Upper Ottawa Improvement Company tug involved in sailboats rescue.

	TEN TRAPPED IN RAPIDS Nine Spend Night Night on 2 Boats The Ottawa Journal Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 13 Jul 1960, Wed • Page 3 Nine Ottawa yachtsmen were rescued from the Deschenes Rapids today in a combined sea and air operation that left hundreds of people lining the banks of the Ottawa river gasping. A small-jet-powered speedboat literally skimmed over the swift flowing rapids to save seven persons - one of them a woman - from two sail boats trapped on rocks. Last Two By Plane This during operation was climaxed by the rescue of the remaining two men by an RCAF helicopter which hovered over the sloop Talisman, plucking the men to safety on a sling. It ended a 15-hour ordeal for the nine members of the Britannia Yacht Club who spent a chilly and wet night on the decks of the Talisman and the yawl Negark. They were driven into the rapids by a fierce squall that struck the area just as a yacht club race was about to begin early last night. At least 10 other boats were capsized. One Casualty The only casualty was crewman Jack Hall who was hurled from the mast of the Negark into the rapids when the boat lodged on a rock. Hall was swept through the rapids and was saved by grabbing a rope dangling from a helicopter that was at the scene minutes after the grounding. He was towed to a police boat and taken to hospital for treatment of minor cuts and released. The nine yachtsman saved today were: Mrs. H. M. Robinson, 301 Knox Crescent; Commodore Gordon Foy, 16 Creek Side Road, City View; Jack Hassell, 580 Cole avenue; Don G. Book, 201 Clearview venue; Allan Bruce, 161 Britannia Road; Andy Davidson, Lynwood Village; Lt. Col. H. Robinson, 301 Knox Crescent; and Lionel Grinham, captain of the Talisman. Mrs. Robinson was the first to be rescued - by the speed boat expertly handled by Art Charron and Maurice Belair. Cut Loose Sloop Her husband, Max, was the last to be rescued - by helicopter. He had the crowd on edge as he clung to the rescue line from the helicopter and then cut loose his sloop to bounce through the rapids to calm water below. Col. Robinson was greeted at the emergency heliport on the shoreline by his wife, Bonnie, who promptly gave him a kiss. His companion in the 'copter rescue, Captain Grinham, was greeted in a similar fashion by his wife and 13-year-old daughter, Wendy. Both had waited through the night for the rescue. Col. Robinson said his boat was relatively undamaged. The night went "fairly well", he said, "but we stayed on top wearing bathing suits because we thought we might do some swimming. Concluded on Page 3 Nine All Night On Two Boats Continued From Page One The main fear was that the slender nylon anchor cable would break under the pounding of the rocks. Mrs. Robinson said she actually got some sleep. Gordon Foy, yacht club commodore, and owner of the 35 foot Negark, was ready to return to his ship to direct two tugs attempting to pull the the Negark off the rocks where it was tilted at a precarious angle. Tugs Arrive: Two tugs arrived from Quyon about 11:15 a.m. under command of superintendent Jack Lucas of the Upper Ottawa Improvement Company. How It Started Club members and spectators told how the ordeal began. The Talisman first got into trouble when a squall struck from the west, catching it only a few hundred yards above the rapids at the start of a yacht club race. Pushed along by the current the squall punched the sloop over the brink. Before its anchor caught and held, the craft had been knocked almost to the centre of the turbulent half mile stretch. Tommy Fuller, owner of the Black Jack which brought several overturned boats upstream to shore, told of the rescue attempt that put the Negark in its perilous position. "The Negark pulled alongside (the club pier) and we gave her 1,500 feet of rope as soon as we saw the Talisman slip away. "They were going to move as close to the rapids as possible and feed out the rope with a float on the end to the Talisman. When they got their own ship anchored we were going to secure her with line from the Black Jack. Plan Goes Awry But as Jack (Hall) was feeding out the line from atop the mast their anchor must have given away. She slipped sideways and keeled over." Hall was flung into the torrent "like a stone from a sling-shot when the Negark ran aground, said Peter Mills, another club member. "He must have traveled about 40 feet altogether", he said. "Somebody quickly flung out a life belt. I guess that must have saved him." Emergency calls had already been fired to the Department of Transport and the Ontario Hydro in the vain hope that a helicopter rescue might be made during the waning hours of daylight. A handwritten message, lowered to the "Talisman" by the DOT aircraft, offered two suggestions. The first, to chop off the boat's mast and allow the 'copter to attempt a landing on the craft was discarded because of oncoming darkness. Too Risky The second, to cut the