The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor

The Last Voyage of Waubuno: 24 Souls, No Answers, One Anchor

An iron anchor was pulled from Georgian Bay eighty years after the paddle steamer Waubuno vanished with twenty-four people aboard-and there were no bodies, no wreck identified with certainty, and no inquiry held. How did a working ship built in 1865, known to leak and described as "quite unfit" for the route, sail from Collingwood at 4:00 AM on November 22, 1879, and simply disappear?

In this episode, we tell what survives in the record: the sightings, the damaged lifeboat, the waterlogged ledger, the company that blocked answers, and the unanswered question that haunts the shoreline-what really happened to the Waubuno?

Person: Captain George Plumpton Burkitt Date: November 22, 1879 Location: Georgian Bay (between Collingwood and Parry Sound) Event: Disappearance of the paddle steamer Waubuno Cargo value: approximately $10,000

- The Waubuno slipped from Collingwood Harbour at 4:00 AM on November 22, 1879. - Twenty-four people aboard the Waubuno vanished; no bodies were recovered. - The ship was built in 1865 and was fourteen years old at the time of disappearance. - Workers pumped water out of the hull the Sunday before departure after water rose to the level of the fire hole. - Searchers recovered an overturned metallic lifeboat stove in at both ends and a life preserver stenciled with the ship's name.

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