MS Normac

Last updated

Captain John's Normac.jpg
The MS Normac in Toronto Harbour
History
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svgCanada
Name
  • James R. Elliot (1902-1930)
  • Normac (1930-present)
Owner
  • Detroit Fire Department (1902-1930)
  • Owen Sound Transportation (1930-1968)
  • Don Lee (1968-1969)
  • John Letnik (1969-1986)
  • Port Dalhousie Pier Marina (present)
Builder Jenks Shipbuilding Company, Port Huron, Michigan
LaunchedNovember 29, 1902
Out of service1969
Statusrestaurant ship moored at Port Dalhousie Pier Marina
General characteristics
Type Steamship
Tonnage210 GRT
Length110 ft
Beam25 ft
Depth12 ft
Propulsion1893 Cowles Double high pressure non-condensing steam engine

Normac is a floating restaurant boat that was launched as a fire tug, named the James R. Elliot. She was built at the Jenks Shipbuilding Company in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1902. After serving as a tug, the boat was later used as a ferry boat on Lake Huron until 1968 when it was retired. It was then converted into a floating restaurant in Toronto. After sinking in Toronto, the boat was raised and sold to be used as a floating restaurant in St Catharines, Ontario.

History

After she lost her usefulness as a fire tug, she was sold in 1930 to the Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited. At that time, she was taken to the Georgian Bay Shipbuilding Company at Midland for conversion into a combination package freighter and passenger ferry, and from a steamer to a diesel powered vessel, [1] , at a cost of CA$80,000(equivalent to $1,381,099 in 2023). [2] The vessel was renamed the Normac which was the namesake of captain "Norman Mckay," founder and general manager of Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited. Mckay was the captain of the company flagship SS Manitoulin.

The Normac sailed the Owen Sound to Sault Ste. Marie route via Killarney and the North Channel, commencing July 16, 1931. From 1932, she sailed the Manitoulin Island - Tobermory route [3] and in later years, along this same route with the S.S. Norisle. In December 1940, the crew of the Normac rescued two lighthouse keepers stranded outside Tobermory by ice. The Normac broke up the ice surrounding the lighthouse to make a path for the lighthouse keepers' boat to navigate the ice. [4]

After the M.S Norgoma was converted to diesel fuel and placed on the Tobermory run, in 1964 the Normac took up the role as an automobile ferry across the North Channel from Meldrum Bay to Blind River and Cockburn Island, a portion of its original run from Owen Sound. Normac remained on this route until the close of the 1968 season when she was retired. She was sold to Donald F. Lee of Port Lambton Ontario, and moved from Owen Sound to Wallaceburg Ontario, where she spent the winter.

She was then sold for CA$30,000 in 1969 to Toronto restauranteur John Letnik. At a cost of CA$100,000(equivalent to $773,892 in 2023), Letnick converted the Normac into Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant, a floating restaurant in Toronto Harbour. [5] The Normac arrived at Toronto in her Owen Sound colours, and was soon painted all white. Shortly afterward the steel hull was repainted bright red, to make it more noticeable from the street. The Normac was permanently moored at the foot of Yonge Street.

The Normac's hull was punctured in 1981 when the Toronto Island ferry Trillium struck her, causing a slow leak and her sinking two weeks later. [6] [7] Letnik sued and failed to get the Metro Toronto Parks Department to pay for the boat. A court decided that Letnik had had the time to repair the leak but failed to do so. On top of the court loss, Letnik was ordered to remove the hull from the harbour.

The Normac was raised in 1986 and refurbished by Letnik to again serve as a floating restaurant. Letnik was invited by the city of Cleveland, Ohio to dock the boat there, but the city and Letnik could not come to agreeable terms. [8] The boat was instead installed at the marina at Port Dalhousie, Ontario. Owned by Nino Donatelli, she served as "Tokyo Joe's Marina Bar and Grill", a floating restaurant and cocktail lounge until she was gutted by fire in 2011. [1] She was restored and became the Riverboat Mexican Grill. [9] The ship remains docked at Port Dalhousie Pier Marina as a restaurant.

References

  1. 1 2 "Burned boat has roots here". Owen Sound Sun Times. December 29, 2011. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  2. ↑ Cherry, Zena (August 1, 1970). "AFTER A FASHION: Free swimming not a frill, but an accepted recreation need". The Globe and Mail. p. 11.
  3. ↑ "NEW FERRY SERVICE FOR MANITOULIN: Provincial Secretary at Tobermory Inaugurates New Schedule". The Globe and Mail. July 20, 1932. p. 2.
  4. ↑ "TAKE OFF TWO MAROONED MEN: Lighthouse Attendants Rescued at Collingwood STRANDED IN HARBOR". The Globe and Mail. December 10, 1940. p. 5.
  5. ↑ "The Normac: Old craft takes on new life". The Globe and Mail. August 11, 1970. p. 10.
  6. ↑ "Captain John's boat leaves watery grave". Maritime History of the Great Lakes . June 15, 1986. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Captain John's Restaurant sinks". Heritage Toronto. October 6, 2008. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Captain John is the boss". Toronto Star. December 7, 1997. p. E1, E2.
  9. ↑ "Historical Perspectives - Normac". Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2017.

43°12′26″N79°15′41″W / 43.207342°N 79.261513°W / 43.207342; -79.261513

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