MV ''Kipawo'' is a historic

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

passenger and freight

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

built to operate in the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

and which later served in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and inspired the creation of a theater company. It was the 33rd and last ferry to provide service across Minas Passage, service which had been provided since the

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

n era.

Construction

''Kipawo'' was launched on December 5, 1924, by the St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., the first ship ever built by that yard.Shipbuildinghistory.com
"Saint John Shipbuilding, East Saint John NB"
, Accessed March 10, 2010 ''Kipawo'' was ordered for the

Dominion Atlantic Railway The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia in Canada, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley. The Dominion Atlantic Railway (DAR) was unusually divers ...

and commissioned into service for the railway on April 1, 1926. The vessel's name is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the first 2 letters from three different ports on the

Minas Basin The Minas Basin () is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides. Geography The Minas Basin forms the eastern part of the Bay of Fundy which splits ...

Kingsport Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, w ...

Parrsboro Parrsboro is a community located in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. A regional service centre for southern Cumberland County, the community is also known for its Parrsboro Harbour, port on the Minas Basin ...

and

Wolfville Wolfville is a Canadian town in the Annapolis Valley, Kings County, Nova Scotia, located about northwest of the provincial capital, Halifax. The town is home to Acadia University and Landmark East School. The town is a tourist destination d ...

Bay of Fundy service

''Kipawo'' provided passenger and freight service from the spring to the fall across the

. Her sailings were scheduled to connect with Dominion Atlantic passenger trains at Wolfville and Kingsport as tides permitted. The ferry used an innovative sling system to load automobiles.

Newfoundland service

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

''Kipawo'' was requisitioned by the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

and saw service in

Conception Bay Conception Bay (CB) is a bay on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The population (in 2011) of people living in municipalities (or unincorporated census subdivisions) located along the coast of Conception Bay was 90,490 making it ...

as a tender for

anti-submarine net An anti-submarine net or anti-submarine boom is a boom placed across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines. Net laying ships would be used to place and remove the nets. The US Navy used anti-submarine nets in the ...

s off the iron ore loading piers at Bell Island. During the post-war years until retirement in 1977, ''Kipawo'' saw service as a small passenger and vehicle ferry from Bell Island to

Portugal Cove Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it shares the longes ...

, ending 51 years of service, approximately 45 of those as a ferry and currently the second-longest continuous service as a ferry in Canada (SS ''Prince Edward Island'' having operated from 1915 to 1969). Following retirement from ferry service in Newfoundland, ''Kipawo'' saw service as a private

tour boat Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

in the waters off

Terra Nova National Park Terra Nova National Park is located on the northeast coast of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, along several inlets of Bonavista Bay. The park takes its name from the Latin name for Newfoundland; it is also th ...

for several years. While en route to St. John's one day in the late 1970s, she sought shelter in

Bonavista Bay Bonavista Bay (BB) is a large bay located on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. It opens directly onto the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is demarcated by Cape Freels to the nort ...

from a storm but ran aground and remained there deteriorating for several years.

Theatre use

The vessel was purchased in 1981 by the Kipawo Heritage Society of Wolfville and was returned to Minas Basin in 1982. Contrary to the title of this article, the ferry was built of steel. Not long after returning to the Minas Basin, ''Kipawo'' was purchased by the Town of

Parrsboro, Nova Scotia Parrsboro is a community located in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. A regional service centre for southern Cumberland County, the community is also known for its port on the Minas Basin, the Ship's Company Theatre productions, and the ...

for a museum and was deliberately beached in a tidal inlet immediately south of the town while funding arrangements were secured. By 1986 the museum concept was shelved in favour of housing a local theatre, the

Ship's Company Theatre The Ship's Company Theatre is a professional theatre company based in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. Founded in 1984 by Michael Fuller and Mary Vingoe, the Ship's Company Theatre features productions of Canadian works, with an emphasis on new works f ...

, which began to use the ''Kipawo'' as their performance centre. In 2004, the theatre company expanded its facilities with an expanded performance hall which architecturally incorporates the ''Kipawo'' into the outdoor lobby.

Notes

References

* Canadian Pacific's ''Dominion Atlantic Railway'' (Volume 1), Gary Ness, page 5 * Marguerite Woodworth, ''History of the Dominion Atlantic Railway'', page 148 * George Musk, ''Canadian Pacific: Story of the Famous Shipping Line'', 1981, page 260

External links

Bell Island Net Kipawo Web Page

* ttp://dardpi.ca/wiki/index.php?title=MV_Kipawo DAR-DPI MV ''Kipawo'' web page {{DEFAULTSORT:Kipawo Ships built in Saint John, New Brunswick Ships of CP Ships Ferries of Nova Scotia Ferries of Newfoundland and Labrador Transport in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Transport in Kings County, Nova Scotia 1924 ships