Contents - drop down & click! HOMERussel Vessel ListingFamous Russel BoatsRussel Company HistoryR-H News and BrochuresLogging Boat OperationBoat Photo CollectionsBoat Designs & BlueprintsRussel Video InterviewInside Russel Bros.Hull Number Index

W.B. Marguerite pulled into river by Bonnechere. The Ottawa Journal, 22 Apr 1976, Thu Page 3 BRYSON (Staff) Workmen ease tug into river at Bryson. Last of the tugs launched. River-men on the payroll of the Upper Ottawa Improvement Company were ready to go "full power ahead" with their spring work Wednesday when the W. B. Margurite, the last of the company's fleet of 11 tugs to be put to work this year between Mattawa and Ottawa, was launched at Bryson. The company, which employs 130 men, is a joint subsidiary of E. B. Eddy Co., Consolidated-Bathurst Ltd. and Canadian International Paper Co. The movement of the three firm's logs downriver is its chief purpose. Yesterday's launching was supervised by regional super-intendent Michael Cushing. W. B. Margurite, a battered, steel-hulled, 30-foot veteran is a native of Espanola, Ont, where she learned her trade in the Spanish River. She was pulled into the Ottawa from a flat-bed trailer Wednesday by a larger sister ship, Bonnechere. During the navigation season, when not riding herd on sawlogs, the rivermen are repairing booms or removing dead-heads from the river. "Mill operations have been cut down, so there are not as many logs in the river this spring as usual," Mr. Cushing said. "Consolidated-Bathurst won't be cutting anything until June. That does not mean the tugs and their crews will be idle. "Our first job will be to repair the booms," Mr. Cushing said. "A lot of them broke this year because of the high water." In 1972, an E. B. Eddy Co. official predicted that "log drives on the Lower Ottawa are not likely to end until 1976." After 1976, he said, timber will move down the Upper Ottawa only as far as Braeside. The Upper Ottawa has still to reach its 1976 peak. After that, there will be more work for W. B. Margurite and her sister ships and their crews. When the river "goes down," dead-heads show up.

With the last log drive taking place on the Ottawa River in early 1990, the ICO (Upper Ottawa Valley Improvement Company) fleet was retired from service and sent to dry dock. In 1997, Logs End purchased five of the old boats, with the intention of restoring them to their original working condition, and sending them out yet again, to salvage logs that their forbearers had lost during log drives. The Marguerite was the first boat to be refurbished by Logs End, and she is now harboured near Bristol, Quebec.

W. B. Marguerite, c. 1997. Photo courtesy Logs End, Inc.

W. B. Marguerite on shore. Photo courtesy Logs End, Inc.

W. B. Marguerite. Photo courtesy Logs End, Inc.

 

RBF notes: W.B. Marguerite - Rebuilt and used to recover sunken logs
from the old River Drives. (Bristol, QC Aug 20, 2004)

ENLARGE to 1024 pixels wide ENLARGE to 600 DPI SCAN

Published on 28 Sep 2007... Logs End promotional material. Broadcast spot on On The Road Again.
Logs End environmentally friendly log recovery. Hardwood floors, paneling, engineered flooring.

Rob Farrow notes (July 23, 2008): This is the Rockcliffe Boathouse directly across from Gatineau.
In the last photo there are two other Russels. Farthest back is Cogna and you can
barely see through Marguerite the F. Louiselle. (Photos courtesy Jim Freeth).

600 1024 2048

600 1024 2592

600 1024 2592

600 1024 2592

Jim Freeth says (July 23, 2008): The W.B. Marguerite was purchased by John Freeth of O.D.S. Marine in Ottawa, Ontario from Logs End in June 2005. She spent approximately a year being refurbished at O.D.S. Marine's shop. The boat was completely cleaned and repainted, a major tune-up was done on the Perkins diesel, new push knees and current safety equipment was installed in the wheelhouse, the shaft was replaced and the propellor was sent out for repair and balancing. The hydraulic capstan winch on the foredeck got a new pump and all rubber parts and packing throughout the boat were replaced. The boat was surveyed and received her Transport Canada Inspection and Stability test. The W.B. Marguerite is working mainly on the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers as a barge assist tug, supporting the operations of O.D.S. Marine's own fleet of barges. Marguerite's former captains and sister vessels which have been retired from service on these same rivers would be justifiably proud of their working relative.