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MS Chi-Cheemaun
The MS Chi-Cheemaun is a passenger and car ferry which traverses Lake Huron between Tobermory on Bruce Peninsula and South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. In the Ojibwe language chi-cheemaun means "big canoe".
The Chi-Cheemaun makes the 50 km (30 mile) trip in about one hour and 45 minutes, and operates from May to October. The MS Chi-Cheemaun has a crew of 36 , is 105 m long and 19 m wide and holds 638 passengers. Navigation is aided by radar and a satellite positioning system.
The MS Chi-Cheemaun is the latest ferry in a long line of ships that sailed the waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. In the early years of colonization, when roads were almost non-existent, sailing vessels were the fastest mode of transportation. The last steamer to ferry passengers between Tobermory and South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island was the S.S. Norisle, a 200 ft steamer that sailed from 1946-1974.
