Hamilton Harbour Queen

City Hall

Councillor Ward 5
#1
As Chairman of the Waterfront Trust, I'm pleased to announce that the Hamilton Harbour Queen will make her maiden voyage in the Spring of 2005, offering a variety of cruises on Hamilton Harbour. This 200 passenger cruise vessel offers comfort and panoramic views with an enclosed dining room and top observation deck with canopy.

Built in Owen Sound, by Russell Brothers in 1956, and named the Johnny B, she was designed as a very special vessel due to the fact that she was to be shipped west to the MacKenzie River.

After many years as a supply tug, the Johnny B would be cut into pieces and shipped back to Ontario by rail. Back in Ontario she worked on Lake Erie pulling drilling rigs and shipping pipe and other supplies back and forth to the rigs for Union Gas.

In 1988 she was purchased by Fortune Navigation, was refit and renamed the Garden City. After 5 years, the Garden City was signed to a contract as a dinner and supply ship on the North Atlantic servicing the Hibernia Oil site.

The Garden City returned to Hamilton Ontario and was purchased by Harbour Princess Cruises Ltd. In 2000, she was completely refurbished and became the majestic Harbour Princess 1, sailing from the pier in Port Dover, Ontario.

In 2004 she was purchased by the Hamilton Waterfront Trust, and renamed the Hamilton Harbour Queen. She is undergoing a major renovation and will be ready to set sail in June for a season of cruising on Hamilton Harbour.

Two public Open Houses have been scheduled for Thursday, May 26, 2005 from 4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, May 28, 2005 from Noon to 4:00 p.m. She will be docked at Pier 8. Enjoy a leisurely walk along the Waterfront Trail and take a tour of the ship as she waits for her season to begin.

The Hamilton Waterfront Trust is a non-profit organization directed by a Board of Trustees who manage and guide a trust fund designated for recreational amenities in the east and west harbour. The Hamilton Waterfront Trust is dedicated to finding new, exciting ways of making it easier for residents and visitors to Hamilton to experience our wonderful waterfront. All profits generated from our Williams Coffee Pub on Pier 8, and the Hamilton Harbour Cruises are re-invested in the trust fund to continue building trails and creating recreational opportunities for the citizens and visitors to Hamilton.

We encourage corporate sponsorships, partnerships, donations and special funding support to carry on with the projects that continue "connecting you to the water's edge".
 

scotto

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#2
Hamilton Harbour Queen will soon be traveling the waters of Hamilton Harbour and Lake Ontario, I stopped by today, took a few pictures and had a talk with the ship's new skipper who hails from Vancouver, nice guy. His crew was very busy trying get the vessel ready for opening day and as shown in the attached pictures, she should soon be sailing past the Beach on both sides.
 

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scotto

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#4
As Chad originally posted, the Hamilton Harbour Queen, formally the Harbour Princess 1(Photo below) isn't a new idea as there use to be many vessel that traveled the waters in and around Hamilton. Member Crawfish has sent us in a couple of oldies of the ferry that use to stop at the Canal and over at LaSalle Park. I must be getting old as I even remember it tying up down at the piers on the Bay side. Crawfish doesn't know for sure, but he thinks the attached vessel is the Macassa, thanks again to Crawfish. :hail:
 

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scotto

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#7
City Hall said:
Thanks for posting, do we know where the ship was docked in these photos? And further, are they photos or postcards?

Chad.
Chad;
These are both photos sent in by member Crawfish who has in the past, sent us in many great oldies. He is also the member who sent in the original pic of the 77mm Gun.
There are many more pics and postcards in the Gallery section.
The first picture shows the Macassa loading passengers at the Canal and it is tied up to the old wooden piers.
The second (lower) is the one Crawfish posted about, the Macassa loading at LaSalle Park.
I have the originals to these if you need them, I am sure our friend Crawfish won't mind. :hail:
 

scotto

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#8
Hamilton Harbour Queen in the Spec

We're cruising now

Barry Gray, the Hamilton Spectator

The newly named Hamilton Harbour Queen is the latest effort to deliver a new perspective on the city's waterfront revival
By Dana Borcea
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 27, 2005)
After doing turns as a tugboat, freighter and passenger vessel across Canada for almost 50 years, the newly named "Hamilton Harbour Queen" had her maiden voyage yesterday in Hamilton Harbour.

As the city's first cruise ship in more than 15 years, the Queen represents the latest bid in an accelerated drive by the Hamilton Waterfront Trust to revitalize the city's waterfront.

On the heels of a decade's worth of park and trail development that finally brought Hamiltonians waterfront access, organizers hope the Queen will bring people a whole new perspective.

"Unless you're a private boater, there's really been little opportunity to get on the water," said chairman of the Waterfront Trust, councillor Chad Collins. "It's one thing to use our parks and trails and it's something else all together to see the city from the water."

