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Pete Worden, Editor 42072 Sunnydale Lane Northville, MI 48167 Shepler's Inc. of Mackinaw City, Michigan has taken delivery of a new 78 foot, 265 passenger ferry christened CAPT. SHEPLER. Built by Aluminum Boats, Inc. of Crown Point, Louisiana, she has a beam of 28 feet, a 3 foot loaded draft, an aluminum hull, is powered by 3 GM diesel engines and has a cruising speed of 23 knots. *** Also this summer, Gladding- Hearn Shipbuilding of Sommerset, Massachusetts will deliver an 82 foot catamaran to Arnold Transit Company for their run to Mackinac Island. The 365 foot~ passenger vessel will be christened MACKINAW EXPRESS, and will have an overall length of 82.55 feet, beam moulded of 28.54 feet, beam of each hull at 8.2 feet anda draft of 6.89 feet. She will be of all-welded aluminum construction. *** On April 8, CANADIAN TRANSPORT delivered the first cargo of limestone to Blue Water Aggregates new Marysville dock, located just below Detroit Edison's Marysville generating station in the St. Clair River. *** JACQUES DESGAGNES, recently sold by Group Desgagnes Inc., departed Lauzon on April 25, bound for Florida. She returned to the St. Lawrence on May 20, chartered to Relais Nordiques, enroute to Baie Comeau. *** May 6, U.S. Steel's CASON J. CALLAIWAY came off the drydock in Superior with a new stern thruster. *** CSL's PRAIRIE HARVEST left Port Weller Drydock on May 15 and headed upbound for Thunder Bay. *** CSL's RICHELIEU and the salty MOUNT AZALEA collided in the Welland Canal on May 18, with minor damage to both vessels. *** ACR's JOHN B. AIRD arrived at the Canadian Soo on May 20 with a load of coal from Thunder Bay, off-loaded 4,000 tons into Purvis Marines' newly-acquired D.D.S. SALVAGER, and then proceeded into Algoma Steel to unload the rest of her cargo. On May 30, CSL's TARANTAU repeated the procedure by off- loading 3,300 tons of coal before proceeding to Algoma Steel. *** e Coast Guard cutter BRISTOL BAY was in Ludington on May 21 with a crane-mounted barge to replace the light structure marking the end of Ludington's south breakwall. She then proceeded to South Haven to continue her mission to replace several older light structures along the east coast of Lake Michigan. *** Twin City Drydock of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan has purchased the small tug MACKINAC CITY. *** On May 21, MEDUSA CHALLENGER opened Medusa's new distribution facility in Toledo, located in a corner of the Toledo Shipyard. *** On May 23, Bob-lo began regular service from their new dock at the foot of Clark Street in Detroit. On the preceeding evening, the steamer COLUMBIA outdistanced the steamer STE. CLAIRE in "The Great Riverboat Race" held on the Detroit River. *** The Canadian Lake Carriers Association and the SIU reached an agreement on May 29, thereby avoiding an impending strike. *** ACR's ALGONORTH, ex LAKE NIPIGON, arrived at Port Weller Drydock on June 9 to undergo her 5 year inspection. *** On June 12, U.S. 265808, ex BENSON FORD (2), departed Wharf 6 in the Welland Canal under tow of Sandrin Brothers TUSKER and GLENADA, bound for Sorel. *** On June 15, the WILLIAM P. SNYDER, JR. departed Toledo under tow of Great Lakes Marine Contracting Ltd.'s THUNDER CAPE bound for Port Colborne. She arrived on June 17, and with the assistance of the tug MICHAEL D. MISNER, was placed above the ARTHUR B. HOMER. The WILLIAM P. SNYDER, JR., (U.S. 209662) was built in 1912 as Hull 83 of the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse, Michigan with the dimensions of 590 x 64 x 34; 8603 gross tons. *** June 15, McKeil's GLENEVIS made an unusual trip into the Rouge River, delivering a climatic wind tunnel to the Ford Motor Company. *** U.S. Navy Yard Patrol Training Crafts YP 676, YP 678, YP 680 and YP 682 transited the Welland Canal on June 12 and arrived in Detroit on June 17 as part of their Great Lakes Training Cruise. These wooden-hulled vessels, 108 x 22.9 x 7, were built by Peterson Builders in Sturgeon Bay and are used to train U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen in the basics of seamanship. SEWELL AVERY and AVENGER IV Soo River -May 4, 1987 -5- Photo by Capt. John P. Wellington