From the ROBERVAL's galley, the sharp sounds of clinking dishware echoed into the companionway as the unshackled spinster saw to the washing of the last of the lunch dishes. It was Monday, the 25th of September, l9l6, and the chilly breezes of autumn were cavorting in and out of the ROBERVAL's open windows. The boat was currently moored to the lumber dock at the town of Cape Vincent, where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario. Being stacked aboard the ROBERVAL were the last planks of her cargo, 248,000 board feet of lumber, with the placement of the timbers being supervised by 66 year old Mate Joseph Parisien. Boards of fragrant spruce measuring one inch by six inches and having lengths between eight and thirteen feet were to be the vessel's cargo. As the last planks came aboard, Captain Eligh made his way from his cabin to the ROBERVAL's pilothouse. In due time the pattern of departure would begin. Down in the steamer's engine room, Chief Trottier also prepared for getting under way. This activity was part of a routine that all of those aboard the ROBERVAL had run through many times before.

Hauling lumber from Cape Vincent to the Diamond Match Company at Oswego, New York was the ROBERVAL's current livelihood. The neatly stacked boards that were arranged upon her deck were consigned to be cut into countless match sticks that would light innumerable lamps, candles and fireplaces. It is interesting to think of how those who would use the matches would never give a thought to their origin, but those nondescript sticks were the means by which the ROBERVAL's people made their living.

Under the watchful eye of Captain Eligh, deckhand LeRoy brought aboard the steamer's lines as the dock workers released them. Strolling into the pilothouse, the captain yanked back the whistle pull, signaling the boat's departure with a single short toot of her steam whistle.Then he casually moved to the chadburn and rang the ROBERVAL ahead. Wheelsman Edward Legault stood leaning on the wheel awaiting the skipper's first order. With the haste of a turtle, ROBERVAL pushed free of the dock just after one o'clock in the afternoon. Astern of Captain Eligh's lumber-laden boat, the steamer GLEN ALLEN was also letting go of the pier, carrying a like cargo of spruce for matchsticks. In an unofficial game of "follow the leader," the two steamers cleared the cape and started on a course for Oswego.

A fresh wind out of the south, southwest was blowing across Lake Ontario and gusting toward 30 miles per hour. Ahead of the autumn winds came a sizable chop in the lake's surface, more in fact than Captain Eligh was comfortable with. About 16 miles out of the St. Lawrence River, the ROBERVAL and GLEN ALLEN passed Galloo Island off the port side and shortly thereafter Captain Eligh ordered wheelsman Legault to bring the boat onto a course that was south southeast. His intention was to hug up a bit closer to the eastern shore, apparently believing that the winds were going to swing more out of the east. His boat would take to rolling, but if his guess was correct, the ROBERVAL would find herself running in the lee of land when the gale came up. Onboard the GLEN ALLEN, Captain A.Y. Clark had apparently decided that the winds and seas were already a bit too fresh for his boat as he remained on the due south course for Oswego. This heading would bring the GLEN ALLEN's head to the seas and hopefully keep her from rolling so much. The master's concern was primarily with the deck load of spruce that was stacked nearly as high as the steamer's pilothouse. Any kind of rolling action or