Early signs indicate people are eager to get on board. Organizers have already booked 3,000 reservations on the cruise ship, purchased in 2004 for $500,000.

Thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign targeting regional tourism departments and tour-bus companies, nearly half of those passengers will come from out of town.

That points to a shift in Hamilton's shabby public image, said Collins.

"People tend to see us primarily as an industrial city and forget about our natural beauty -- our escarpment, our parks and the harbour."

A three-hour tour of the harbour on the city's new cruise ship will help remind people of all that, added Collins.

"We've been playing catch up for the last 10 years," said Collins. "But we've reached a point where we can now compete for those tourism dollars."

Waterfront development will be key, said Ted Flett of Tourism Hamilton, who says residents and visitors alike are naturally drawn to the water.

"The more experiences that Hamilton can offer on the waterfront, the more visitors we can attract," said Flett, adding that recent progress has been significant. "I think the activity on the waterfront represents a phenomenal leap from where we've been."

In addition to the cruise ship, the Waterfront Trust, in partnership with the city and other organizations, has been steadily transforming the face of the west harbour. Recent landmark projects include construction of the 8.5-kilometre Hamilton Beach Trail, the extension of the city-built Waterfront Trail, a new public art installation, and a newly opened cafe.

These, plus the city-built waterfront parks as well as the arrival of the Marine Discovery Centre and HMCS Haida, have transformed the waterfront.

While Hamiltonians and visitors sing the praises of the evolving harbourfront, key waterfront players say they need to keep momentum going.

Alice Willems, manager of both the discovery centre which shares Pier 8 with the new cruise ship and the Haida, wants to see more waterfront activities.

"If development here is well thought out, you could have a whole burst of activity," said Willems.

"With summer evenings here, the sky is the limit. To bring people down to the water, you have to be entrepreneurial."

Willems's summer plans include opening a new restaurant with a licensed patio at the discovery centre and hosting Hamilton's Pride Festival. She has also invited the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra to perform outdoor concerts this summer.

The Haida and the discovery centre saw between 50,000 and 60,000 visitors last summer. Willems admitted those numbers might drop once admission fees are introduced but hopes the Harbour Queen might attract new visitors.

"Anything they do enhances what we do," she said.

The Hamilton Port Authority, which focuses primarily on commercial and industrial development east of Pier 8, is also pushing for more recreational attractions and has been developing a proposal to develop the fisherman's pier along the Burlington Canal.

The 1999 agreement that sparked much of the west harbour's development designated the east portion of the harbour for ongoing industrial use under the Port Authority. The rest of the harbourfront, from Pier 8 west, was allocated to the city for recreational use by the Hamilton Waterfront Trust.

The Bay Area Restoration Council, a community group promoting the cleanup of the harbour, has been watching the development of the waterfront closely ever since the harbour deal. It is excited about the introduction of the Harbour Queen and what it means.

"This is the next logical step in bringing people down here," said BARC's executive director Marilyn Baxter.

People seem to agree.

Rob Greenfield, 39, left Hamilton right out of high school. Yesterday he was back in town to visit parents. Walking past the Harbour Queen on Pier 8, Greenfield recalled the waterfront of his youth.

"It was really somewhere you didn't come to," said the Pennsylvania resident.

"To come back now and see all the trails, the (discovery) centre and all this green space has been amazing."

Greenfield's mother, Barbara, described the harbour as a "hidden gem," adding she only wishes there were more bars and restaurants to sit at.

For the past two years, the trust has operated daily tours of the west harbour on its 12-seat tour boat, the Hamiltonian.

Werner Plessl, executive director of the Waterfront Trust, said people wanted more, including the opportunity to enjoy drinks and a meal.

The Harbour Queen will offer daily dinner and lunch cruises as well as sightseeing tours, with prices ranging from $20 to $55 for adults. Built in 1956 in Owen Sound, the Queen has come a long way to be here.

The 30-metre-long steel vessel was cut into seven pieces for a trip to the Mackenzie River via train and winter roads where it was welded back together and put to work as a tug.

After many years out west, the boat was cut up again and brought back to Ontario by train. It was reassembled on Lake Erie where it shipped supplies to the natural gas rigs.

Its next gig was in the North Atlantic working as a supply ship for the Hibernia oil platform.

Its last stint before settling in Hamilton Harbour was as a refurbished tour boat in Port Dover.

dborcea@thespec.com

905-526-3335
Photo#1-Barry Gray, the Hamilton Spectator

Photo#2-Werner Plessl, Hamilton Waterfront Trust executive director, joined passengers for the launch of the Hamilton Harbour Queen yesterday.
 

