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7. Ship of the Mo nth - cont'd. the area of the pilothouse, was p r o t e c t e d by an open steel pipe rail broken only i m m e d i a t e l y in front of the p i l o t h o u s e where was situated the only c o m p a ni on wa y le ad in g up to the boat deck. The pilothouse, with three slightly rou n d - t o p p e d w i n d o w s in its front, and w ith no sunvisor but w ith a slight over han g of the roof, was located at the forward end of the boat or h u r r i cane deck, and the m a s ter's quarters were to be found in the after end of the pi lo t h o u s e structure. A small mast, har d l y more than a flagpole, rose im m e d i a t e l y abaft this house, and the short but well raked s mokestack rose a bit farther ba c k along the boat deck. A tall jackstaff, almost as high as the mast itself, was placed at the fantail. W IN ON A o p e ra te d for several seasons on the waters for which she was built but, in 1906, Capt. E l l ison's c omp a n y sold the steamer to James Purvis, of Gore Bay, Ontario, for service as a mail boat, passenger and packet carrier on the No rth C h a n n e l of Lake Huron. The normal route of WIN O N A for her new owner took her fr om Gore Bay to Cutler, Ontario, with stops at such other i n t e r es ti ng ports as M e l d r u m Bay, Thessalon, Spragge and C o c k b u r n Island. R e - r e g i s t e r e d at Midland, Ontario, W I N O N A took the place of Purvis' smaller steamer EDNA IVA N (C . 107135), 7 9 . 2 x 1 6 . 0 x 7. 2, 54 Gross and 36 Net, w hich had been built at G o d e r i c h in 1900 as a fish tug, and later had been c o n v ert ed to a s i n g l e - d e c k pa s s e n g e r and mail carrier for the North Channel service. In 1906, the year W I N O N A was purchased, the EDNA IVAN was c ha r t e r e d by Purvis to the D o m i n i o n Gover n m e n t for use as a fisheries patrol tug. Purvis later sold her to Keene and Millman, of Blind River, for use as a fishtug. ED NA IVAN burned after str a n d i n g on a shoal near Little Current in the 1920s. The Purvis fa mi ly had been involved in the fisheries out of Gore Bay since the 1880s, and the pa s s e n g e r and mail boat service was a natural o u t g r o w t h from this e n t e r p r i s e in what then was a rather remote area. During the harsh we at he r of the wi n t e r months, whe n the waters of the North Channel were frozen over, Purvis re placed the mail steamer with pas s e n g e r and freight sleighs wh ich we re drawn by horses, and w h i c h made daily round trips be tween Gore Bay and S p a n i s h station, via a h a l f - w a y house (where the stables were located) on Da rc h Island. In fact, James Purvis was not the sole owner of WINONA. A partial interest in the steamer was held by A l e x a n d e r Purvis, also of Gore Bay on M a n i t o u l i n Island. On A pr il 30th, 1910, A l e x a n d e r Purvis sold his joint interest in the ship's 64 shares to James Purvis, for the sum of $ 3 , 000. The Bill of Sale stated that all of the shares i n v olved were free of any encumbrances. The C a n a d i a n D e p a r t m e n t of Marine and Fisheries Steamboat Inspe c t i o n Report for 1915 i n d i c a t e s that WI N O N A passed her insp e c t i o n that year, and that James Purvis was her r e g i s t e r e d owner. D uri ng the au t u m n of 1918, W I N O N A was sent down to Wiarton, Ontario, at the head of Co lpo ys Bay on the G e o r g i a n Bay side of the Bruce Peninsula, for win te r lay-up and for r e b u i l d i n g on the W i a r t o n Marine Railway. Over the winter, she was lengthened to 110 feet (between p e rpendiculars) , which incr ea se d her to nnage to 233 Gross and 158 Net. Six staterooms were a dded on the mai n deck, where the d i n i n g r o o m and galley also were located. There were two saloons, one forward and one amidship. During the r e c onstruction, the st eam er' s bo i l e r was turned a ro u n d so that it was fired from the forward end, and this was r e p orted to be a big i mprovement over the previ ous a r rangement. W I N O N A ar rived back at Gore Bay from Wi arton on Tuesday, April 29, 1919, and w h e n she re turned to service on May 1st, she was again under the co mma nd of her longtime and very popu l a r master, Ca ptain A dam Casson. The r e b u i l d i n g of WI N O N A is not b e l i e v e d to have al tered ance to any s i g n i f i c a n t extent. There are not, however, p hotographs of the steamer at any stage of her career, them are r e p r o d u c e d herewith. Both were taken prior to her any and the outward a p p e a r great n u m b e r of the two best of reconstruction,