 The MSNormac inToronto Harbour | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Builder | Jenks Shipbuilding Company,Port Huron, Michigan |
| Launched | November 29, 1902 |
| Out of service | 1969 |
| Status | restaurant ship moored atPort Dalhousie Pier Marina |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steamship |
| Tonnage | 210 GRT |
| Length | 110 ft |
| Beam | 25 ft |
| Depth | 12 ft |
| Propulsion | 1893 Cowles Double high pressure non-condensing steam engine |
Normac is afloating restaurant boat that was launched as afire tug, named theJames R. Elliot. She was built at the Jenks Shipbuilding Company inPort Huron, Michigan, in 1902. After serving as a tug, the boat was later used as a ferry boat onLake 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 inSt Catharines, Ontario.
After she lost her usefulness as a fire tug, she was sold in 1930 to theOwen Sound Transportation Company Limited. At that time, she was taken to the Georgian Bay Shipbuilding Company atMidland for conversion into a combination packagefreighter and passengerferry, and from asteamer to adiesel powered vessel,[1] at a cost ofCA$80,000 (equivalent to $1,381,099 in 2023).[2] The vessel was renamed theNormac which was the namesake of captain "Norman Mckay," founder and general manager ofOwen Sound Transportation Company Limited. Mckay was the captain of the company flagshipSSManitoulin.
TheNormac sailed theOwen Sound toSault Ste. Marie route viaKillarney and theNorth Channel, commencing July 16, 1931. From 1932, she sailed theManitoulin Island -Tobermory route[3] and in later years, along this same route with theS.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 theM.SNorgoma was converted to diesel fuel and placed on the Tobermory run, in 1964 theNormac took up the role as an automobile ferry across the North Channel from Meldrum Bay toBlind River andCockburn 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 forCA$30,000 in 1969 to Toronto restauranteurJohn Letnik. At a cost ofCA$100,000 (equivalent to $773,892 in 2023), Letnick converted the Normac intoCaptain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant, a floating restaurant inToronto Harbour.[5] TheNormac 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 ofYonge Street.
The Normac's hull was punctured in 1981 when theToronto Island ferryTrillium 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.
TheNormac was raised in 1986 and refurbished by Letnik to again serve as a floating restaurant. Letnik was invited by the city ofCleveland, 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 atPort 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.
43°12′26″N79°15′41″W / 43.207342°N 79.261513°W /43.207342; -79.261513