The S.S. Bigwin Comes to Call

We had a visit on Monday from the S.S. Bigwin.  It's been literally decades since any of the old time lake steamers graced Bondi Bay, so this was a pretty special occasion.

Norm and his son Chris

and what WAS the occasion, you ask?  Norm Williams' 80th Birthday celebration, with the entire extended family in attendance from as far away as England, Oman, Seatlle and Michigan.  What a wonderful way to build family memories!  The Williams have been vacationing at Bondi for over 60 years, and we could not be happier to have them here with us again.

The S.S. Bigwin was chartered for a private cruise through Haystack Bay, which was followed by a catered dinner from The Butcher's Daughter under a tent at the cottage. 

You don't have to go quite this far to enjoy an outing on the Bigwin -- Bondi has discount vouchers you can use at Dorset for any of her regularly scheduled cruises.

Just enjoy some of our pictures from the day.

Rob and Sherry -- fresh from the Ascot Opening Day (seriously)

Norm's son Andrew made sure there was a corkscrew on board!

Kristin, Sherry and Rob, the 'royal wave'

Taffy reporting to Dave and Megan that the boat is ready for departure

up to 32 people can cruise on the S.S. Bigwin, which sails almost
daily from her dock at Dorset

Brian was out on the water with his camera, looking for different angles

leaving Bondi Bay.    'write if you get work, guys!!!'

and coming home past Lumina Point

what a beautiful day to be on the water on this silent (electric) ship

Welcome home!

the Bigwin is as long as our entire dock, and had to be moved by hand into
position.  Brian and Taffy supervised David veeerrry closely for this

she's a heavy boat. David was up to the task!

Sailing

 

Here's a tiny slice of history, coming to beautiful life!


The S. S. Bigwin, sailing on the waters of the Lake of Bays this past week, is a welcome sight.

In 1910, James Kuhn launched a steamship on Lake Muskoka, named for his wife, Ella Marie.   They summered at Belle Isle, but when the Kuhns very sadly fell off their own Financial Cliff about 15 years later, the boat was sold to C.O. Shaw. 
She was relocated to the Lake of Bays to serve as a ferry for Bigwin Inn.

Her next 45 years were spent carrying guests such as Clark Gable, Louis Armstrong, Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo and other 'glitterati' of the age to the world-class Bigwin Inn.  As the other, bigger, steamships left the lake, the S.S. Bigwin became the only ship servicing the resort, running across to the mainland at Norway Point.  Gradually, with the ascent of the automobile, the fortunes of the Island resort waned, and the legendary Bigwin Inn herself tumbled into financial hard times.  Around 1970 the doors closed for good. The ship was abandoned in the boathouse slip, where she sank.  In 1991 a group of local enthusiasts spearheaded by the Dwight Fire Department and Ross Boothby conspired to raise her, and float her to a property in Port Cunnington where restoration started on her in 2002.

66 feet in length, and registered at 25 tons, she is a small lake steamer, but very elegant and conjures memories of times past that are worth both saving and savouring.  Jeff Gabura formed the Lake of Bays Marine Museum as a registered charity to fund raise for the restoration. Through countless hours of hard work, and we hate to think how much money raised, she was re-launched on the Lake in 2010, on her 100th birthday, and was on static display at Dorset.  Fundraising continued to equip her with an engine.

One of only four steamships remaining from that era, the S.S. Bigwin joins the Wanda III (on static display only) and the operational RMS Segwun and RMS Wenonah -- who's cruises from their base in Gravenhurst are rated as one of Canada's top attractions.

We're thrilled this autumn to welcome the S.S. Bigwin back onto the lake, away from the dock, and sailing. What a wonderful sight! She headed out for her 'shakedown cruise'  this week through Trading Bay.

She is now out of the water for the winter, while restoration continues. If you'd like to contribute to her journey and help her sail the Lake of Bays again next summer, the Marine Museum would welcome any contributions.  But beware - you may have to line up to get on board...  there's lots of people who've waited a long long time to join her sailing!

Back at Last!

It's been a long time coming. In fact, it's been a century... Back in 1910 the S. S. Bigwin began plying the waters of Lake of Bays. She had quite an history, including the time her engines failed to go into reverse and she steamed full ahead into the dock at Bigwin Island... Both the dock and the boat survived, but the captain's reputation didn't fare quite so well. A tendency to float slightly off the vertical was one of her hallmarks, too, but she did good and faithful service acting both as a tugboat and then as a passenger ferry carrying passengers to and from fabled Bigwin Inn.

When times changed and people took to the automobile, the lake steamers gradually left the lake. The R.M.S. Iroquois was decommisioned at South Portage -- where she finally burned to the water line, and then sank. The ruined hull was filled in to form the portion of the South Portage Dock where the Heritage Plaque celebrating the Portage Flyer railway now stands. You can still see her hull, if you stand on the dock and look down to the right side.

The S.S. Bigwin, left in the Bigwin Inn boathouse, gradually succumbed to time and neglect, and sank. She lay on the bottom for many years, before a dedicated group got together to lift her, dry her out (sounds like a rehab program... until you realize that after launching, she will need to simply sit in the water for up to a month in order to absorb water and "cure" the wood in the hull) and then worked to raise the funds to restore her. It's been a long journey, and it's pretty much proved the adage that a boat is a hole in the lake into which you pour money. Recently the Lake of Bays Navigation Society and Marine Museum received $400,000 from FedNor to help have the boat ready to go in time for the G8. As if we were going to see Harper and Obama waving from the deck... Never mind, it helped push the project forward, and today, at Dorset, on her 100th anniversary, the S.S. Bigwin went back into the water.

Jeff must have thought at times that this day would never come -- but it did, and he has the spilled champagne on his shirt to prove it.

The crane came from Sarnia. It can lift 500 tons, and costs $40,000/day to rent. It was built in Germany, at a cost of $5 million, and fitted

up as she was today, the crane weighted in at 400,000 pounds. The S.S.Bigwin tips the scales at 22 tons.

You need a big crane, when you have to lift a big package. The operation went clockwork smooth. Mind you, there was a 'trial lift' and a quick dip in the water dress rehearsal that took place on Friday.

As befits the occasion, there was a street party in Dorset. Jazz music, vendors pitching S.S. Bigwin hats, clothes and posters (you can buy them at the Dorset dock location of the Navigation Society and Museum) and more people than you could elbow your way through. Luckily, they didn't all try to congregate on Dorset's historic hump-back bridge. That structure was rebuilt after it collapsed under the weight of a heavily loaded horse-drawn wagon. Horses and wagon floated down stream and were retrieved unscathed. The bridge, not so much.

And boats! Trading Bay was packed with boats (which took the pressure off the bridge) A classic boat parade followed the launch, although pretty much all the attention was on the star of the show herself.

There was even a visit from a representative of Chief BigWind. Fitting...

Trading Bay was the location of one of the most important trading centres on the lake for the First Nations, and Bigwin Island takes it's name from the Chief, whose family had summered on the Island for generations.

So, let's raise a glass to the Bigwin, back in the water at last, and looking even more lovely than her youthful photos would indicate.

There's still work to be done before she can take guests cruising down the lake, but Jeff and his group are till hard at it, fundraising for all the work remaining, and keeping this project moving forward. In the meantime, be sure to stop at Dorset and take a look at her, say hello... welcome her home.