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scotto

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#9
A Class Act

Took the time to for the three hour tour on the Hamilton Harbour Queen. The Hamilton Waterfront Trust has done an excellent job of putting together a nice cruise, great food and some really nice people. As we where loading Captain Brian Brooks was very busy greeting all the passengers and helping those who were in wheelchairs. Then once out on the water all the kids got their turn to skipper the vessel, 1st Engineer Tom Falls gave the play by play of all the points of interest in and around the harbour and also showed the kids the engine room down below. Again, great job and a big thanks to the Captain and his crew. :rock:

If you want more info, call (905) 525-4498 or check out their website at-
www.hamiltonharbourcruises.com
 

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scotto

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#10
Hamilton’s Harbour Queen shutting down

Sep 12, 2014

Hamilton Spectator
By Matthew Van Dongen


The Hamilton Harbour Queen will shut down permanently this fall unless a private operator takes over the only cruise ship plying the city's waterfront.

The Hamilton Waterfront Trust announced Friday it will dock the popular tourism attraction for good after Sept. 28 because of "significant" looming inspection and repair costs as well as increasing staffing challenges.

Executive director Werner Plessl said a government-mandated dry-dock inspection looming this winter was expected to cost more than $250,000 - and three out of four of the 30-metre-long vessel's motors are expected to be identified for repairs.

"We just don't really have the resources for the inspection, let alone whatever comes out of it," he said, adding the agency is also having more trouble each year finding senior officers to run the seasonal vessel for all of the required cruises.

Plessl said the agency will likely put the boat up for sale, but also "put out feelers in the industry" to see if a private operator would like to operate in the harbour. "If there's an opportunity for a partnership, we'd be open to that," he said. "The Harbour Queen has been great for Hamilton."

The cash-strapped waterfront revitalization agency bought the 58-year-old former tug boat in 2005 for $500,000. Built in Owen Sound, the ship has served in the western oil industry, on Lake Erie and as a supply ship for an east coast oil platform.

The vessel made headlines - and a profit - in its first few years. Plessl said the cruise attraction costs about $350,000 to run annually and is on track to "more or less" break even this year after losing about $16,000 last year.

Almost 200 people can fit on the ship and annual passenger numbers have ranged from a high of 14,000 to around 8,000 recently.

The ship has toured more than 108,000 people around the bay and Lake Ontario for scheduled lunch and dinner cruises, dance parties and special events. Plessl said charter voyages now represent about 45 per cent of all business.



mvandongen@thespec.com

905-526-3241 | @Mattatthespec


 

scotto

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#11
Back in 2005 I wrote that the Harbour Queen would be taking tours on both sides of the Beach, as far as I know it never did leave the harbor. Something to do the vessel having a flat bottom and not having a good ride in choppy conditions.
It did come into the canal once as the Harbour Queen and that was give passengers a look at the Skyway after it was hit by a truck.



 

Sharla1

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Oct 15, 2009
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#17
The Harbour Queen will live on.

All aboard — the Hamilton Harbour Queen will sail again.

The harbour cruiser could be back in open water as soon as June, says local businessman and new captain Albert Samee.

Samee bought the boat from the Waterfront Trust last week after learning that scrapyard owners were bidding on the out-of-commission ship — a fate he couldn't bear to imagine.

"It's a part of Hamilton," he said Saturday, aboard the Queen.

He's already gutted the lower level and plans to completely refurbish the boat — complete with a new cedar dance floor, raised ceilings and an electronic awning.

He also promises good food: "I have an excellent plan for it."

Samee — who splits his time between Florida and Hamilton — is the president and owner of ELKO Industrial Trading Corp., which operates out of the old Westinghouse site on Aberdeen (near Innovation Park) and ships coil, structural and stainless steel across North America and overseas.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5577167-hamilton-harbour-queen-lives-to-sail-again/
 

scotto

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Feb 15, 2004
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#18
All aboard - the Hamilton Harbour Queen will sail again.

The harbour cruiser could be back in open water as soon as June, says local businessman and new captain Albert Samee.

Samee bought the boat from the Waterfront Trust last week after learning that scrapyard owners were bidding on the out-of-commission ship - a fate he couldn't bear to imagine.

"It's a part of Hamilton," he said Saturday, aboard the Queen.

He's already gutted the lower level and plans to completely refurbish the boat - complete with a new cedar dance floor, raised ceilings and an electronic awning.

He also promises good food: "I have an excellent plan for it."

Samee - who splits his time between Florida and Hamilton - is the president and owner of ELKO Industrial Trading Corp., which operates out of the old Westinghouse site on Aberdeen (near Innovation Park) and ships coil, structural and stainless steel across North America and overseas.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5577167-hamilton-harbour-queen-lives-to-sail-again/
I really didn't think that the Harbour Queen would come back, far too much work and money involved. But great news.


 
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