The Vancouver Branch of the World Ship Society (otherwise known as The World Ship Society of British Columbia) welcomes any World Ship Society member, as well as visitors, to its monthly meetings.  If you think you might be interested in finding out what we do, please attend one of our monthly meetings as our guest.  All visitors are warmly welcomed.

Upcoming Programs and Activities

► APRIL MEETING — Hear author Eric Jamieson talk about his recent book entitled “Tragedy at Second Narrows” which documents the Second Narrows Bridge collapse on June 17, 1958. His book unravels one of Vancouver’s great mysteries with all the appeal of a gripping detective novel. Eric has returned to the scene of the tragedy and reconstructed the tragic event with scrupulous care introducing the entire cast of politicians, construction bosses, engineers and ironworkers; he relives those terrifying moments when the structure began to crack and drop like the bottom was falling out of the world.

► MAY MEETING — Syd Heal will be presenting a program entitled "The Rise and Fall of the B.C. fishing industry and its influence on Fishing Vessel Design", based  based on the fishing industry in British Columbia, illustrated with photos from the Rod Logan collection.

No scheduled meetings during June, July or August.

► JUNE MEETING — We have now made the final arrangements for a special presentation by the Chairman of the Rotterdam Branch for a presentation on Monday June 7th, 2010. 

Capt. De Keijzer’s program is entitled “Navigare Necesse Est (or “Era Maritimus ex A ad Z”)

The following explanation will explain the title:
NAVIGARE NECESSE EST is the device [in Latin] of Rotterdam and means 'Sailing is Necessary', the 2nd part is Latin for A Maritime Lifetime from A to Z.

I have been in the shipping business for 48 years and each letter is connected to a ship or occasion or port experience in my maritime life.

For example: under the “G”, I will show and tell about the GLOBAL ENVOY, the Canadian ship I sailed on in 1970.

Apart from 11 years at sea I served the Rotterdam Port Authority during 26 years and also experienced some rather exciting calamities.

Holland America Line’s DONGEDYK, leaving the Port of Vancouver sometime in the early 1960’s.

Recent Meeting Notes

MAY 2010 MEETING  by Ellen L. Ramsay

Cecil Woods, Director and Editor of the Ship's Log, opened the evening's meeting by ask those present for current news items of interest to members. Neil England, Director-At-Large and Ship's Log columnist drew the audience's attention to the new WSS-Vancouver Branch calling cards – 250 neatly organized and presented business cards – that members may use selectively to invite new people to meetings. The cards contain our meeting date, time and place as well as contact details. Neil designed these attractive cards, and members have been impressed with the final product. Thanks Neil.

Joan Thornley, Director and Recording Secretary of the Branch presented the minutes of the Executive Meeting of 5 May 2010. These minutes included a list of speakers from 8 September 2010 to 9 February 2011. Thanks to Joan, copies of the minutes were available to members present. Cecil thanked Joan and the executive for their sound advance planning. Syd Heal, Past-President suggested that a small gesture of thanks be given to speakers in the form of a book or bottle of wine. The Executive decided to adopt this measure and the evening's membership seemed to concur that this would be a good idea. Syd's suggestion for a small promotional brochure for distribution to prospective members was also adopted at the Executive meeting and will be worked on by Directors over the summer.  All this is manageable within our existing budget.

Robert Etchell drew the meeting's attention to the 21st International Tugboat and Salvage Convention and Exhibition to be held 17-21st May at the Westin Bayshore Hotel. He also pointed out that there is to be an International Fleet Review at Royal Roads, Victoria 9-14th of June to mark the Canadian Naval Centennial. Twenty-eight naval ships representing over 25 nations will be there. Those interested should look at the Canadian Naval website for further information.

