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Ma rine News - cont'd. 4. On April 17th, Y A N K C A N U C K was d o wn bou nd at the Soo on her first trip for Purvis Marine Ltd. In tow of the tug A N G L I A N LADY, she was en route to Lorain with a cargo of scrap metal. One of our observers who saw Y AN KC AN UC K on this trip indicates that the only change in the former mot ors hi p' s colours was that the big letter 'A' had been removed from her funnel. The Algoma Central Marine sel f- unl oad er A GA WA CANYON, do wnb oun d with a load of potash for Toledo, s u s ta in ed a f o u r - m e tr e- lo ng crack in her starboard bow plating when she struck a patch of ice off Ile Parisienne, above Sault Ste. Marie, on March 31st. The vessel passed down through the Soo canal and was anc ho re d off the Carbide Dock in the lower harbour, where temporary repairs were undertaken. The ship then pr oc ee de d on her way, and permanent repairs were to be put in hand at a later date. Condit io ns de s c r i b e d as amongst the worst in recent me mo ry de vel ope d during late March when strong north ea st winds and a f re ez in g- ra in storm packed ice into the we st e r n tip of Lake Superior, ha mpe rin g na vi g a t i o n in the DuluthSuperior area. Windrows up to six feet high choked the lake surface, while slush ice eight to ten feet thick lay below. On March 24, PAUL R. TREGURTHA, KAYE E. BARKER and GEORGE A. STINSON, all upbo und light, became trapped about six miles from the Du luth entrance. The buoy tender U . S. C. G. SUND EW was unable to break through the ice, and U . S. C . G. MA CK I N A W was summoned from the Soo. With her assistance, the TR E G U R T H A made Duluth on Marc h 27, while the other two ships were freed the follow ing day. MA CK IN AW then stood by for several days to assist shipping until the ice dispersed. Men ti on of the 1, 0 0 0- fo ot er GEORGE A. STINSON, cu rre ntl y owned by Stinson Inc. (M. A. Hanna Co., Agent), brings to mind the fact that in 1991 this vessel is sp orting a new decoration. Right in the middle of her curved bow is a large white letter 'N ' (for Na ti ona l Steel), with "wings" on either side of the letter. The new mar ki ng is most dis tin ct iv e and unusual for a lake vessel. A bizarre incident at Win ds or on Sunday, April 7, involved the Water way s Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n tug PRINCESS. At about 6 : 30 p. m., the tug, na vig ate d from the bow by her master using remote controls, struck the Dieppe Park b r e a k water, also hit ti ng the fl oating restau ran t QUEEN CITY, and knocking PRINCESS' skipper overboard. He sustained head injuries when caught between the tug and seawall, but climbed back aboard, and the tug then sped off toward the Detroit shore. PRINCESS finally put in at Ecorse, pursued by the U. S. Coast Guard, the Wayne Co unty Sheriff's Department, Windsor police in a "borrowed" private speedboat, and even a Detroit police helicopter. After the incident, the tug's captain (who, the press reported, had been acc om p a n i e d on the tug by three women), was taken into custody by U . S. border patrol officers. Dispute still surrounds the presence in the harbour at Whitby, Ontario, of the vene rable hull of the former east coast ferry steamer PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. Un us ed since she p a r t i ci pa te d in the massive North Traverse dred gi ng project in the 1970s, the ferry re por ted ly now is owned by one Art Robinson. W h i t b y has been trying to evict PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND and to permit only r e cr ea ti on al use of the harbour. Tests have shown that the ferry's hull contains water co nt am in at ed with an una cce pta ble level of p o l y c h l o r i n a t e d biphenyls (P. C . B . s), and on April 4, Environment Canada ordered Mr. Robi ns on to dispose of 90 gallons of con ta mi na te d bilge. Offi cials are wo rr i e d about the proxim ity of the hull to Whitby's source of public water supply. The Lake Ontario Cement Comp an y' s barge METIS has been painted up with a very dark grey hull, with dark blue deck trim (including the "doghouse"), and the name applied fore and aft in black letters. At the time of this writing, the tug EVANS Mc KE IL was wai ti ng to take METIS out on her first trip when adverse weather co nditions abated. * * * * *