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Ship of the Month - cont'd. 12. noise and smoke. The HUNTLEY limped along, averaging three knots under power of her Harbormasters, arriving at Saint John on November 16. Her dredging was eventful. The Harbormasters would not stay in alignment be­ cause the cold played havoc with the air steering system. She went nose-up on the beach in Courtney Bay once, and bumped a couple of starboard naviga­ tion buoys but without bringing them home. However, on November 27th at mid­ night, she ran into trouble. Gerry Ouderkirk tells the story. "The skipper was on deck when I was making my way aft to go on watch. He had left the helm in charge of wheelsman Jack Logan, so that he could examine the hold. After doing my rounds, I went to the control room to fill in the engineer's log. The yellow dump site buoy suddenly climbed over the star­ board taffrail. It's yellow light was flashing but the strong seaway smashed the light against the hull. Unable to steer while dragging the buoy, she had to be towed into port by IRVING BEECH. The starboard Harbormaster was removed and sent ashore for repairs. While this was happening, the new gear­ ing for the main engine arrived and was installed. The HUNTLEY was back dredging in three days. "The HUNTLEY departed Saint John on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas Day of 1989 on the Bay of Fundy, bound for Shelburne, Nova Scotia, arriving there at 0330 on Boxing Day. The Canadian Coast Guard medium ice-breaker MARY HUTCHKINS was at the Government dock, but refused to come out to break ice for us, probably because her crew were all ashore and in no state to move a vessel. She graciously shone her searchlight on the Shelburne Marine Ltd. dock, half a mile away, but the HUNTLEY had to break her own ice. That ope­ ration took the better part of five hours. We berthed with the Panamanian registered SCOTIA PRINCE, CN Marine's MARINE EVANGELINE, the Menane Island ferry LADY MENANE and an assortment of fishing vessels as piermates. "The Algoma Central seIf-unloader ALGOBAY came in during January 1990 for a refit and then flagged-out Monrovian, departing in February. I paid off on St. Patrick's Day. The HUNTLEY left Shelburne in the spring and went to the St. Lawrence River to dredge again in the North Traverse area, having outbid Dragage FRPD Ltee., Sorel, the owner of LOCKEPORT, for the contract. She departed the Gulf of St. Lawrence during the first week of November 1990, bound again for Saint John. " The following report comes from the "Halifax Chronicle-Herald" of November 8, 1990: "Dredge Safe in Halifax. Coast Guard safety officers were on board a 270-foot [sic ] dredge that was escorted into Halifax Harbour Wednesday [Nov. 7] after it began taking water in rough seas earlier in the morning. Meanwhile, three crew members - two men and a woman - were airlifted from the dredge, the CHARLES R. HUNTLEY, and were staying at a local hotel. The three were taken off the dredge in the morning after suffering minor injuries. The injuries were caused by the rough weather, said a Halifax Search and Rescue spokesman. Two surface vessels and two helicopters were sent to the scene. The remaining nine crew members were still aboard the dredge, anchored at a spot in the harbour, said the spokesman. The dredge had been about 40 miles off the coast of Halifax when it began taking on wa­ ter. The vessel's crew closed flooding compartments on board. " The report did not state that the woman was the cook. The owner, Alexander Hume, was aboard as Chief Engineer. Apparently, the ship split a seam, and the Coast Guard delivered additional pumps by helicopter. One of the crew members suffered a broken wrist or arm, and the others were violently sea­ sick. After temporary repairs, the HUNTLEY departed Halifax, proceeding to Saint John to dredge again. The ship was scheduled to have insurance repairs done by Shelburne Marine Ltd. in January 1991. The C. S. L. seIf-unloader NAN­ TICOKE also was at Shelburne, having a crack in her engine block repaired. The HUNTLEY was seized by Irving Tug & Towing in 1991 in lieu of repair costs owed to them, and Alexander Hume failed to complete his $1 million contract for dredging the harbour at Saint John. In 1992, he sold his tugs