Syd Heal gave the evening's address on The Rise and Fall of the B.C. Fishing Industry and its Influence on Fishing Vessel Design. Syd began his talk by explaining that in addition to his specific and sustained interest in the shipping industry, he had twenty years experience as an underwriter and broker with much exposure to the big fleets controlled by the canning companies. In 1969 he joined the Bell-Irving Group who controlled one of the big three of the industry, the Anglo-British Columbia Packing founded in 1890. Henry Bell-Irving originally built the company that was to extend for three generations as a family business. In 1891 he bought out seven Fraser River canneries plus two on the Skeena to account for more than one quarter of B.C.'s total packed salmon. Only in 1969 did the company close its doors on its West Coast canning operation to concentrate on the East Coast herring industry.

Syd's talk was illustrated with digital images from the Rod Logan Collection, his own collection and some images from the Maritime Museum. They were organized chronologically from the nineteenth century to modern times spanning all vessels from whalers, draggers, trawlers, seiners, trappers, prawners, shrimpers to skiffs. We saw how the design of the ships developed to improve their productivity (and sometimes their appearance) and caught a glimpse of how design affects horsepower, fuel consumption and efficiency of ships. In some instances the design of the ship was aesthetically pleasing as well and practical. Syd showed a number of vessels that were converted from one use to another, and demonstrated some ships that were so poorly designed that it must have had an adverse effect on the operating economics of the vessel. Many conventional seiners have been converted to draggers while others have been purpose built.

The whalers perhaps stood out of the modern viewer now that we are accustomed to an international prohibition on the whale industry (despite Japan's continuance of the practice). Steam powered boats much altered the design of craft in this form of fishing. Syd then moved on to the draggers that were notable for ripping up the sea bottom and causing irreparable damage to sea life including cod, halibut and coral off the West Coast. Trawlers then grew in dimensions and many of the conversions were to this type. These vessels were productive but risked capsizing if filled beyond capacity. The First Nations' ships stood out as some of the largest and best built judging from the photographs. 

One of Syd's main messages during his talk was that, in his opinion, the decline in the fishing industry was largely due to greed in the industry itself. This is evident, he explained, from the vessels, the style of fishing and the handling of the fish over the decades. He pointed out that the industry has been quick to blame others, including fish farmers and loggers, for the decline in the fish stock, but they need only look at their own fishing practices to see that they have been overexploiting the renewable fish stocks. The two big fish on the West Coast were salmon and herring, both cyclical stock, and special care needs to be taken not to allow these species to become extinct outside the farmed fish.

The presentation was very comprehensive. One of the questions from Don Brown was related to the different registration numbers on the top and sides of the ships and whether there was an international standard for these. It was agreed that we might seek a speaker to address this question. A good subject for next year perhaps.

Cecil Woods thanked Syd Heal for his thoroughly enjoyable talk and invited members to stay and socialize. Members are reminded that raffle tickets, at a bargain price, are available at the start of each meeting and we can always use more quality prizes to entice people to buy more tickets.  The post card collection of vessels from all over the world is also available for perusal and purchase at our meetings with an average price of just $2.50. All kinds of membership goodies are available at Glenn Smith's tables and members often bring things of interest to share and exchange with other members.

The evening was a very good conclusion to a full season of speakers. Members will be notified if there are any activities over the summer, but for some of us we will have to wait until September 8th to return to our regular monthly meetings.  Our September speaker will be Rollie Webb on modern tug design and construction.  Have a pleasant summer and remember to stay safe on the water.

► APRIL 2010 MEETING by Ellen L. Ramsay

Our April meeting opened with notes by members on projects they are involved in or following with interest. Ray Parkinson spoke briefly on the progress of the Pacific Maritime Centre in North Vancouver and reminded us that Simon Robinson has been appointed Executive Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum thus putting that institution in good shape. Bill Etchell displayed a poster of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship LOUIS S.ST. LAURENT, named after the former Prime Minister of Canada. Classed as a Heavy Arctic Icebreaker, the ST. LAURENT was built in 1969 by Canadian Vickers Ltd in Montreal and is the flagship of the Canadian Coastguard. She has been based in Dartmouth, N.S. all her life.

