The Magic of WhirlpoolsWhirlpools in real life are deadly to get caught in. In literatue though they are often the gateway to other worlds. In the chronicles of Narnia "The Voyage of the DawnTrader" the main characters at one point get caught in a whirlpool and eventually find themselves in another aspect of Narnia. I am not exactly sure how whirlpool fit into my story yet. There are however water Faeries in my story whom the land Faeries lost contact with hundreds of years ago. I intend to have the water Faeries play a part in Lavender's life at some point. In the meantime though there is the water at the Old Port which plays a definite part in my story. It is where the Mcallister rests.
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An Over Hundred Year-old Tug Boat That Rests at The Old Port
I figure this ancient tugboat would be a good place for at least one Faery to dwell. People who look at the Mcallister can only do so for the outside. It has to be close to thirty years since its doors where actually opened. It leave alot to the inmagination about what may be happening inside it. So I decided that an old Faery lives there until such time as my heroine replaces her after her death. I took the pictures of the Mcallister myself with a cheap digital camera I bought this summer |
History of the Mcallister
The information I have on the Mcallister was taken from a sign installed in front of the boats resting spot. It was the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board that recognized the tugboat as exceptional, historically interesting and of national importance. The Mcallister is the oldest tugboat in Canada and the second one to be preserved in the world. It was build from 1905-1906, at Collingwood shipyard and was launched in 1907 under the name Helena. It is 32.5 metres in length,7 metres acroos at the mid-ship beam. Its carreer began on the Atlanctic coast and it returned to the Great Lakes at the end of WWII. In 1940 the Department of Defense replaced her steam engine with a more powerful diesol motor. Its speed went from 10.5 to 13.9 knots. In 1956 a new owner rechristened her Helen M.B. It was renamed Mcallister by the "Touring Limited" By them the tugboat was used to tub passenger liners into the Port of Montrea. Its career ended in 1980. |
Picture of the Middle of the Mcallister
If you look at the Mcallister from the middle carefully you can see rust on it and other signs of deterioration. It shows that it is old and how out of use it has been. To the Old Faery living inside it is only an old shell concealling all the prettiness she has created inside. Should a human decide to open the doors once more they will only see its old insides, for the Old Faery has done what we would call a spell, that prevents humans from seeing beyond what we expect to see. Look at the tree in front of the tugboat and you will notice beside it the sign that is held up by two metal stands. Here is where the Mclister's history has been written down. |
