​NOBODY WAVED GOODBYE

THE BOYS OF THE SUMMER SEASON/SHIPWRECK SUMMER

​Summary:

"On the Mackenzie River watershed, the summer freighting season of
1956 opened with high hopes and great expectations. The Cold War was
driving tensions and worries about World War III. Freight traffic was
up significantly in the north, chasing significant developments in
uranium mining, and defense contracting. The Americans were
constructing Distant Early Warning (DEW Line) sites across the top of
the continent and watching the Russians across the polar sea.

At northern ports, three new ships were launched that spring, another
was re-built and re-floated, and yet another's fabrication was almost
complete. Tugs and barge transport hurried along the rivers of
Canada's northland, delivering unprecedented volumes of building
supplies, groceries, mining and defense equipment, vehicles, and tools
to destinations in Canada's northwest, especially north from Fort
McMurray,

On the dark night of August 26th, 1956, Northern Transportation
Company's 30-ton tug the MV Clearwater faced a deadly, unexpected Lake
Athabasca storm. The small vessel was on its way to deliver lumber and
supplies to the new uranium mines on the north shore of the one of the
largest lakes in Canada.

During the voyage, gale-force winds pushed treacherous, crashing waves
westward, smashing the small vessel to a standstill while its crew of
eight, some just teenagers, held their breath, prayed and waited to
learn their fate.

Less than two months later, Yellowknife Transportation Company’s tug,
the MV Sandy Jane faced a terrible storm on Great Slave Lake, as it
struggled through blowing snow and freezing rain to deliver one last
load of winter fuel to Yellowknife. For those on board who had not
faced the storms of war, it was the most terrifying night of their
lives, looking into the darkness as they settled lower and lower into
the deepest lake in North America.

Meanwhile, for the first time in their young lives, two other
teenagers boarded tugboats in the wilderness of northern Canada and
took to northern waters. They too would learn what vast northern lakes
and long rivers to the Arctic had in store for them.

All the young men became men of the north. They each sailed to their
destiny in the summer of '56."

In October, I had the pleasure of attending a fundraising gala for the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. It is a wonderful place and in early October, a stunning vision of fall colours and the sparkling waters of the Trent-Severn Canal. I was impressed with the preservation and presentation of local and national history there. I am proud to say their bookstore carries Blue Sky, Red Canoe.