A volunteer group of Manitoulin Island marine heritage buffs are hoping to revive the romantic and nostalgic notion of steamship cruising on the Great Lakes.
The Friends of the Norisle have ambitious plans to bring the steel-hulled ferry out of retirement and sail it as an excursion vessel on the North Channel and Georgian Bay.
The group is building a case to government granting agencies that the Norisle can be a mobile tourist attraction and drawing card wherever she sails.
"This will be the only authentic steam-powered cruise ship on the Great Lakes," says Dave Ham, chairman of the 290-member volunteer group, of the efforts to bring the 215-foot passenger and car ferry back to sailing condition.
The Norisle sailed for 25 years as a ferry between Tobermory and South Baymouth before being removed from service in 1974.
Since then, the 60-year-old ship has been moored in Manitouwaning as a floating static display.
While very little has been invested in the ship since the mid-1970s, Ham says the only way the ship will make money is if it's operational.
The group is out to secure $130,000 for a feasibility study to outline the refitting costs, analyze the cruise ship market, define the operational plans and identify sailing scenarios such as booking it as a day cruiser for bus tour charters or a high-end passenger liner for extended trips.
Assiginack Township, the ship's owners, has kicked in $10,000 toward the study, but their application last year to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund was turned down. Undaunted, the group is turning to other funding sources.
Ham says marine experts who have joined their team pronounce the ship as structurally sound and say the steam propulsion plant is in tip-top condition.
"They say on a scale of one to 10 – 10 being the best – it's about a nine."
The Norisle is powered by a 900-horsepower piston-driven triple expansion steam engine with a 14-foot diameter propeller capable of pushing the ship at speeds of up to 12 knots.
Two of the Norisle project's key drivers are marine engineer John Coulter, who restored the Muskoka excursion steamer Segwun, and Wayne Fischer, president of the Ontario Steam Heritage Museum.
Further support has come from both international boat buffs and those in the Great Lakes marine industry who have offered free labour or services at a discount.
"It's clearly a ship of her time, but not a ship of her age," says Assiginack Township economic development officer Rob Maguire. "We don't call it a restoration anymore, it's more of a refit."
This summer contractors will be removing asbestos from the engine room along with smaller ancillary steam engines that operated the ship's steering and generator.
Before it's ever certified to sail by Transport Canada, it must be towed to a shipyard drydock for a complete hull and propulsion inspection.
Ham is optimistic that can be done by year's end.
Modern safety and electrical systems must be installed and the group wants to renovate 25 passenger staterooms, the dining area and possibility add an electrical bow thruster system to maneuver in restricted channels.
Ham, a local commercial boat builder, guesses it would take about $5 million to restore the Norisle to full operating condition.
Though disappointed in the province's initial funding refusal, Ham is confident other public and private donations will come forward given the government dollars spent this year for a familiarization tour of Northern Ontario for international cruise ship operators.
In talking about various cruising scenarios, Maguire is convinced the Norisle can be a viable and self-sustaining entity that would create jobs in crewing the ship and supporting operations. It would be a "stately presence" on the Great Lakes that would raise the profile and tourism content of other regional attractions, he says.
"It's going to spread economic benefits throughout the region," says Maguire. "Anywhere she sails outside the region, she's going to be an ambassador for the North."
The Friends of the Norisle will be incorporated as a non-profit organization called the S.S. Norisle Steamship Society, allowing them to issue charitable receipts for refitting and other capital costs for the heritage steamship.
