New ferry finding its way to Toronto
Businessman gets a deal on the Dartmouth III to serve demand for Islands access
AHalifax ferry, at one time posted for sale on Kijiji, has found a new home on Toronto’s docks.
The Dartmouth III ferry will head to Toronto with its freshly tuned engine and a shiny coat of paint later this month if all goes according to plan, said new owner Bill Beasley.
Beasley is president of the company that runs Centreville Amusement Park. He bought the boat for $100,000 from the Halifax Regional Municipality on GovDeals.com, an auction website for government agencies, and had to spend almost $500,000 to refurbish it.
“The price point that it came down to was pretty comparable for purchasing new for something that wasn’t nearly as substantial, or as good-looking a boat as that one,” Beasley said.
The Halifax Regional Municipality is awaiting the delivery of two new ferries for the city. And that means that two others, similar to the Dartmouth III, could become available for Toronto, Beasley said.
In 2013, he proposed a tender service by his company, the Toronto Island Transit Service, in addition to the city’s ferries to help with transporting the rising number of visitors each year.
“There’s always been more demand than there has capacity to get people over to the island (as) the city grows and Harbourfront becomes more and more visited,” he said.
The new boat can carry 390 passengers per trip, and has a larger, 20-foot loading deck on the side compared to the city ferries which are about six to eight feet wide.
Unlike Toronto’s ferries, the new boat does not have a propeller, Beasley said. It runs on a drive system that enables it to switch directions smoothly.
The 1978 Dartmouth III is much newer than other ferries, said Kendall McCulloch, a maintenance worker at the Toronto Island Transit Service. The engine and generators were removed and taken apart for the retrofitting, and, with all the repair work he is overseeing to re-fit the boat, it won’t look its age.
“When it pulls into Toronto, it will look like a new ferry,” he said.
Whether the boat will get a chance to rev its new engine with Torontonians on board this summer remains to be seen. Access to the islands is currently restricted due to flooding, which has placed island visitors and business owners into limbo.
“I’m sure they were anticipating the island being in full swing as it has been for many, many years. This is just another, unusual kind of occurrence with the weather,” McCulloch said.
Weather could affect the boat’s arrival time in Toronto, as heavy currents in the St. Lawrence River may provide a potential rough spot, McCulloch said.
Beasley hasn’t confirmed whether he will opt for the more costly option of having the boat towed by a tugboat or brought over via barge.
It could simply sail over from Halifax. Reaching a top speed of 13 kilometres per hour, the boat could take from two weeks to a month to make the journey with at least five crew members on board.
They would first travel 16 kilometres out to sea, then head up the coast of Nova Scotia, through the Strait of Canso and the Northumberland Strait before entering the St. Lawrence River and working their way through the lock system into Lake Ontario. The vessel will have to undergo sea trials before making the trip, and Beasley hopes to have it parked in Toronto’s docks before the end of the season.
“We’re going to use this one to promote families coming to Centreville in a happy and comfortable way,” he said.