anchor line and free the sloop while visibility remained good for rescue downstream, was considered "too risky". They would have been smashed to bits on the boulders" observed one yachtsman familiar with the rapids. The chances for immediate rescue were gone. Bob Gillies and and Frank Inson in the Hydro helicopter dropped a final note to the Talisman at 10 p.m. "We can't do anything until first light. If you are in immediate danger flash light intermittently. There will be a watch here... patrollers downstream. We will be back at dawn." "They're just going to have to tough it out" said Gillies as the "Bell" helicopter took off. At this time it was still thought that the Robinson children, Rusty, 12, and Judy, nine, were aboard. Negark Stuck Fast The Negark, hard aground, was considered in a safer position. At the moment this note was dropped those on shore were hearing of a new hope. The RCAF rescue team at Trenton was racing to Britannia. Among the anxious watchers was Blair Cook, 23, of 527 Denbury avenue, who told The Journal how "through God's grace" he missed being among those stranded on the Negark. "I had been aboard for the race and only stepped ashore minutes before it ventured out to save the Talisman." Third Boat Safe Mr. Cook, Allan Foy, brother of the skipper and Peter Patton dragged a foundering "Y- flyer" to shore from "just off the head of the rapids" using a high-powered inboard launch. Swells at the time were up to four feet high. As stories of rescue and wrecked boat passed through the crowd and rumors of injuries aboard the Negark took hold, the para-rescue crew arrived. It was one o'clock in the morning when the RCAF team began to prepare its "airlift". Air Rescue Fails Minutes later Sgt. Jack Glydon was dangling from the aircraft 75 feet above the Talisman. A steel cable lowered him just upstream from the boat's bow. As he swayed back toward the sloop, it fish-tailed 'and Glydon plunged into the water, and raced past the boat's side. A second attempt had the same result. It took three tries for the team to hit the boat with an anchor line with success coming at three o'clock. A "walky-talky" was put on board at the same time, but it failed to work. However, the news was brought to shore that only the three adults were in danger. The spectators were told that neither of the Robinson children was on board. At that time it was not known how many were aboard the Negark, five men or six. Directed Operation The Air Force operation was directed by Group Capt. C. H. Mussells, Commanding Officer at Uplands RCAF Station, and F/L Doug Nesbitt, Chief Search and Rescue Officer, stationed at Uplands. Earlier organization was in the hands of Yacht Club officials and police. A truckload of lighting equipment from Crawley Films was called in before midnight. Company personnel, under the direction of Production Supervisor Tom Glynn, had five floodlights beamed on the stranded boats minutes after their arrival. Fifteen policemen were on hand to control the crowds. At the first sign of peril, word was flashed to the Bryson and Desjoachims dams, 60 and 150 miles upstream respectively. Officials were asked to control the water level at its present height. Immediate compliance was received from officials. Tug Ready The Yacht Club also got word from the Upper Ottawa Development Company. The tug Hodgeville was ready immediately at Quyon, Que., for a rescue trip downstream. When day broke the Hydro's light helicopter returned. Before seven o'clock it had made successful drops to both the stranded boats. Walky-talky communications were established. The Talisman was immediately told of developments on shore, how the rescue would be attempted, either by the RCAF or by the new "jet-boat". The latter idea, surprised almost everyone and immediately heightened the drama. From the Negark came an immediate request for food and clothing. Three of those on board had shivered through the night, clinging to the sharply sloping deck in only their . bathing suits. Food and clothing were successfully dropped at once. Warned Crews Ironically, the officer of the day at the yacht club, seeing the storm brewing during the race, fired three warning shots to call all vessels into the harbor. None of the sailors heard the warnings because of an already brisk west wind and the distance of the race course from the club. The shots had been fired several minutes before the squall struck, just after 7 p.m. One of the biggest problems confronting the early rescue attempts was lack of organization and co-ordination between the various units involved. Police Inspector Leo Seguin, from No. 2 Station, said, "I guess I'm in charge". John D. McRuer, a navy man and member of the club, said, "I'm looking after the organization, the police will look after traffic". Directed Lights McRuer directed the placing of lights provided by Crawley's, the parking of cars around the makeshift landing field and several other phases of the operation. Once the men from Trenton arrived