Latest news, weather, high school sports for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

HOUGHTON -- Since December the Coast Guard cutter, Mobile Bay has had a busy schedule.

But now the icebreaking season is wrapping up.

“We've been all over Lake Michigan, Straits of Mackinac, St. Marys River and Lake Superior," Vasilios Tasikas of the U.S. Coast Guard said.

In these areas the mission of the cutter is most commonly to facilitate maritime commerce throughout the Great Lakes by breaking up the ice and allowing smaller vessels to pass through the water.

"One of the most unique aspects of the ship is that we have what's called an air lubrication system what we like to call the bubbler system,” Tasikas said.  “It basically has very pressurized air that is released underneath the water level and that allows for extra lubrication between the ice and the haul."

Their living quarters are tight, hours are long, but many of the men say the food is a perk of the job.

"We had filet mignon the other night,” Ryan Agre of the U.S. Coast Guard said.  “We had pork chops for lunch, eggs every morning, eggs and bacon."

But even with good food on board, it isn't enough to keep thoughts of family and friends at bay.

"You know, there's honeydews at home, there's bills to be paid," Agre said  "There's, you know, stuff that needs just to be taken care of at the house."

And the good news is, the men will soon be getting a two week break.

The crew is planning to stay in Houghton for the next two to three days.

But they are scheduled to be back at the home of the crew members, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by the end of next week.