Syd Heal polled the membership about a possible presenter for the forthcoming meeting in October. Gérôme Gervais of France is going to visit Vancouver for a conference on the Age of Sail at UBC in October and is going to present a paper on Comte de la Pérouse (1741-1788), a contemporary of Captain James Cook. Péruse was appointed in 1785 by King Louis XVI to lead a scientific expedition around the world and to complete Cook’s exploration of the Pacific. Pérouse’s expedition on board the ASTROLABE and sister ship BROUSSANT disappeared without a trace. The poll of members present showed them to be very interested in having M. Gervais speak to us.  Syd Heal hoped the addition of this speaker would help to broaden the range of ships discussed in our meetings.

Tonight’s speaker was veteran author and museum board member, Eric Jamieson. Mr. Jamieson gave an illustrated talk based on his latest book, Tragedy at Second Narrows: the Story of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge published in 2008 by Harbour Publishing Co. Members might also be interested in another book Jamieson has co-authored with Gareth Wood entitled, South Pole-900 Miles on Foot.

The original Second Narrows Bridge, connecting Vancouver with North Vancouver at the second narrowing of the Burrard Inlet, was completed in 1925. The bridge consisted of a car and train deck with a bascule portion close to the south shore, which rose to let ships through. From its conception the bridge experienced collisions with ships due to the quick current at this part of the Narrows. At one point the bridge was out of commission for four years, causing the bankruptcy of the North Shore municipalities.

A second bridge underwent construction in November 1957 adjacent to the original bridge. Premier WAC Bennett and Highway’s Minister Phil Gaglardi chose a six-lane cantilever steel-truss bridge by Swan, Rhodes and Webster (later known as Swan, Wooster and Partners). The bridge’s main span was to be 335 meters of its total 963- meter length. This bridge was the cheaper of the options before the government costing $11,600,000, although upon completion the bridge costs had risen to $26 million. A partnership, Keiwit Raymond, was to do the concrete work on this bridge while Dominion Bridge would erect the steel. Dominion Bridge and Swan, Rhodes and Webster had good reputations and plenty of experience with bridge construction. The workers hired belonged to the Ironworkers Local 97 with a charter dating back to 1906. While the bridge plans looked solid engineering work on the Second Narrows Bridge had a long history of danger for workers with four men losing their lives even before the great tragedy of June 17, 1958.

The collapse of the Second Narrows Bridge is believed to have occurred due to a number of factors, one of which was an error in calculation that caused the falsework to collapse thus bringing down two spans of the bridge. The falsework is the supportive structure that temporarily holds the cantilevered span of the bridge in place until the span reaches the next pier. Once span five dropped, it caused span four to collapse as well.

The collapse occurred at 3:40pm and sent dozens of workers approximately 60 meters down into the water.  18 men were killed, some instantly, and one diver drowned while looking for bodies in the recovery attempt. There were many acts of heroism by local people as boats went into the area to help with the rescue. Some men were recovered even though they had been washed over two kilometers away.

A Royal Commission was established to discover what part negligence may have played in the tragedy and whether the Toll Authority was involved. The Commission headed by Chief Justice Sherwood Lett eventually found fault with Dominion Bridge and Swan Wooster. The Commission found a number of issues that contributed to the collapse including: errors made on a critical design sheet; questionable quality of steel in the upper grillage assembly of the falsework; complacency with respect to the way falseworks were treated; and a flawed column formula.

The tragedy of June 17, 1958 turned into a local event that left its mark on many peoples’ lives. To this day there are still those who can state what they were doing when they heard the news. There were also many eyewitnesses. It is a great reminder of how dangerous bridge building is. In 1994 the bridge was renamed the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows crossing to commemorate the men who died in the tragedy.

 The evening’s talk was very thorough and members were challenged with many technical terms that were clearly explained. There was a brief intermission in the talk when members could refresh themselves with the coffee and biscuits prepared by member June Etchell. Members and guests of the WSS then returned to hear the final half of Eric Jamieson’s talk before a short Q&A period. There were many interesting questions and it turned out that several of our members saw the bridge collapse in 1958 or vividly remember receiving the news. Several copies of Eric Jamieson’s book were purchased testifying to the members and guests satisfaction with the talk.

