Johnny Depp won’t be aboard, but the ship he helped make famous will be in Thunder Bay for two days this summer.
HMS Bounty, built for Marlon Brando’s1962 remake of the historical drama Mutiny on the Bounty, and more recently used in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, is paying a 2010 visit to the Great Lakes and will dock at Pier 3 at Marina Park on Aug. 3 and 4.
The tall ship will be open to the public on the afternoon of its second day in port and should be one of the highlights of the summer, said the marketing co-ordinator for the tour.
And, he added, if things go well, it could mean tall ships could become a familiar site on the Thunder Bay waterfront.
"The hope is that we’re going to be able to do this every year," said John Ongaro. "This is one of many ships that’s going to be in the Great Lakes this year. Duluth is actually having a tall ships festival, so we’re able to have the Bounty here."
Built in 1960 using nineteenth century techniques by Lunenburg, N.S. shipwrights Smith and Ruhland, it was constructed to be completely seaworthy using drawings still on file at the British admiralty archives.
For more than two decades it was berthed in St. Petersburg, Fla. as a worldwide tourist attraction, until media mogul Ted Turner bought MGM and began using it to promote his companies.
In 1993 Turner donated it to the Fall River Chamber Foundation, who in turn eight years later by the HMS Bounty Organization, which gave the ship a complete retrofit and has used it to teach the art of square-rigged sailing and seamanship.
Ongaro said it was an easy choice when trying to decide which ship to bring to Thunder Bay.
"The Bounty is obviously one of the most popular ones, and it’s the most famous of all the tall ships, from Mutiny on the Bounty and Pirates of the Caribbean. The Bounty is actually coming here as part of their educational programming to promote the Great Lakes and the environmental impacts on things that are happening around the Great Lakes," Ongaro said.
Kerry Berliquette said there’s something magical about a tall ship arriving in port.
"I guess what excites me is it just looks historic, it looks beautiful, and then with our city, the most amazing backdrop in the whole world for a waterfront. With the Sleeping Giant, watching that ship sail in would just be so majestic and beautiful," said Berliquette, a member of the Thunder Bay Yacht Club, the main sponsor of the two-day event.
Locals boaters are being encouraged to sail out to greet the bounty as it arrives in Thunder Bay.
Meanwhile Marina Park will still be in the midst of waterfront development construction during the visit, though city officials said they’ve worked out the logistics that will allow the public to access the ship without compromising anyone’s safety.
And the odds of Depp showing up on the Bounty?
"Probably zero," Berliquette said, "but we do have some pretty good lookalikes on the waterfront construction crew. So we’ll work with what we’ve got."
There will be a $3 charge to board HMS Bounty on Aug. 4 from noon to 8 p.m.
