Cape Breton's Magazine

Capt. Green: You get some frustrating situ- ations where you're trying to work a ves? sel through the ice, and the vessel's not following, it's continuously becoming be-' set. You're continuously going back to cut him out, to free him. And you get ahead of him, just get started, and he calls up, "Well, I can't move." And you go back, and you try to cut him out again. Go back up to him and cut the ice away from his bow. Circle him. And you go ahead again, and he still can't move. You still can't leave him. You wait then until, probably, condi? tions change--maybe the pressure might de? crease, the pressure on the ice. That's a- bout all you can do. It may take you days to do that. (What are you doing all those days?) Well, you're waiting for conditions. Every morn? ing you get up and you go back and you cut him out. You circle the vessel, you free his stern, free his bow. And he'll try to move. "I can't move. I'm stuck." You wait until the tide changes. Maybe a weather change, the wind direction. Or if the wind is blowing strong, you might wait till that wind diminishes, that's going to take the pressure off the ice. Anything that's going to help you. You don't know what's going to help you. You just hope that some? thing will happen, that the pressure comes off, that the wind changes in another dir? ection. (Meanwhile, you're chewing through ice.) Exactly. One thing they don't realize is that the more these vessels have to go back and chew around these vessels, the more slush is created. You grind up the ice. That ice is not melting, it's just slush you're get? ting then. Which is sometimes harder to go through than going through hard ice. (And days can go on like this.) Yeah. Capt. Gomes: (Besides strength and larger engines, what else do we have on board to deal with ice?) Well, we have a heeling system that--if we do get into a situation, (if) we can't get out--we pump water very fast from one side of the ship to the oth? er, and heel the ship. When she heels, she's pushing on one side and cracking the ice. So she frees herself like that. Some of our other icebreakers have a system that goes fore and aft. (It sort of makes the ship roll?) It's almost like rolling the ship around. We pump water very fast, huge big pumps, and the ship heels from one side to the other, or fore and aft. Some of our other icebreakers, they use a weight on a boom--they swing a big weight over the side--they heel the ship back and forth. Anything you think about to get a ship from being beset. You know, you hate to (get) stuck, you've got to get out. Icebreakers are very, very good, going a- stern. Our propellers are made of special steel. We have 3 propellers in the stern. Consequently, you're pulling water from un? der the ice, when you go backwards, and Dundee Resort Executive Chalets Golf Course Lounge Swimming Pool /'For more information, write or phonef DUNDEE RESORT, R. R. 2, West Bay, Richmond County, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia BOE 3K0 (902) 345-2649 Cottages Tennis Courts Marina Dining Room on Cape Breton's Bras d'Or Lakes .'S We're MacLeod-Lorway Insurance 4 CALL US NOW and discover why more Cape Breton residents are insured I through MacLeod-Lorway than any other independent agency. We represent more than half of Canada's leading insurance companies. Call or visit 215 Charlotte St. one of our 12 licensed agents for prepurchase counselling. P.O. Idox 1354 MacLeod-Lorway offers personal and commercial lines including home owners and Sydney, N.S. tenants packages and mobile home, travel, auto, builder's risk, commercial fire, crime, Bl P 6K3 commercial liability, marine, bonding, business Interruption and boiler and machinery. 24 hour phone - call collect 539-6666