► MARCH 2010 MEETING by Ellen L. Ramsay
The March meeting of the Vancouver Branch was opened by President Ray Warren and began with business notes and information for members. Unfortunately Joan Thornley, the recording secretary was ill and so the minutes of the March Directors’ meeting will be postponed until a later date.William Etchell brought information to the meeting regarding Royal Caribbean International’s OASIS OF THE SEAS (2009), the largest and most expensive ($1.24 billion) cruise ship in the world built in Turku, Finland with a capacity to carry 6,300 passengers. He also informed the membership that the MILL BAY FERRY, the oldest in the BC Ferry fleet (1956), is to retire from service this year.Ray Parkinson informed members that he is continuing to bring books and items from his collection for sale at the monthly meetings and that the part proceeds will be donated to the WSS.Bill Etchell reminded us that next month’s speaker, Eric Jamieson, won the B.C. Historical Federation Award (presented by the Lieutenant Governor) for his book Tragedy at Second Narrows at last May’s meeting in Nelson. Members can anticipate an excellent presentation.President Ray Warren next welcomed visitors to the meeting including David Rahn, publisher of the Western Mariner magazine, as well as two active members of the West Coast Railway Association, Bob Hunter and Bill Marchant.Our evening talk commenced with Ray Warren’s slide presentation on the American standard ships built during the late 1930s and early 1940s as freighters, tankers, and troop ships, some of which were converted following the war for other uses and mainly retired in the early 1970s. He also looked at some of the longer lived tugboats built during the 1940s.Ray Warren illustrated the C-1A, C-1B, C-1 MAV1, C-2, C-3 and C-4 class ships, all designed by the U.S. Maritime Commission (MARCOM). The smallest cargo ships were the C-1MAV1s. These ships were designed for shorter routes where high speed and capacity were less important. Many were built for military uses during World War II. Pennsylvania Shipyards built 44 of the C-1A diesels favoured by Scandinavian owners. Illustrated was the Norwegian flag SOLSYN also known as GOOD YEAR under Singapore registry, and PRESIDENT ROXAS. SANTA VICTORIA was shown as an example of a C-1B steamer.The C-2 class ships were designed by the MARCOM to be all-purpose cargo ships with five holds and better speed and fuel economy. This class included SIERRA owned by Oceanic S.S. Co., a division of Matson Line and SANTA MALTA of Grace Line. Some C-2’s also illustrated were owned by Sea King Line and Hellenic Line.The C-3 class of vessel designed by the MARCOM was built to be larger and faster than the C-1 and C-2 types. They were 492 feet long and could reach a speed of 16.5 knots. Many were built during the war as escort carriers and destroyers, submarine and sea plane tenders. They included AFRICAN MOON and AMERICAN MAIL. Many of the C-3s were built in Tacoma or Portland. The MORMACWIND and MICHIGAN were standard C-3s. LIMBURG, ZEELAND and RONDO were completed for Dutch owners in 1946 on escort carrier hulls but were classed as modified C-3s.    The C-4 class of ship was developed for the American-Hawaiian Line in 1941 but the ships were taken over by MARCOM. They were built as cargo and troopships in Richmond (CA) and Vancouver (WA) and could reach 17 knots powered by steam turbines connected to a single screw. They included VALL MOON, CALIFORNIAN, MAUNALEI, HAWAII BEAR and NEW ZEALAND BEAR.

