Boatnerd News – August 16, 2025

August 16, 2025

Michigan Maritime Training School Owner Pleads Guilty to Falsifying Captain’s Course Records

Mike Schuler
August 14, 2025

A St. Clair County man has pleaded guilty to falsifying records for students seeking to become credentialed merchant mariners, potentially endangering safety on the Great Lakes. The case is the latest highlighting ongoing concerns about mariner credential fraud.
Mel Stackpoole, 62, owner and lead instructor of Great Lakes Charter Training, entered a guilty plea before United States District Judge Terrence G. Berg to one count of knowingly altering and falsifying records with intent to impede proper administration of a matter within United States Coast Guard jurisdiction.
According to court records, Stackpoole provided students in his Master 100 Ton Captain’s Course with less than 50 hours of classroom instruction instead of the required 80 hours in August 2020. He also instructed students to provide false information regarding their prior sea service, medical history, and recreational drug use on their merchant mariner credential applications.
Additionally, Stackpoole improperly provided students with answers to examination questions, changed incorrect test answers to correct ones, and inflated test scores to reflect passing rather than failing grades before issuing course completion certificates falsely signifying successful course completion.
“Mel Stackpoole has endangered the safety of everyone who uses the waterways of our Great Lakes by deliberately circumnavigating the Coast Guard’s training and certification protocols and facilitating the issuance of credentials to unskilled and unqualified mariners,” stated United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr.
“Integrity is the cornerstone of our maritime profession. When that trust is broken, it jeopardizes individual careers and the safety and security of our waterways,” added Captain Richard Armstrong, Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit. “The U.S. Coast Guard stands firm in ensuring that those who choose to deceive or falsify their merchant mariner credential, or those who subvert the credentialing process, will be held accountable.”
Stackpoole faces a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine at his sentencing hearing scheduled for December 18, 2025.
This case represents the latest in a series of crackdowns on fraudulent mariner certificates in the United States. Previous cases include a 2021 Virginia Beach incident where Lamont Godfrey was sentenced to 45 months in prison for creating counterfeit certificates from the Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy. That conspiracy netted over $394,000 in profits and involved more than 252 mariners purchasing fraudulent qualifications.
In another significant case from October 2022, former United States Coast Guard employees Dorothy Smith and Eldridge Johnson were sentenced to five and six years imprisonment respectively for a bribery scheme at a Coast Guard exam center in Mandeville, Louisiana, where they falsified records for merchant mariners who hadn’t actually completed required examinations.
The Stackpoole case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Investigative Service, with prosecution handled by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy J. Wyse and Special Assistant United States Attorney Corinne M. Lambert.

Fire-damaged vessel to head for Thunder Bay

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – The Algoma Central self-unloader Radcliffe R. Latimer, which has been anchored in the upper St. Marys River since experiencing an engine room fire on Monday evening, will be towed to Thunder Bay. Her AIS has been updated to show that destination.
No information has been released about what tugs will handle the tow, however Purvis Marine’s Wilfred M. Cohen has been standing by the vessel since the fire. It is also unknown if the Latiner will undergo repairs at Thunder Bay.
The Latimer has a cargo of petroleum coke loaded at Superior Midwest Energy Terminal Aug. 10 and was bound for Port Daniel, QC, when the fire broke out.

Cleveland Boatnerd Gathering Planned Sept. 6

Cleveland’s first annual Boatnerd get together will be at the Whiskey Island Still & Eatery in Cleveland on September 6 at noon. Join us for an informal gathering of food, fellowship and hopefully some boat watching as well. Meet your fellow area boat fans! Food will be ordered off the menu and table service provided by the staff of the restaurant, which is located adjacent to the historic C&P Dock, where the 1,000 footers unload.

Directions and info for the restaurant: https://www.whiskeyislandstillandeatery.net/

Bill Kloss

See “Captain Bob” September 11th

See “Captain Bob” former Captain of the Paul R Tregurtha, in Cheboygan next month for his speaking engagement, GREAT NEWS!! Due to his first show SELLING OUT in record time, they are adding a SECOND SHOW!! Same day but at 5:30pm so if you’re interested, head to the website shown at the bottom of the image (Open it up to see it full size) and grab tickets!! They are only $10 each!! Hurry before this show sells out as well!!
See Photo Gallery below

2025 Luck of the Lakes Raffle Includes Ship Trips

Your raffle ticket purchase supports the Great Lakes Historical Society and its National Museum of the Great Lakes whose mission is to preserve, share, and celebrate the past, present, and future of the Great Lakes story.
Details here:
https://nmgl.org/2025lolraffle/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMDBTFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFZUGV4UFMxNFFGYUpPbTZ2AR5OikAHiWMuo30CZrAqM9nuK93_xmmqYBsoAerabXJ3sBlZWNxpz7mZwoLuFw_aem_1pxrUONQfReTGS4dlnAgzg

Know Your Ships EXTRA Magazine 2025 Released

When Patrick Devine found out, in the summer of 1975, that he was being moved over to the Edmund Fitzgerald as a relief deckhand he was on top on the world. He had gone from one of the oldest boats in the fleet to one of the newest and best. He was devastated when union rules forced him off that September. He had lost his dream job. Then came the sinking and its horrific aftermath. He hasn’t talked about his experience until recently, and he gave Know Your Ships an exclusive interview for the 2025 Know Your Ships EXTRA midsummer magazine, now on sale.

The magazine also includes an interview with Great Lakes top cook Sissy Payment. Find out her recipe for success and learn something surprising about her in the story.

EXTRA 2025 remembers the loss 50 years ago of the EDMUND FITZGERALD with four stories.

EXCLUSIVE! Meet Patrick Devine, who thought he had found his dream job when he signed on to the Fitz as a relief deckhand in June 1975.
Explore the Fitzgerald’s influence in popular culture: Music, art, literature and – yes – souvenirs.
Did you know there were two vessels named Fitzgerald on the Great Lakes, and both were lost in November storms? And yes, their namesakes were related.
Consider what might have been if the Fitz had not gone down.

ALSO

Check out the Great Lakes Lore Museum at Rogers City, MI, where sailors are in the spotlight.
Read about the William G. Mather, the ‘Ship That Built Cleveland,’ which turns 100 this year.
Litton on the Lakes: Find out how a group of California upstarts turned the Great Lakes shipping industry upside down in the 1970s with their fancy ideas about 1,000-footers.
Catch up with the latest Great Lakes/Seaway news.
Enjoy even more images from readers in the ongoing series FAN-TASTIC PHOTOS.

This is the third year for the Know Your Ships EXTRA Magazine, which offers even more ship, sailor and industry stories, recent shipping news and many more of the stunning photos – current and historic – for which Know Your Ships has become known for the past 66 years. Please note that the Extra, which is a feature magazine, does not duplicate the vessel and fleet listings found in the regular Know Your Ships book.

Order at www.knowyourships.com