We now have a new generation of vessels operating on the Great Lakes, and a number of them have the capability of operating on salt water during the winter months. Just what does this sort of ship do with herself when she is on the deep seas? Courtesy of the spring issue of "The Spearpole", we can see what the three new Misener Transportation boats did during the winter of 1983-84. SELKIRK SETTLER, CANADA MARQUIS and SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER all left the lakes shortly before the closing of the canals last December, and they were indeed busy during their absence from the lakes. (All three, of course, returned to the lake trades as soon as the canals reopened this spring.)

SELKIRK SETTLER : Sailed from Duluth with grain for Limassol, Cyprus, and then in ballast from Limassol to Newcastle, England, with a bunker stop en route at Algeciras, Spain. At Newcastle, she received engine guarantee work, and then sailed in ballast to Baie Comeau, where she loaded grain for Tilbury, England. From there, she returned to the lakes via a bunker stop at Flushing in The Netherlands.

CANADA MARQUIS: Sailed from Sydney, N.S., with coal for Santos, Brazil, and then in ballast to Rosario, Argentina. There she loaded grain, and after a top-off stop at Rio Grande, Brazil, proceeded to Bremen, West Germany. She then sailed in ballast for Newcastle for engine work, and then to Quebec for grain for Tilbury, and thereafter back to the lakes.

SASKATCHEWAN PIONEER: Sailed from Duluth with grain for Le Havre, France, and back to Canada. She stopped at Sydney, and then went to Baie Comeau to load grain for Tilbury, from whence she went to Newcastle for engine work. She then went to Sluiskil, The Netherlands, to load urea ('. !) for Montreal.

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Reproduced for the Web with the permission of the Toronto Marine Historical Society.