The tankers were much longer lived than the cargo vessels and so went through a greater number of conversions. The T2 tankers were built in record time (70 days). Before Pearl Harbor they were built by the Sun Shipbuilding Company for Standard Oil. After Pearl Harbor they were mainly used en masse to supply US warships. Ray Warren showed CATAWBA FORD, ATLANTIC TRADER and MISSION BUENAVENTURA, examples of the few T-2s to retain their original names throughout their careers. The NEVADA STANDARD was also shown.Some of the ships had a colourful history of conversion. Of local note was a ship that began life in 1944 as the WILLIAM NOTT for the US Navy but was completed as the ROBERT M. EMERY for the US Army. Bethlehem Steel in Brooklyn converted her to a port repair ship and in 1946 the vessel went into USMC Reserve. In 1965 she was sold to Portland Oregon Shipbreakers but in 1966 was resold to Canadian buyers and towed to Victoria, B.C. where she was docked at the foot of Fort Street. Sold again in 1969 to US buyers, the vessel eventually became an aquarium known as Marine Wonderland docked in Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. She was withdrawn from service in 1970 and towed to Astoria. As the ROBERT EMERY, the photo shows the vessel in Commencement Bay, Tacoma in November of 1984, probably awaiting scrapping. 

► FEBRUARY 2010 — Due to the 2010 Olympics held in Vancouver, Richmond and Whistler, the Vancouver Branch of the World Ship Society did not hold their monthly meeting in February. The next meeting will be held on March 10th at 7:30 pm at the Vancouver Maritime Museum.

► JANUARY 2010 MEETING — Wednesday January 13th, 2010.   Ray Warren, President of the World Ship Society, Vancouver Branch launched the 2010 public program with a welcome to members and a log of seaworthy events. Of local interest was the news that the CSCL Hamburg, a 4,250 TEU (twenty foot equivalent units) container ship built in 2001 belonging to the Seaspan Corporation’s 42 container ship fleet ran aground in the Gulf of Aquaba, Egypt on December 31, 2009 while en route to Singapore. According to news sources there were no personal injuries and no oil spills and the insurer is expected to cover the repair costs. The company is coordinating the recovery of the vessel with the Egyptian authorities. WSS member Ray Parkinson then gave members a brief political history of the National Maritime Museum project from the 1980s. He explained that the A-frame St. Roch building is Federal Government property and classified as a museum dealing with cultural artifacts and thus is secure as an independent site, however it was never feasible to build a Maritime Museum of the Pacific at this location because the dock is too shallow to accommodate visiting tall ships. Coal Harbour had therefore been proposed as an alternative site at the time when the Trade and Convention Center was being discussed but the plans failed to materialize. The National Maritime Center for the Pacific and the Arctic on the North Shore therefore emerged with the City of North Vancouver working on the plans for five to ten years to be funded by the three levels of government. The current work in North Vancouver is in tact for 50 years funded by high-rise and condo development. Unfortunately this week however the provincial government announced that it has rescinded any further funding for the project due to budget changes. The city of North Vancouver is confident nonetheless that it can go ahead with some changes of its own. Ray Parkinson concluded that this was all part of the process of launching such a project and while it is a protracted process it reflects the usual ebb and flow of politics.Joan Thornley, the Society’s Recording Secretary, gave an account of the first executive meeting for 2010. She informed members that most of the directors’ discussion focused on the forthcoming program for 2010 and 2011 and that the society looks in good shape for the public talks. She asked if any members have ideas for speakers or suggestions for topics that they bring them to the attention of an executive member. The executive will be meeting on a regular basis now whereas in past years they have met more informally.The January program commenced with a presentation by Ellen Ramsay entitled, “London’s Historic Inland Waterways: The Regent’s Canal and the Thames.” The talk was divided into two parts. The first part dealing with the Regent’s Canal, looked at the golden age of canals from the 1770s to the 1830s. The narrowboats (the correct name for canal boats) that traversed England’s national system of canals predated the national rail system and quickly replaced the horse and cart for carrying heavy loads. The narrowboats were able to carry ten times more than a horse could pull — up to a weight of 30 tons of coal — were just 6 feet 10 inches wide, 30 feet long with a headroom of 6 feet. The boats were often designed to the exact maximum that the canal and locks would allow in order to maximize the profit. John Nash who designed the Regent’s canal originally intended it to run through Regent’s Park, but the final plans had the canal run around the Outer Circle Road on the north side of the park.

