Summary
The Beaver Islander made its 299th and final trip of the 1968 season on December 27, carrying winter supplies from Charlevoix to Saint James. The cargo included food, building materials, a snowmobile, grain, salt blocks for deer, and materials for a new telephone building and Catholic sisters’ home. The report says the return crossing met a severe snowstorm, poor visibility, heavy seas, and disabled radar, direction finder, depth sounder, and windshield wiper. The ferry nevertheless reached Charlevoix and entered a three- or four-month winter rest.1
The account names Lawrence McDonough as captain, Johnny Gallagher as engineer, Russ Green as first mate, and Walt Wogan and Bud McDonough as passengers. It describes the trip as essential to carrying supplies to the island’s winter community, not as a wreck or failed voyage.1
Evidence and limits
The event date is the report’s December 27, 1968 date, and the 1968 season is explicitly identified in the article. The source does not give a vessel official number, complete crew list, exact weather measurements, a formal cargo manifest, or a precise route track. Its population figures and statements about cottage construction are retained as contemporary estimates rather than a census or complete development record.
The source says the Islander’s winter berth was in Round Lake, but the event is located only at Saint James Harbor because the crossing itself is described as a route rather than a surveyed point sequence. No emergency, damage, or casualty is inferred from the storm narrative.
Open questions
- What Coast Guard, company, or registry records document the Beaver Islander and its 1968 crew?
- Did the ferry return to service after the reported three- or four-month rest, and what was its later disposition?
- Can a timetable or log establish the exact Charlevoix and Saint James departure and arrival times?
- What records document the telephone extension and the new buildings mentioned in the cargo account?
See also
Footnotes
Sources
- Charlevoix Courier, January 1, 1969, “Friday’s storm fails to halt final run for boat” and “Beaver Islander’s last trip.”The report describes the Beaver Islander’s 299th trip of the 1968 season on December 27, the winter supply cargo, the crew, the storm crossing, the equipment failures, and the safe arrival in Charlevoix for a three- or four-month rest.
- Charlevoix Courier, January 1, 1969, raw issue OCR.Held raw issue OCR preserves the source article independently of the normalized Markdown rendering.