Saturday, June 21, 2003 offered a chance to tour the Canadian Coast Guard base at Amherstburg, Ontario and catch up with our old friend Paul Beesley. Paul is well known among boat watchers as an office in the Coast Guard and a photographer. He is currently on temporary assignment as the Commanding Officer of the Simcoe.

Even though our visit was on a Saturday, the crew aboard the Simcoe had a busy day. Engineering crews were hard at work trouble shooting a propulsion problem while members of the deck crew continued the task of painting the navigation towers in the Livingston Channel.

Canadian Coast Guard Ship Simcoe
This summer the Simcoe is replacing the Griffon while she undergoes a major life extension refit at Port Weller Dry Docks.

The Simcoe is an ice-strengthened navigational aids tender which has been part of the Canadian Coast Guard (Central & Arctic Region) fleet since 1962, when it was built by Canadian Vickers in Montreal, Quebec.  Named after John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada from 1791 to 1796, the Simcoe normally operates out of the Canadian Coast Guard Base in Prescott, Ontario.

The Simcoe is engaged primarily in buoy placement, servicing and removal in the spring and fall.  It operates mainly in the Upper St Lawrence River, from the Beauharnois Canal in Quebec to Kingston, Ontario, and in the eastern end of Lake Ontario.  Like all Coast Guard vessels, the Simcoe is always available for Search and Rescue purposes.

At the beginning and end of the navigation season, CCGS Simcoe is used for light icebreaking in the upper St. Lawrence area. She is a diesel-electric ship, with two Paxman diesels and two GE propulsion motors. The vessel underwent a life extension refit in 1988 at Marystown Shipyard, Newfoundland.

Base Amherstburg
The Canadian Coat Guard Base Amherstburg is located on the southerly most point of the Detroit River. When first established in 1965 its primary purpose was to support and maintain the existing navigation systems along the St Clair - Detroit River shipping corridor. The area of operation encompasses waterways, channels and ports extending from Grand Bend in Lake Huron to Pointe aux Pins in Western Lake Erie. In 1967 Search and Rescue services were added to the base.

With the expanding needs of both the commercial traffic and recreational boaters, services have expanded over the years and today the base delivers the following services: Search and Rescues, Environmental Response, Education programs, Ice breaking, vessel support, science programs and the servicing of Aids to Navigation.

The Amherstburg Base is home to the Small Navaids Tender Gull Isle and Multi Task Utility Craft Sora. To these vessels, the base provides a secure wharf, storage, offices, winter berthage and shop facilities. These services are extended other members of the Canadian Coast Guard Fleet including the Griffon, Samuel Risley, Limnos, Cape Hurd, Shark and this summer, the Simcoe.

The Amherstburg base also provides technical services, through the installation and maintenance of various lighted aids to navigation. The department maintains approximately 280 fixed and floating lighted aids, as well as emergency power units at Canadian Coast Guard marine radio sites, in southern Ontario. The facility provides storage and maintenance support for over 480 fixed and floating navigational aids used to mark  navigable channels and ports within their coverage area.
More information online at: www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/cen-arc/services/amherstburg/index_e.htm