there was no longer any doubt about who was boss. And the boats themselves, "They had been operating under Department of Transport regulations at well as additional safety precautions imposed by the club", Vice - Commodore David Wadell told The Journal. "All light craft are required to carry a good anchor with at least 100 feet of line. All persons aboard must, without fail, wear life jackets." Mr. Wadell said he could not foresee any changes or additions to existing regulations. He attributed the near tragedy to the "freak" windstorm. The crews of both the Talisman and the Negark were termed "experienced, level-headed yachtsmen" by yacht club officials. Arthur Huddleston, a past commander of the club, signaled to the Talisman during the night using a fire department light. Early in the morning he told The Journal "I'm quite certain Col. Robinson could read the (morse) code.
	The Ottawa Journal Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 13 Jul 1960, Wed Page 1 Shot Off Mast Top Into Rapids "It happened so fast I didn't really know what happened" Jack Hall said of his experience this morning. Hall was the 29-year-old architect who was flung from the mast of the Negark in its dramatic attempted rescue last evening of the Talisman, lodged in the centre of the surging Deschenes Rapids at Britannia. 'Not My Day' "And the funny part is, I should have known. I'd already been dunked once, during the races earlier. Our small sailboat overturned. This just wasn't my day. I was sitting at the top of the mast with my legs over the crossbar and my arms wrapped around the mast. We were trying to float this little fiberglass boat down to the Talisman with a line. It got snagged on a rock and the line became sort of snarled. After that something must have given way and I was just shot off the top of the mast. A terrific leverage is generated up there and it just burst my arms apart. "I had my life jacket on and someone in the boat threw me another one. I grabbed it and grabbed the rope we were trying to feed to the Talisman, but the water was too swift, and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold on. "My feet touched bottom a couple of times, but the water was too fast to try and stand up and I knew there-would be clear water down below." No Time for Fear Hall said he didn't have time to experience any fear. "It all happened so fast", he said. "When I got to the bottom a helicopter - a big yellow one (Department of Transport) dropped me line and towed me over to a police boat and they took me to shore." The victim was rushed to Civic Hospital from the foot of McEwen street just below the rapids. Took Two Stitches "They sewed me up a little", he told the Journal this morning, "two stitches above the left knee. Nothing serious though." Hall said he wasn't sure where he got the cut. "It might have been when I was flipped off the mast, or maybe from hitting one of the rocks. I'm not sure. Can't say I was thinking about it much it the time", he laughed this morning. Hall returned to his Queen street architect's office this morning, a little battered, and a little late, and with no plans to give up sailing.
	The Ottawa Journal Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 13 Jul 1960, Wed Page 3 MRS. MAX ROBINSON Woman Rescued Woman Describes Rescue The first person plucked to safety from the turbulent Deschenes Rapids today was Mrs. Roberta Robinson, lone woman among the nine stranded amateur sailors. She was aboard the sloop Talisman with her army husband, Lt. Col. H. Max Robinson, and a friend, Captain Lionel Grinham, when it was swept into the rapids last night. Only Clear Spot "We must have hit the only spot in the rapids that was clear of rocks", said the petite woman who joined the Britannia Yacht Club five or six years ago. "The craft hit one rock and then we managed to anchor in the one clear spot." All three were picked from the sloop by a small, jet-powered boat that braved the rapids to effect a rescue. "The boat rocked all night. I did manage to get a few hours sleep on the open deck and there was plenty of canned food aboard so we didn't go hungry. In fact,we were all eating peaches just before the jet boat came along and brought me to shore." The storm struck exactly at 7:15 p.m. "I know because the race whistle had just gone when the big wind hit us and blew us into the rapids. Drifting Sideways "We were drifting sideways for a time and Max (her husband) thought we would stay clear...but it didn't. Three helicopters were at the scene overnight dropping walkie-talkies, clothing and cigarettes. "They seemed to churn up a storm with their propellers each time they passed over the boat...it was like a hurricane." First reports said that the two Robinson children, Rusty, 13, and Judy, 10, were with their parents. "But, thank heaven, they were with friends at a cottage at Sharbot Lake near Perth and I hope they haven't heard about the incident."
