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December TELESCOPE 268 SAILING THE "DALE" FLEETS TEXT, PHOTOGRAPHS AND DATA BY FR. PETER VAN DER LINDEN Each fleet on the Great Lakes has its interesting individual history along with its commercial function. Primarily a ven- ture for success, each has its fascinating lore, its color, and its interest because it is basically a human adventure. The great risks involved in any major financial enterprise often hide the personalities of those in commerce. Here fol- lows a brief story in fact and color of one of our prominent Canadian fleets. Captain N. L. Reoch, after many years with Canada Steamship Lines, initiated his own venture in lake commerce with the acquisition of four old canallers in 1952. He purchased the Grovedale i a) Robert Wallace, the Parkdale i a) S. N. Par- ent, the Brookdale a) Tadenac and the Forestdale a) La Salle from the Hindman fleet. Along with these he bought and conâ€" verted Imperial Midland a) Talaralite from a tanker to a bulk carrier in 1953, renaming her Willowdale. With thesesmall vessels, the seeds of a large fleet grew. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway rang the death bell for many a canal-sized vessel. The use of larger ships meant more cargoes and more money; yet Captain Reoch could find many cargoes for his small vessels, and consequently purchased three more in 1959. These were Avondale i a) Starwell, Ferndale i a) Coteaudoc, and Westdale i a) Ralph Gilchrist, all purchased from the Misener interests. Before these three were bought, the older vessels Grovedale i and Parkdale i were sold in 1956. Chartered for lake service were the coastal canallers Springdale b) Eastdale and Springtide b) Easttide during the 1954 season. Realizing the need for vessels of greater capacity, the com- pany purchased its first large bulk freighter from the Ameri- can firm of Boland & Cornelius. Standard Portland Cement 3) Clifford F. Moll had been laid up after a collision in lower Lake Huron with the steamer August Zeising in May of 1960. and was for sale. Captain Reoch formed a separate subsidiary, Redwood Enterprises, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, to own Stan- dard Portland Cement as Elmdale. For under Canadian law, any f°r91gn vessel over ten years of age cannot be purchased by a Canadian firm. More purchases of older American vessels by various subsid- iarées increased the divisions of the Reoch fleet. Hillsdale 2) Dalgera, Sprucedale a) John Dunn, Jr,, and Pinedale a) . . arter were bought in 1961. Pinedale was the first SElf-unloader to enter the company. With the canallers, the (Continued on page 286)