North Channel passenger steamer may sail again.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: ELLIOT LAKE/NORTH SHORE

Dave Ham's marine interests just keep getting bigger and bigger.

Not only has the Manitoulin Island boat builder expanded his Manitouwaning shop, he's heading up a group seeking to restore a 61-year-old Georgian Bay passenger steamer and put it back into service.

The 'Friends of the Norisle' are investigating how to refurbish the former passenger and car ferry and as a cruise ship for the North Channel.

The 215-foot steamer Norisle last sailed in 1974 as a car ferry between Tobermory and South Baymouth before being replaced by the present-day Chi-Cheemaun.

Now moored as a museum ship at the Manitouwaning Heritage Complex, the Norisle receives about 3,000 visitors annually during the summer months.

Ham says the Norisle's caretakers have spent $2 million over the years to maintain the ship as permanent static display, but he maintains such a marine artifact needs to be operational to be viable.

"These ships will not make money, unless they sail."

They've enlisted the expertise of marine engineer John Coulter, who restored the excursion steamer Segwun on Lake Muskoka, and Wayne Fischer, president of the Ontario Steam Heritage Museum. Both men inspected the ship in March and pronounced its 900 horsepower steam engine to be in relatively good shape.

That bit of good news has been instrumental in raising the profile of the project, which is attracting interest from steam aficionados and boat buffs from Canada and the U.S. The 'Friends' membership now numbers 200, says Ham.

Since Europeans seem to love Great Lakes cruising, Ham says why not put the Norisle back under steam in a picturesque boater's paradise like Lake Huron's North Channel and Georgian Bay?

In its 25-year sailing career, the Norisle was licensed for 200 passengers and a capacity of 50 cars.

The group is entertaining ideas of operating the ship as a day cruiser or restoring it into a high-end passenger liner for extended trips.

The capital costs to refurbish the vessel has yet to be determined. But the ship would require extensive refitting with modern safety features and materials, new electrical systems, passenger stateroom renovations, and certainly dry docking before being certified to sail.

His restoration group may have a selling job ahead to convince government agencies to invest in the restoration work, but Ham's own business, Henley Boat Manufacturing, is...