	The Ottawa Journal Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 13 Jul 1960, Wed Page 3 Fine Seamanship in Rescue by Turbo-Powered Boat The sleek turbo-powered craft made it look almost easy. Only four hours after it sped off from the shore of the Ottawa river at Woodroffe avenue and nosed steadily westward up the treacherous Deschenes rapids, nine persons who spent the night marooned aboard two boats were brought to safety. The shiny white fibreglass craft, 14-and-one-half feet long, was called in after night-long efforts by three helicopters to pick off the stranded yachtsmen were unsuccessful. The boat, worth $3,100 and property of Blair Equipment Ltd., was transported to the scene from Paul's Boathouse on Dow's Lake by a company trailer. When underway the craft, which weighs 1,350 pounds and has a top speed of 35 miles per hour, can operate in as little as three inches of water. It can go into a spin at full speed and is almost impossible to tip. It is driven by a 90 horsepower inboard motor. Water is sucked from the bottom of the craft and is driven by a pump through turbines and is thrust out the stern under pressure, forcing the boat forward. The craft works on the same principle as the turbo-prop airplane, except that water is propelled through the prop, supplying a storehouse of unlimited power. The boat seats six comfortably. It was piloted by company employee Art Charron, 28, of 61 Beechwood avenue. Helping Mr. Charron was Maurice Belair, 35, of 129 Eddy street, Hull, also a company employee. Woman First Within 40 minutes after it set out, it had returned Mrs. Max Robinson from the Talisman to shore and was heading back through the surging waters for more passengers. As the efficient little craft pulled up to the Negark helicopters hovered overhead, keeping a watchful eye. Safely aboard, it transported David Midgely, Allan Bruce, Jack Hassall and Don Book to shore. Two more stranded boatmen and the jet boat's mission would be over. Taking time to refuel at the Yacht Club's canal, the craft again sped off, whisked Andy Davidson and Commodore Gordon Foy from the Negark, and returned. Club officials regarded the seamanship of pilot Charron and his helper Belair as "remarkable". "It was a marvellous bit of marine technique", one official said, "requiring great nerve and courage."
	The Ottawa Citizen Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 13 Jul 1960, Wed Page 7 RECORD INTACT Strict Safety Rules Have Benefited Club By Charles Whiten Citizen Staff Writer The long record of safety of the Britannia Yacht Club continued last night when nine club members in two sailing boats survived a long, dangerous night in the grip of fast-moving Deschenes rapids. Although actual records were not available, life-long members said this morning that the club has not had a drowning fatality since about the turn of the century. At that time, it was reported, a woman panicked in a storm and leaped overboard from a yacht, to drown in the river near the yacht club. The long record is attributed to stringent club rules which firmly impose safety regulations and insist that members are made particularly aware of the danger of the rapids which form only several hundred yards from the club's racing starting line in front of the club house. Alert club officials, aided by owners of power boats at the club, have snatched a number of boats from grip of the river during the years, and last year a small sailboat went down the river to be badly smashed, but only after its crew had been rescued. Rules Pay Off On numerous occasions, boats have been held in the strong current at the lip of the rapids, but the club's insistence that every boat carry an anchor and an adequate number of life jackets has paid off. Skillful seamanship has time and again snatched hapless anchored boats from the jaws of the river. Last night, it was a rescue effort, when the yawl Negark tried to float a line on a small rowboat to the sloop Talisman that resulted in the Negark going hard aground. It apparently snapped its anchor line and was quickly swept onto the rocky shelf below the edge of the lake. The plan had been to send a line to the Talisman from the Negark, and also to send a line from the powerful brigatine Black Jack, owned by Tom Fuller. However, the Negark got into trouble before the plan could be carried out. Awaiting Tug Today, crewmen of the Negark were awaiting the arrival of the powerful logging tug Hodgeville, of Quyon, which had been summoned around midnight and was expected to arrive before noon. The Negark skipper, club commodore Gordon Foy, and his five crewmen, declined to leave their ship early today because it could possibly be claimed for salvage under marine law If it were to be abandoned. The six sailors spent the night on the starboard side of the big yawL Her starboard gunwhale was under water as she lay at a 45-degree angle, and it was believed she was holed by the jagged rocks where she struck. Extent of damage could not be known until she was hauled off and either beached or dry-docked.

