The Chi-Cheemaun’s 2015 season will officially begin Monday with its annual cruise from Owen Sound to Tobermory.
The ferry will make its first trip to Manitoulin Island on Tuesday.
Officials initially planned for the vessel to depart from Tobermory on May 1, but due to ice conditions in the village's, harbour they pushed it back five days.
Tobermory harbour on May 2nd, 2015. Photo by James Crowley.
"Looking at ice conditions in March we knew that a May 1 start date wasn't going to be possible. So we pushed it to start the spring cruise on Monday. But, even so, there is still a little bit of ice in Tobermory, however it’s loose and slushy,” Susan Schrempf, chief executive officer of Owen Sound Transportation Company, told CKNX News before their Annual Spring Cruise. “The wind direction is to turn to south-southwest on Sunday and that will blow it out quite nicely.”
It has been a busy off-season for the people involved with The Big Canoe, with numerous changes affecting both the inside and outside of the vessel.
Perhaps the most notable changes are the aboriginal-inspired vinyl cover on the smokestack and the ‘Travel In Good Spirits’ insignia on the side of the ferry.
In the meantime, Schrempf says crews have replaced the 40-year-old vessel’s washrooms for the first time in its history.
