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7. shoring. Ship of the M onth - cont'd. "Some of the men b elow first learned som e t h i n g was w r o n g whe n they felt the bump. One crew me m b e r said he rushed on deck, and that the ve rtic al lift bridge was still cl osed a l t h o u g h the tanker was less than 100 yards from it. He said he saw a car cross the h i g h w a y bridge. " Sh ort ly after the tanker reac h e d the dock, bound from Sarnia to Toronto, the Th or ol d T o w n s h i p fire depar t m e n t sent a pumper to the dockside. It was able to prevent further sinking, but was unable to raise her. Bert Drake, diver for the W e l l a n d Canal, repor t e d he had found two rips in the s t arboard bow, about four inches wide and a foot long. 'The holes are big enough to put your fist t h r o u g h , ' he reported. "Plans were be ing di s c u s s e d for padd i n g the torn se ction with a tarp aulin held in place w it h a rope around the bow. It was e x p e c t e d the WIND S O R would att empt to limp to Toronto to d i s charge her cargo, and then w ould return to Port Dal ho us ie to go into d r y d o c k . " IM PE RI AL W I N D S O R was duly r e p a i r e d at the Port D a l housie shipyard, in Muir's Pond above Lock One of the old W ell a n d Canal, and then went back into s e r vice. We should m e n t i o n that it was normal for most of the Imperial Oil tankers to wi nt er at Sarnia, a l t hough one of them f r e q u e n t l y would stay at Toronto. However, if any of the boats re quired shipyard work, they u s u a l l y w ou ld wi nte r at Port Dalhousie, where the former Muir B r o s . yard w o u l d do the necessary. The canallers of m a n y fleets avai l e d themselves of this s h i p ya rd' s facilities, and some wi nters w o u l d see a dozen or more c a n allers cro wd in g the pond above the lock, in the area of the drydock. A cli pp in g from the "London Free Press" de s c r i b e d yet an other se a s o n - o p e n i n g arrival. The year was 1963, but u n f ortunately, the "clipper" did not record the exact date. "The tanker IM PERIAL C O R N W A L L arrived in Sarnia Sa turday a f ternoon, but wi th ou t the usual fanfare w h i c h a ccompanies the first vessel into port each shi pping season. "Due to other commitments, of fi cials who had been inv it ed to take part in p r e s e n t a t i o n of the tr ad itional top hat and gloves to the ca ptain of the first ship were un av ailable. The CO RNWALL emba rk ed on a second trip to Windsor, (and) is sche du le d back here sometime after noon today for the del ay ed ceremonies. "The CO RN WA LL took a cargo of 2 1 , 000 barrels of gasoline on its initial trip to Windsor. It d e p arted from Windsor at 5: 30 a. m. S a t urday and arr ived at the Sun Oil Sarnia docks at about 12 noon. 'Unless you knew different, you wo uld have thought it was a summer c r u i s e , ' Capt. A. G. Knight said. He saw very little ice either way - 'in fact, it a p p eared to be only s l u s h . ' "Captain Knight will receive the hat and gloves at ceremonies schedu led for 3: 00 p. m. aboard the tanker. Offi cials of the Chamber of Commerce, Imperial Oil and the city council will send representatives. The IMPERIAL LONDON, I MPE RIA L SIMCOE and IMPERIAL C O L L I N G W O O D remain at the company's winter dock near the foot of George Street. Their depa rture dates have not been announced. "Captain F. C. Smith, Impe rial's marine superintendent, was schedule d today to take part in a survey flight out of Toronto covering Lake Ontario, the We ll a n d Canal, part of Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron. Special at t e n t i o n will be given to the harbours of G o d erich and Saginaw, Michigan. Res ults of the flight will help determine sailing dates for the three other Imperial tankers. The tanker WHITE ROSE was scheduled to leave for the co mpa ny' s docks at Froo m f i e l d today, pending a trip to W i n d s o r . " More about the early start of the 1963 n a v i g a t i o n season can be gleaned from the Summer, 1963, issue of "Imperial Oil Fleet News", the impressive house organ wh ich was p u blished q u a r t e r l y for Imperial's marine personne l under the e d it or sh ip of longtime T. M . H . S. member Gordon R. McKean. Each issue f e a tured reports from all of the fleet's tankers, and this p a rticular issue had