SS Bigwin


SS Bigwin is a small steamship ferry that plies the waters of Lake of Bays in Muskoka area of Ontario, Canada.

History

The ship was built by Polson Iron Works of Toronto as a private boat for an American owner James Kuhn in 1910 as a yacht and named for his wife as Ella Mary. It was later sold to several owners to serve as a ferry boat and renamed Bigwin after Bigwin Inn and Chief John Bigwin. In her last years of service, she shuttled customers to Bigwin Inn until it was abandoned and submerged in a slip next to Bigwin Inn from 1970s to 1991.

Recovery and restoration

After interested parties took notice of the ship, it was finally raised from the waters in 1991, and was stored on land for a few years until restoration began in 2002 and completed in 2013.

As cruise ship

Once restored to service, Bigwin provides cruises near Dorset, Ontario during a July and August sailing period.