Joe Fossey Photo.

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Hodgeville on the Ottawa River. Photo courtesy Robert Cox.

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SV notes: Hodgeville at Dan Simpson's home in Port Dover in the summer of 1998.

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Hodgeville in Oakville Harbour, 1998. From the book UNDER TOW:
A HISTORY OF TUGS AND TOWING by Donal M. Baird, page. 67.

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Joe Fossey Photo. Port Elgin, ON.

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Hodgeville waiting below Lock 2, Welland Canal, April 2006.
Photo by Jay van der Doe, boatnerd.com.

 

Hodgeville photos from Scruton Marine 600 PIXELS 600 PIXELS 600 PIXELS 600 PIXELS 600 PIXELS 600 PIXELS 600 PIXELS 600 PIXELS

 

Hodgeville photos from Paul Capel. PC notes: "Taken at Paul Groves home at Snug Harbour (close to Parry Sound, ON). Paul Groves owned her approx. 1983-1985 and refurbished quite a few Ville class boats." 600 PIX   1024 PIX   600DPI 600 PIX   1024 PIX   600DPI 600 PIX   1024 PIX   600DPI 600 PIX   1024 PIX   600DPI

 

Photo by Tim Warris, Port Dover, Ontario. 2013.
https://www.timwarrisphotography.com

 

Published on 18 Jun 2013. My brother's tug and our ride to back to Sault Ste Marie.

 

Hodgeville June 25, 2013. Photo courtesy Rob Goodfellow.

 

Hodegeville July 2, 2013
http://raydiancegreatloop.blogspot.com/2013/07/sault-ste-marie.html

 

Hodegeville July 2013 in Sault Ste. Marie, ON.
Decorations by Rob Goodfellow's mother in law. https://www.facebook.com/events/826574454058925/

 

Hodegeville photo by Brent Macdonald, August 10, 2013.

 

Prop replacement, Purvis yard in the Soo. Rob Goodfellow photos, 2013.

 

Stan Elliott photo. Hodgeville June 30, 2014 near Sault Sainte Marie, ON.

 

Rob Goodfellow photo, September 24, 2014.

 

Rob Goodfellow writes (2019): "Hodegeville in 2015. My son (then 13 years old) bringin it into Gitchee Gumee marina from a night out at Batchawana Island with his mom and friends." Photo by Rob Goodfellow.

 

Rob Goodfellow photo, Hodgeville August 26, 2015.

 

Rob Goodfellow photo, Hodgeville 2016. South Sandy Island just outside of Batchawana Bay.

 

Hodgeville at Mamainse harbour. Photo courtesy Rob Goodfellow April 3, 2017.
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Hodgeville at Agawa pictographs. Photo courtesy Rob Goodfellow April 29, 2017.

 

Hodgeville Sault St. Marie, June 24, 2017. Photo courtesy Rob Goodfellow

 

Hodgeville Sault St. Marie, June 24, 2017. Photo courtesy Rob Goodfellow

 

Hodgeville and Norgoma, Sault St. Marie. Photo courtesy Wayne Jolicoeur.

 

Tug Boating on the St. Mary's river with Robert Goodfellow, July 1, 2017.

 

Still not frozen in, Dec. 20, 2017. Photo by Rob Goodfellow. Click to enlarge.

 

Hodgeville Dec. 31, 2017. Photo by Rob Goodfellow. Click to enlarge.

 

Photo by Rob Goodfellow.

 

Hodgeville near Batchawana, ON, Mar. 6, 2018.
Photo by Rob Goodfellow.

 

Hodgeville still frozen in, April 8, 2018. Photo courtesy Rob Goodfellow. Click to enlarge.

 

Hodgeville in Mamainse Harbour, Batchawana Bay, ON, May 12, 2019.

 

Oct. 2019. Hodegeville in Mamainse harbour, Ontario. Photo by Rob Goodfellow.

 

Mamainse Harbour, Feb. 2020. Photos by Rob Goodfellow.

 

Mamainse Harbour, Mar. 19, 2020. Photos by Rob Goodfellow.

 

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