Canadian Coast Guard Ship Simcoe Images by Neil Schultheiss
Canadian Coast Guard Base Amherstburg.	Simcoe docked.	On deck.	Builders plate.	Mix of old and new, modern navigation systems mixed with the classic style wheel.
ECPINS system.	Martin (3rd Mate) on stdb side of bridge	AIS display.	Maple Leaf on the stack.	Steel maintenance is an ongoing job on any ship.
A typical Engineers cabin	A typical Seamans cabin	“The Pit”  Lounge, exercise area and laundry room – all below the water line.	Brian (Senior Engineer), Rob (Chief Engineer), John (Oiler) In the engine control room.  You can see the engineroom telegraphs on the console.  These are usually used only if the bridge telegraphs fail.	Main power, two Paxman 12 cylinder YLCZ, 1000 hp engines that drive electric generators.  These are very rare. Looking aft.  Yellow Caterpillar ship-service generators in background.
Mike, new graduate Engineer from the Canadian Coast Guard College in Sydney, Nova Scotia.  Tending the pressure gauge panel for the port main engine.	Adam, also a new graduate,  alongside one of the Caterpillar ship service generator.	One of two GE propulsion motors.  600 volts, 1200 amps. The Simcoe uses a diesel electric power system.	Port propeller shaft.  About 10” diameter.  Tachometer shown to right of Paul.	Cargo hold with, among other things, 5 ton buoy anchor stone, 2.5 ton buoy anchor stone, several barrels of buoy chains, spare buoys, blurry Paul.
Looking aft from the focsle deck.  Canadian Olympic waaaay back over Paul’s left shoulder.	Looking forward toward the bow.  Canadian Olympic upbound.	Old style lifting gear.  It has two lifts, one of 10 ton and the other of 3 ton capacity.	Hugh (Winchman) explains the workings of the lifting gear.	The joysticks are cover-ups for old-fashioned brake and clutch gear.  The Winchman must use his elbows and forearms, as well as his hands, for some lifting maneuvers.
Looking up the A-frame along the fall protection wire.	Sarah (Chief Cook) and Justin (Steward) at work.	Feed-ur-face time.  All ranks eat together.	24 hour clock.	Sarah (Chief Cook) and Jake (2nd Cook)
Maintenace Work in the Livingston Channel
Crew preparing to go paint in the Livingstone Channel.  Chico ( Seaman), Rob (Chief Officer), Andy (Bosun), Glen (Seaman).	Wide view of the Simcoe at the dock with her port propeller turning.	Chico, Rob, Glen	Passing Bob-Lo Island	Close up.
Approaching light tower DL 18 in Livingstone Channel.	Freshly painted tower glows in the afternoon sun. Part of the work crew remains on the light to complete the paint job.	Heading to the next light.	Landing.	Chico donning fall restraint gear before climbing the tower as Rob cleans rust from the metal.
12 volt rechargeable battery inside the light tower.  Powered by solar panel and used for navigation light on top of tower.	First order of business clear the wasp and hornet nests. There were 21 in this tower.	Markings on DL 22	U.S. Corps of Army Engineers reference mark in the tower concrete.	Looking up.
DL22 lantern and the Livingstone channel looking South.  Hole-in-the-wall on the right, Bob-Lo Island behind the lens.	Looking upstream, north.	Lantern with light sensor.  Solar panels under the lantern.		CG work boat secured to the bottom of the tower base.
Upriver side of base at top of picture.  The base is shaped like a ships bow to deflect ice as it flows downstream.	Big ships have a speed limit, small boats don’t.	Twin 70 HP engines get the crew back to work fast.
Tour of the Base
Canadian Coast Guard Base Amherstburg.	A view of Amherstberg CG base looking North.	Search & Rescue craft. Sora (left) RHI at back of slip. The Amherstburg Channel Front Range Light tower can be seen in the back ground.	View east across the base.	Gull Isle stationed at the Amherstberg CG Base. The Gull Isle departed Monday for Parry Sound where she will be lifted from the water.
Helo pad at the base.	A load of steel spars waiting for fall placing.	Security guard opens the Yard Shop.	At the top is a bulb changer.  If a bulb goes out the circuit is interrupted and this triggers another bulb to swivel into position.  This prevents a navigation light failure.	Bulb changer with timer attached.  Timer is programmed with a laptop so the bulb flashes exactly as advertised on charts and in the List of Lights.  The bulb brightness is governed, in part, by the lens on the lantern.
Thanks to the lenses that are used, light from the tiny bulbs can be seen for long distances.	A herd of rechargeable batteries.	4-foot light buoys at the base for servicing.	Canadian Coast Guard Crest.  -Crown represents the Queen, who is the head-of-state for Canada. -Maple Leaf is a symbol for Canada. Dolphins are reputed to be the friend of seamen, as are Search & Rescue ships. -White represents ice, which CCG breaks a lot of. -Blue represents water. -Rope represents things nautical.

My sincere thanks to Paul Beesley and the professional crews of the Simcoe and Base Amherstburg for allowing a look into the operations.

For more information and pictures visit Paul's home page at www.shiphotos.com