Remembering the Atrevida
On Thursday the City of Nanaimo placed two signs on the waterfront, commemorating nine ships that have shaped Nanaimo’s past. One of the nine was a Gabriola ferry! From the Nanaimo News Bulletin: Ships’ place in city history honoured.
For Thomas Higgs and Bob Georgeson, the unveiling ceremony brought back memories of their youth aboard the Atrevida. Higgs’s father, Thomas, was the Atrevida’s skipper and Georgeson’s father, Andy, was the engineer.
"Life started on the Atrevida for us," said Higgs.
The pair started working on the Atrevida in their youth under the careful gaze of their fathers. They awoke early to work on the Atrevida’s 7 a.m. sailing between Gabriola Island and Nanaimo.
The Atrevida was the first regular ferry between Gabriola and Nanaimo, carrying cars and mail between the two communities.
[Sorry, full article no longer available on the newspaper's website.]
Update, December 8th:
- when in Nanaimo today I went down and took a photo of the sign, and cropped out everything except the Atrevida. So that’s where the photo above comes from.
- Oh look – another story! Ships illustrate our history in the Nanaimo Daily News.
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