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9. Ship of the M onth - cont'd. K A M LOOPS was among st the huge fleet of 100 ships caught in what becam e the worst ice blockade in the h i s t o r y of the Great Lakes. Food and fuel were r un ning short a board the tr apped boats, and so in a d d i t i o n to their i c e b r e aking duties, the tugs were kept busy d e l i v e r i n g gr oceries and coal. The po werful r a i lroad ca rferry SA INTE MARIE, r e n o w n e d for her ic e b r e a k i n g a b i l i ties, was brought up from the St raits of M a c k i n a c to assist in the river. However, the weather had w o r s e n e d as the te mp erature dip p e d to well bel ow zero (on the F a hrenheit scale) and it beg an to snow heavily. By D e c ember 5th, the si tuation was b e c o m i n g ext r e m e l y serious, wit h the slush ice t u r n ing solid, ships ru nning low on bunkers, and more boats a r r iving d o w n b o u n d to add to the misery. At the head of the bl ockade of dow n b o u n d traffic was the Wor ld War One "Laker" type stemwinder st eamer COULEE, w h i c h was tu rned cross wa ys in the N e e b i s h Rock Cut. She fi nally was r e l eased on De cember 7th, but the Wi l s o n Transit C o m p a n y steamer GENE R A L GA RRETSON, the very next ship in the line, then became w e d g e d in the n a r r o w cut, and the tugs had to wor k on free in g her quickly. The "Detroit Free Press" of D e c e m b e r 10th liste d 26 vess e l s that had been re l e a s e d from the blockade, but K A M LOOPS was not among them, as she was the 13th boat back in the next group. We are not sure exac t l y whe n K A M LOOPS was freed, but it w o u l d appear that she was tra pp ed for at least nine days in the ice jam before being r e l e a s e d and p r o c e e d i n g downbound. M any of the ships were not so lucky and their owners had to arran ge for them to stay at Sault Ste. Marie for the winter. K A M L O O P S was laid up for the wi n t e r at Goderich, a most unusual place for her. We suspect that she w i n t e r e d there be cause it was too late in the seas on for her to take her grain cargo down to a St. L a w rence Ri ver elevator whe re she mi ght n o r m a l l y spend the winter. On Octo ber 11th, 1926, Can ad a St e a m s h i p Lines Ltd. had o f f i c i a l l y t r a n s ferred the own e r s h i p of K A M L O O P S from S t eamships Limi t e d to the paren t c o m pany. Later that same month, K A M LOOPS was one of a number of ves se ls in the big C . S . L. fleet that were u s e d to secure a large m o r t g a g e from the M o n t r e a l Trust Company. The spring and summer of 1927 were larg e l y u n e v e n t f u l for K A M LOOPS as she went about her usua l business, loo ki ng muc h more h a n d s o m e w i t h her newlypain t e d red hull and whi te fo re castle. Late in N o v e m b e r of 1927, K A M L O O P S loaded what was to be her last cargo at Mo ntreal. A p o r t i o n of the cargo was co m p r i s e d of some h e a v y p a p e r - m a k i n g m a c h i n e s w hich had bee n i m p o r t e d from England, and w h i c h were to be del i v e r e d to the Thund er Bay Paper C o m p a n y at Fort William. As she made her wa y up the S t . La wrence River and the lower lakes, K A M L O O P S c o l l e c t e d a d d i t i o n a l general cargo until she was dow n to her draft mar ks for wi n t e r navigation. Somewhere, p r o b a b l y at Hami lt on , she loa de d a dec k cargo of pipe. She cleared H a m i l t o n on Wednesday, N o v e m b e r 30th, and Port C o l borne at 9 : 30 a. m. on Decem b e r 1st. A fter stops at Wind so r and Sarnia, K A M L O O P S arri v e d at the Soo on Sunday, the 4th of December. She was locke d up thr ou gh the canal in com p a n y wi th the P a t e r s o n bul k ca rrier QUE DO C (I). The w e a t h e r forecast at the time wa r n e d of an a p p r o a c h i n g winter sto rm and Capt. Brian, w a r y that his h e a v y deck cargo mig ht col le ct da ngerous amou nt s of ice, had a l r e a d y d e c i d e d that he w o u l d wait for better w e a t h e r in the shelter of W h i t e f i s h Point. A le tter he m a i l e d to his wif e from the Soo c o n firmed that this was his intention. KA M L O O P S was in c o m p a n y wi th seve ra l other ships as she "rode the hook" u n der the shelter of W h i t e f i s h Point. A repor t on the w e a t h e r sit u a t i o n a p pe a r e d in the "M ontreal Gaze tt e" on D e c e m b e r 6th. " S h ipping Mo v i n g Again: Sh i p p i n g is a gain m o v i n g on Lake Sup er io r af ter a storm of great in tensity, w h i c h swept the lake y e s t e r d a y af ternoon, b r i n g i n g w i t h it a hig h wind, snow, a h eavy sea and a mu ch lower temperature. S p e c t r e - l i k e ships, r e m i n i s cent of the b l o c k a g e days of last year, m o v e d sl owly th rough the locks y e s