The Avalon Voyager II was originally built in Clarenville, Newfoundland in 1946 as the MV Twillingate, one of Newfoundland’s famous “Splinter Fleet” wooden ships constructed near the end of the Second World War. Although initially intended for wartime coastal service, she entered civilian operation as a cargo vessel after the war. Over the following decades, the vessel changed ownership and names several times, later becoming the Thomas V. Hollett fishing trawler before eventually arriving on the Great Lakes.

During the 1970s, the ship was converted into a floating seafood restaurant and renamed Avalon Voyager II. In October 1980, while being relocated from Kincardine to Owen Sound, the vessel encountered severe gale-force weather near Cape Hurd at the entrance to Georgian Bay. Mechanical problems caused the pumps and engine systems to fail, and the crew dropped anchor while issuing a mayday call. The fishing tug W.A. Spears rescued everyone aboard as the vessel dragged anchor and struck the rocky shoreline near Bonnet Island.

Although salvage was attempted, the vessel remained stranded and was eventually abandoned. In 1982, vandals set the wreck on fire while it was trapped in winter ice, destroying most of the upper structure. The burned remains later slipped beneath the surface where they now rest in shallow water within Fathom Five National Marine Park.

The Avalon Voyager II is a shallow and accessible wreck popular with both divers and snorkelers. Only the lower hull remains after the fire, but many structural features are still visible in the exceptionally clear waters of Georgian Bay. The wreck lies scattered across the bottom with portions of the hull opened up from years of weather and ice damage.

• Bass
• salmon

• Lower wooden hull
• Exposed ribs and framing
• Engine and drive shaft
• Scattered deck structures
• Burned hull remains
• Cargo hold sections
• Propeller shaft
• Shallow swim-through openings