MV ''Kwasind'' is a passenger ferry built in 1912 for the

Royal Canadian Yacht Club The Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) is a private yacht club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1852, it is one of the world's older and larger yacht clubs. Its summer home is on a trio of islands (RCYC Island, South Island and North Chip ...

, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. She is long. She was built by the

Polson Iron Works The Polson Iron Works was an Ontario-based firm which built large steam engines, as well as ships, barges and dredges. Founded by William Polson (Canadian shipbuilder), William Polson (1834–1901) and son Franklin Bates Polson, the firm was i ...

and cost . Her name was taken from

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...

's poem about

Hiawatha Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he ...

, as the yacht club's previous ferry is ''Hiawatha''. ''Kwasind'' has served as a ferry for the yacht club since 1912. She was converted from a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

to a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

in the 1940s. On July 29, 2000, both ''Kwasind'', and the yacht club's older ferry, ''Hiawatha'', were sunk by vandals. The ''Kwasind'' was refloated, and was back in working order the day of the sinking, while ''Hiawatha'' required further repair.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwasind Ferries of Ontario 1912 ships Ships built in Toronto