"First Ship Docks at New Port", North Shore Sentinel Clipping, 1989

THESSALON — When the Agawa Canyon steamed into the Smelter Bay Aggregates' dock here on April 28 the whole community cheered.

No one, though, was more pleased than Reg Gardiner, chief executive officer for Smelter Bay. For him the arrival of the Agawa Canyon was the "culmination of almost ten years' work.

From a rough shoreline on Thessalon's east side, Mr. Gardiner and -long-time friend, engineer Murray Shoemaker, created a sophisticated loading dock with state of the art machinery and equipment.

At the close of the day Friday Mr. Gardiner sighed with relief as the first ship, carrying 10,000 tons of concrete sand, left Smelter Bay. "We have a good crew and it was a success."

The day, which began at first light, was not without problems.

"I said for the first time, if it (the loading) could be done in twenty-four hours, it would be accomplishment," the CEO commented.

Actually,the Agawa Canyon slipped away into Lake Huron shortly after dark Friday evening.

It headed for Presque Isle to finish off the load, then on to Windsor.

Mr. Gardiner said they had problems with one of the vulcanized belts on the loader and a second vessel that was scheduled for May 3 will have to be rescheduled, perhaps for the weekend.

"When it worked the way it was supposed to, it worked at design specs," he said.

"The wrinkles could not have been ironed out in advance," he pointed out. "We couldn't try it out until we had a ship."

Apparently the sight of a ship at the dock has spurred new interest in shipping by water and, Mr. Gardiner reports, he already has received inquiries from other businesses interested in using the cargo dock.

Work is proceeding on a second dock for incoming cargo that will give the Smelter Bay facility more versatility.