Captain Chris's Log: July 18, 2009

When you were a child growing up, did you ever wonder what it would be like to be the person that fired off the fireworks for the July 4th celebration? How do the technicians light the fuses? How do they load the shells? How loud is it when you are that close? All these questions and more will be answered, so keep on reading and I will tell you what it is like to be up close and personal with over 400 loaded firework shells.

It all starts at approximately 10:00 AM every Saturday between July 4 and September 5, 2009. Dennis Kundinger and his crew of pyrotechnicians from Wolverine Fireworks arrive and start to build the evenings fireworks show. They work far away from all traffic and buildings underneath a tent for hours prior to the actual start of the show. This part of the project is very tedious as each shell needs to be loaded exactly like the last with no exceptions. They load the pyrotechnics in individual tubes that are organized by size and are segmented out on a steel trailer that is eventually loaded onto our Freight Boat, the Sacre Bleu.   Dennis and his crew usually finish the loading process around 4:00 or 5:00 PM.

At 9:00 PM we load the trailer onto the Sacre Bleu. The trailer has a hydraulic lift system that tilts the bed of the trailer at a 45 degree angle. This angle allows the shells to be shot off away from the boat. The device is called a "tilt trailer" and has become the norm when lighting off a fireworks display . They say these tilt trailers have reduced injury by 1,000%! This is a good thing, especially when I am the one who is driving the Sacre Bleu. We depart the dock roughly 30 minutes prior to dusk. When is dusk you ask? Dusk is a very ambiguous term and is often used by communities during the 4th of July when no one is really sure when the show will start. Actually we have a pretty good idea of when the show will start . For example , on July 25, 2009 the show will start at exactly 10:00 PM and the following week (August 1, 2009) we will start the show at exactly 9:50 PM. We currently lose one minute, thirty seconds of sunlight everyday from June 21 on, so we use this formula to decide when "dusk" is upon us.

Wolverine Fireworks has the most up to date equipment , and the process of wiring the trailer is quite interesting. From each tube there is a wire that runs to a junction box and then a larger set of wires from the junction to a computer board located in the pilot house of the Sacre Bleu. This computer board is a box with several buttons, switches and little green lights located on the face...almost looks like a lap top computer without the keys or screen. Prior to the firing of the shells, Dennis makes sure all tubes are wired correctly. The computer tells us if there is a section or sections that are not "up".  "Up" is code for " all is a go ", meaning if something is not "up", then there is a problem that needs to be checked. 99.9% of the time if there is something wrong it is minor and can be fixed within seconds. Once everything is a go, we give a security call on the marine band radio to alert all marine traffic that pyrotechnics will commence shortly.

Now for the fun part, once we get the Sacre Bleu into position in Moran Bay (the Harbor here in St. Ignace) we shoot off 6 test shells. These shells are a smaller version and are shot off to alert the public that we are preparing for the big show. Being this close to all the action is quite an experience. Usually I am the guy who is sitting on the other side of the bay, a half mile away from where the launching takes place. My Saturday nights have taken on a whole new dimension as I am a mere 40 feet away from the launching pad. The show starts with the smaller shells and moves through the larger shells during the process. The finale is the best - a little scary at first , but nonetheless an exciting way to spend a Saturday night. The boat shakes, the noise level is incredible and yes, I do wear ear plugs. The show lasts approximately 14 minutes and once the show is over we make sure all tubes are secured and there is no chance for a misfire. When Dennis gives me the okay, we proceed back to the dock and unload the trailer off the boat and his crew breaks down the trailer for storage. After a congratulatory handshake, more like a "thank goodness I am still alive" handshake, we say good bye and see you next week. I get home around 1:00 AM Sunday morning. I love summer and all that it brings. Till next time.