The canal was completed in 1820 and the fill from the canal was used to build the picturesque Primrose Hill just north of the Prince Albert Road. In 1929 the Regent’s Canal merged with the Grand Union Canal from the Midlands allowing for a 136 mile run with 166 locks. Post-war reindustrialization and the advent of trains and highways contributed to the decline in the canals and today the inner city section of the Regent’s canal is primarily used by leisure and tourist boats such as Jason’s Canal Boat Trips (est. 1951). Pedestrian and cycling commuters use the towpaths.‡

The second part of the talk illustrated the recent attempt by the city of London to use the Thames Waterway for commuter traffic. In 1999 Sean Collins and Alan Woods began a transit service with one boat under license from London Transport. The business, known as Thames Clipper, has expanded to 12 catamarans and has been bought by the Anschutz Entertainment Group operating from Millbank to Royal Arsenal Woolwich. The catamarans hold up to 220 seats, are 38 metres long and 9.3 metres wide with a beam of 9.6 metres and can operate up to 28 knots with rapid acceleration from a 965 horsepower “quickshift transmission” twin propeller engine. The fleet is not yet fully integrated into the public transport system but transit cardholders receive a 33% reduction in price. Ellen Ramsay used digitalized images in her talk to illustrate the sights along both waterways. Questions followed with members enquiring about the boating on the inland waterways in more detail.

DECEMBER 2009 — Wednesday December 9th, 2009 — Our December meeting opened with the Branch's Annual General Meeting. All officers’ reports were read and adopted. The out-going President, Syd Heal reiterated the need for a succession strategy for younger members to take office. The Treasurer and Membership Secretary, Glenn Smith, reported on the healthy maintenance of the membership (180 subscriptions to the Ship’s Log) and explained the very slight fall in revenue due to the decline in sales of postcards, books, raffle tickets and contributions towards refreshments at meetings. A full slate of officers, including two new members, was voted in with Ray Warren now the new President, Syd Heal the new Vice-President, Glenn Smith continuing as Secretary-Treasurer, Cecil Woods as Editor of the Ship’s Log, Joan Thornley as Recording Secretary and Neil England and Ellen Ramsay as Members at Large. Seasonal refreshments organized by June Etchell and music by Glenn Smith followed the Annual General Meeting

The monthly program commenced with a selection of slides provided by Andy Kilk from San Francisco Bay area of all varieties of ships at international ports presented by Bill Etchell. James Conwell then gave an overview of the port of San Francisco explaining the complexity of the port structure which is really nine conjoined bays including South and Central San Francisco, Richardson, San Pablo and Suisun, the latter two being connected by Carquinez Strait.  While the area of the Bay is large at 400 square miles, the navigable portion of the bay is relatively small with an average depth of 15 feet.  This depth is due in part to the hydraulic (placer) gold mining in the late 1800s. Jim described the ship building significance in the historic Bay area and then pointed out that now the Bay area is used for cruise ships and some container ships at the Oakland Container Terminal. Jim gave members three pamphlets published by the Naval and Maritime Museum and the Sausalito Historical Society that celebrate the port’s past and draw attention to the eight maritime museums in the Bay area.

Robert Etchell gave the third presentation with photographs taken with his new digital camera on his trip to Newcastle Island in Nanaimo Harbour. Robert showed the historic Newcastle Island Pavilion now run by the Snuneymuxw First Nations’ People – a pavilion that has been used for dances and weddings over the decades and is an historic building in its own right. Robert also showed photographs of working boats and other vessels off Tyee Point and Marks Bay between Newcastle and Protection Islands. Next he showed an extensive collection of excellent photos of the QUEEN OF PRINCE RUPERT commemorating the ferry’s 43rd and final year of sailing. The ferry had been built in 1966 by the Victoria Machinery Depot Co and served the Inside Passage until its decommissioning on April 20, 2009.

