The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Marine News - cont'd. 4. Just as we were going to press, we learned that the Gaelic Tug Boat Company had sold its largest tug, the 1944-built, 110-foot ROGER STAHL, (a) U. S. C. G. KENNEBEC (44), (b) U. S. C. G. KAW (80), (c) KAW (97), to as-yet-unidentified off-lakes buyers. The STAHL was lifted in the Nicholson floating drydock be­ fore her final departure from the Detroit area. Any Gaelic long-haul tows will for now be handled by the 1944-built, 101-foot SHANNON, (a) U. S. S. CONNEWANGO (77). On August 6, the Calumet River Fleeting Inc.'s 1898-built, 118-foot tug JOHN M. SELVICK, (a) ILLINOIS (41), (b) JOHN ROEN III (74), lost a river barge which she was towing on Lake Michigan when heavy weather was encountered. The barge was loaded with 61, 000 bushels of wheat when its cargo shifted while some five miles off Waukegan, Illinois. The barge first sank by the bow, but could not be recovered in the heavy seas and went to the bottom the following day. It now is lying flat on the bottom in 120 feet of water and is not considered a menace to navigation. It was only a few years ago that officials grudgingly gave permission for such low-freeboard river barges to venture out onto the lake from Chicago, and then only in good weather condi­ tions. Launched on August 23 was the most recent United States Coast Guard buoy tender turned out by Marinette Marine. Christened SEQUOIA, she will be sta­ tioned on salt water. On May 22, U. S. C. G. BRAMBLE was officially decommis­ sioned in ceremonies at Port Huron, Michigan, where she had been positioned since 1975. BRAMBLE, which will be preserved as a museum at Port Huron, is to be replaced there in September by HOLLYHOCK, the only one of the newly- built buoy tenders to remain on the lakes instead of going off to serve on salt water. The 104-foot, all-season passenger and auto ferry ARNI J. RICHTER, built by Bay Shipbuilding at Sturgeon Bay for the Washington Island Ferry Line Inc., was christened with a bottle of Icelandic champagne in ceremonies at Detroit Harbor, Washington Island, on May 24. The combination double-ended ferry with a v-shaped bow for icebreaking and two 1, 000 h. p. Caterpillar engines will, it is hoped, be able to provide more frequent and reliable service to the island during the winter months. During the week of August 11, the former CSX railferry barge PERE MARQUETTE 10 was towed from her longtime home at Port Huron, where she had been idle since 1994, to Toledo. She was then moored at the CSX docks in the Frog Pond alongside the former Norfolk Southern rail barges ROANOKE and WINDSOR. All three now are owned by the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad Company, of Wells, Michigan. Another former railfloat, the 1904-built barge and former steamer DETROIT, owned by the Nicholson Terminal and Dock Company, recently was raised after lying partially sunk at River Rouge for some time. No imme­ diate use can be foreseen for any of these carferries. During the spring, McKeil Marine's idle NUNAVUT TRADER, (a) FRENCH RIVER (81), (b) JENSEN STAR (86), (c) WOODLAND (91), (d) WOODLANDS (98), (e) LORENA 1 (02), was acquired by Transport Desgagnes Inc. for use as a barge in Arctic supply service. The vessel was towed away from Hamilton on June 25 by the tugs PROGRESS and VIGILANT 1, en route to Montreal. There she was re­ painted in Desgagnes dark blue, complete with the fleet's yellow slash, and she was renamed (g) NOVA D. After being refitted at Montreal, she was towed up to Cote Ste. Catherine, where she was loaded for the Arctic. She cleared in tow of the Purvis Marine tug RELIANCE on August 24, assisted by LAC VAN­ COUVER. RELIANCE and NOVA D. are expected back at Montreal within two months to load a second cargo of supplies for the Arctic. A large fleet of "small tall ships" toured the Great Lakes this summer. It generally was a successful tour, but during a parade up the Chicago River, H. M. S. BOUNTY'S masts came in contact with the Lake Shore Drive bascule bridge, whose span had been lifted for the ships. Considerable damage was done to BOUNTY'S rigging, but the masts were made secure enough to allow the vessel to be opened for public visitation.