sucking all the water out by going astern. Sometimes the stern even climbs over the top of the ice and crashes down. Sometimes it's very, very effective. 'Cause you're chewing the ice, too, with the propellers. All except the Arctic ice. When you get in the Arctic, you don't put the propellers anywhere near the ice. 'Cause that is a real killer there. They'll smash the blades. If you ever went down below during an ice? breaking, you'd wonder how people live a- board ship. There's a tremendous sound, smashing, smashing sound. You've got to get used to this sound. Certain people can't stay aboard an icebreaker. They get a little touchy, you know, get that ice smashing, day after day smashing. Capt. Green: You see, a ship going through ice, when the men are sleeping--you can't sleep because the vessel is jerking back and forth this way. And it's a grinding noise. And the vessel has a certain amount of emptiness--you get an echo through the hull. And it's like a tearing noise, ice going past the hull. And you're thumping back and forth. It can throw you off bal? ance. Because, if you hit a large piece of ice--supposing you have some large floes of ice here (to one side), and you've got lighter ice here (to the other). Steering a ship in ice is very difficult, because the ship is following the easiest ice. Even though you put the'rudder there, she might hit this floe of ice and she'll slip off that way. And she'll throw you off bal? ance. (And this noise--it's constant?) Oh, yes . And of course they go to bed with the fear that--you've got a ship behind you, and he can't stop--well, you could get severely damaged. A ship was coming, tore away part of the flight deck. But the hull on these vessels is very thick, very heavy, so there's not much chance on getting that badly damaged. But the chance is always there. It's a constant worry. Capt. Gomes: The engine room, of course, has its own noise. We have 9 engines and 9 big generators going all the time. But down in the sleeping accommodations, you've got this continuous noise going-- the ice is actually going by the side-- it's almost like going through a field of broken pieces of steel. It's just as hard as steel, anyhow. It's banging against the ship's side continuous. Your head is prac? tically right alongside of it. You're hear? ing all this terrific sound going through. So you have to play your radio, put on your fan, and you've got to live with it. I can feel it up here, but down below it's even worse. But that gives a person incen? tive to be captain, see. You don't want to stay down there too long! Others who helped in preparing this article in? clude Les Bennetts (Helicopter Pilot), Mary E. Breig (Editor, Fleet News), Dick Pepper (Coast Guard Public Information), and Capt. Peter White? head (Ice Information Officer).