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13. LAY-UP LISTINGS As all of our readers will be aware, the Toronto Marine Historical Society takes great delight in bringing to its members what has proven over the years to be the most complete and accurate listing of vessels laid up for the winter at the various ports around the Great Lakes and along the River St. Lawrence. The credit is due to all of the members who so enthusiastically support this project in order to create an important historical record which will be of value to marine historians in the future. WE DO TRULY RELY ON Y O U , and it is for this for your assistance once again this winter. reason that we appeal to you Once navigation in your area has come to an end, we would ask that you travel to your nearest local port(s), and carefully observe all of the major commercial vessels laid up there for the winter. PLEASE DO NOT GUESS as to their identity (for there is nothing more frustrating for us than to receive reports of the same vessel laid up at various different ports) but be certain and write the names down carefully. Then please write and send the names along to us. If any of the vessels are other than major commercial ships, we may not be familiar with them, so please let us know what type of ship they might be so that we may decide whether they should form part of the listing or not. We normally exclude barges, scows, dredges, ferries, tugs, etc., because we cannot hope to have a comprehensive listing of such vessels, but we will include them with your list only if you will do us the favour of providing a comprehensive listing with descriptions. We will present our lay-up listing in the February issue, with any followup material appearing in March, so please get your report to us as soon as possible. We particularly solicit reports concerning the various ports on Lakes Erie and Michigan, to which we have no consistent access. Our most sincere thanks to all who regularly participate of this most important historical record. in the preparation WINTER WEATHER (UGH! ) The past three winters have been relatively inoffensive ones for the residents of Toronto and the western Lake Ontario area, and the autumn and early winter of 1990-1991 have been likewise. Nevertheless, it may well be that Mother Nature has a big surprise waiting for us, and it wouldn't amaze us one bit if she did. It would be unwise to plan a "Beach Day" in the next few weeks unless you are a polar bear or are planning to head to warmer cl i m e s ... It is always possible (despite our specific instructions to Mother [or Father] Nature to the contrary) that the weather might interfere with one of our regular membership meetings, and we should like our readers, once again, to take note of arrangements which will be in effect for such situations. If inclemency of weather should hinder the holding of the February or March Meetings, it would be impossible for us to contact personally all of those members who might (or might not) be planning to at t e n d . Accordingly, if conditions should be such that cancellation of a meeting would appear to be a definite consideration, Toronto area members may call Gordon Turner (762-3130) or the Bascoms (921-8436), while Peninsula area residents may call David Bull (646-7900). Please call ONLY on the actual evening of the meeting and ONLY if conditions are sufficiently severe to make cancellation a REAL possibility. * * * * *