June 10, 2021

Stuart Hendrie, a pro photographer sent along this photo of the pirate ship in Jordan Ontario. Many of us have seen it from the Lake and many more have seen it from the highway.

According to the Niagara Greenbelt website:

"La Grande Hermine" (The Big Weasel) is one of the most recognizable landmarks along the Niagara stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Way. The 140-foot ship was created as a replica of the largest of 3 ships French Explorer Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River. It was originally built in Quebec in 1914 and began its life as a ferry on the St. Lawrence and later became a cargo ship, a floating restaurant, and in 1991 converted to a replica ship.

At one time the vessel was turned into a haunted pirate ship at Halloween to raise money for a hot lunch program for students. The derelict ship's final resting place is the Jordan Harbour just off the western shore of Lake Ontario, between the cities of Hamilton and St. Catharines. This abandoned shipwreck came to the Jordan Harbour in 1997, and was the victim of an arson fire in January of 2003, causing this piece of history to go up in smoke. What's left of the ship remains rusting, damaged and run down, but is still an interesting site to see.

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