The final presentation of the evening was a display and presentation by Ray Parkinson of some small books from his huge collection of historical memorabilia. This year he brought items from the 1950s of the early minstrel shows and illustrated the links to the blacking tradition of the Lancashire coalfield. He also explained how this part of his collection had brought him into friendship with John and June Pender and Harold Steves of Steveston.

The evening’s presentations and entertainment were brought promptly to an end at 9:45 with the museum staff coming in to put away the chairs — despite the fact that there were still two presentations to be shown.  In all the evening had been a success and many thanks go to the people who contributed to its success.  [EH 12.2009]

Ed. Notes:  Those presenters who were unable to give their presentations due to time constraints, will become the basis for the January 2010 program.  Our thanks to Ellen Ramsay for the detailed write-up of each of our programs since November 2009.

NOVEMBER 2009 — Wednesday November 11th, 2009 — Our November meeting opened with a reminder from the President Syd Heal that the December meeting will begin with the AGM and that since the organization has an aging profile he expects younger people to take over more of the responsibilities of the organization. If this does not happen there may have to be changes to the organizational structure of the branch and to the monthly meetings.

The November speaker was Mr. Cary Dicerni of Subsea Solutions Alliance, an underwater ship maintenance company specializing in significant repairs to ships while they are still in the water rather than in the dry dock to reduce the loss of production time. All-Sea Enterprises group (est. 1978), the Vancouver branch of Subsea Solutions Alliance (est. 2002), and its sister organizations around the world are able to mobilize to any part of the world in 24 to 48 hours. The group currently has standing contracts with Rolls Royce and Wartsila Propulsion and fulfills warranty repairs for other companies.

All-Sea Enterprises offers four main innovative underwater service repairs: Stern seal replacement and repair, permanent shell plating replacement and repair; machinery replacement and repair; and underwater inspection and maintenance. The company uses a variety of airlift bags to do dry repair to propellers and inserts Transhabs (air balloon environments) to repair the aft propeller shaft seals. The company custom fits the Transhab around the shaft and a trained technician descends into the secure air environment to conduct repairs just as if the ship was in the dry dock. Attention is paid to safety at all times and all environmental controls are observed.

Mr. Dicerni stressed that ship maintenance is very important to the performance and cost of running ships and All-Sea is able calibrate the propellers with the engine, and eliminate cavitations and harmonics on older ships.  Members and guests of the WSS received the speaker with great interest and there were many questions both during and after the presentation. Don Brown, June Etchell, Syd Heal, Anthon Dekkers, David Chamberlain, Robert Etchell and others in attendance raised pertinent points for discussion and Mr. Dicerni answered each question with attention to detail.  [report by Ellen L. Ramsay]

OCTOBER 2009 — Wednesday October 14th, 2009 — Just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong! We lost the power cord to the projector. So we borrowed another projector—only that one wasn’t working well. With no other choice, Syd Heal went ahead with his talk about his latest publication “Canadian Capers” (which is detailed on Page 30). Syd gave us a very interesting in-depth history of the author, Svein Stokke, and his maritime activities over the years, including his involvement with the Washington Marine Group of companies. Near the end of his talk, we did manage to get some of the images shown, but hopefully we can re-run the slide presentation part of the talk on another night.

SEPTEMBER 2009 — Wednesday September 9th, 2009 — The September meeting at the Vancouver Maritime Museum featured an illustrated slide show presented by Ray Warren. The subject was the wartime standard ships taken after the war at Vancouver. For those of us able to remember when the wharves and docks around the harbour here often full with American-built Liberties and Victories, Canadian-built Forts and Parks and British Empire types, it was a journey into nostalgia. In those days ships looked like ships with funnels amidships and a gracefulness that today's ships have difficulty in emulating. Today's ships too often look like barges with an exhausts so far aft that they look like they are ready to fall off over their broad transom sterns. Thanks Ray for an interesting presentation‡ [SCH]