River Life | Ottawa River Bear

The captain maneuvers to keep the massive ship’s nose in the planned spot to the nearest meter, his eyes glued to the GPS. At the same second he gives his signal, his mate releases a foghorn blast, and a crew member pulls a cable with all his might.

Suddenly, the red float – 800 pounds – broke from the ship’s crane and fell into the water of the Ottawa River. Looking out under the blazing sun: Federal Parliament Hill on one side, Catino on the other.

Welcome aboard Sibu Muin, a Coast Guard hovercraft tasked with marking Quebec’s major navigable rivers in recent weeks. His work helps yachtsmen and some merchant ships stay away from the dangers lurking in treacherous waters.

“It’s a good ship to do that. It’s very versatile, we can take a dozen floats at a time,” explains Captain Vincent Lessard-Croix, 32 years old and with three gold bars on each shoulder. “Here, on the Ottawa River, we take 31 floats in three trips. We do. »

For now, “River Bear” (Sibu Muin in Mi’kmaq) washed ashore on Petrie Island, a suburb of Ottawa. The crew gets busy as their second-in-command, Jean-Philippe Fossey, makes his final checks, covering his ears with a radio headset.

Then, when everything is ready, the beast begins to growl. A small motor boat located nearby gives way. A storm of sand and water makes curious beachgoers squint: the propellers are in motion.

“We can go anywhere”

Because this ship isn’t like other ships: it’s a hovercraft, equipped with huge propellers to propel it, float it above the water, and propel it.

“There was nothing touching the water,” describes Captain Lessard-Croix. “We can go anywhere, no matter how deep. In the river, it is not necessary to have many units that can install floats without danger, while for places with high current, it is possible to navigate with rocks on each side. »

Also, the Sibu Muin Can reach speeds of 50 knots, two to three times faster than “regular” Coast Guard vessels. However, this power comes at a price: the ship consumes around 500 liters of fuel per hour.

The federal system has four of these levitating behemoths: two in Trois-Rivières and two in Richmond, British Columbia. In winter, they are especially used to clear ice rivers, harbors and shallow bodies of water such as Lake Saint-Pierre. The Sibu Muin Started in 1998 and extensively renovated in 2016.

Flying a hovercraft “is definitely very special,” explains Vincent Lessard-Croix. “I have more training than any other captain,” said one who went through the Coast Guard Officers College on Cape Breton Island. “A year, a year and a half of training in addition to the captain’s certificate.”

First Officer Jean-Philippe Foisy has completed this exercise. “I worked on merchant ships on the Great Lakes,” he said. The Coast Guard, which he joined in the fall of 2022, said, “It [le] nearby [sa] family”.

Search and rescue

On the way from Petrie Island to the city of Ottawa, The Sibu Muin Seeds red and green buoys to indicate navigation channel. “Then, other buoys represent danger: a piece of mud, a rock, an obstacle to navigation,” explains the captain. Boaters can set sail before the buoys arrive in early summer, “there are no such restrictions, boats are advised that tagging has not yet been done”.

In addition to the Ottawa River, navigation buoys are established during the summer on the Saguenay River, the Richelieu River, and part of the Des Prairies River.

Each time, the same maneuver is repeated, carried out on deck by boatswain Patrick Billion.

However, in the event of a distress call, these operations may cease within minutes of notification: in water, rescue operations take priority over other work. Sailors must live less than an hour from the Trois-Rivières hovercraft base during their weeks on duty.

“There can be cases at any time,” says the boatswain, describing recent rescues near the Port of Montreal and in the Lac des Deux Montagnes. The hovercraft doesn’t fit everywhere like a Zodiac, but its platform offers more room to work and can take any survivors somewhere warm.

Better to follow the floats Sibu Muin Avoid needing emergency care Sibu Muin.