Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant
The MS Jadran, the second home of Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant in December 2005.
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | MS Jadran |
| Owner: | Jadrolinija 1957-1975, John Letnik 1975-2015 |
| Operator: | Jadrolinija 1957-1975, John Letnik 1975-2015 |
| Port of registry: |
Rijeka,  Yugoslavia 1957-1975 |
| Builder: | Brodogradiliste “Split” Shipyards, Brodosplit, Split, Yugoslavia |
| Completed: | 1957 |
| Acquired: | 1957 |
| In service: | 1957-1975 |
| Out of service: | 1975 |
| Fate: | sold in 1975 and operated as floating restaurant in Toronto from 1975-2012; towed from Toronto Harbour May 28, 2015, scrapped |
| Status: | Sold for scrapping to Marine Recycling Corporation, Port Colborne, Ontario (May–August) 2015 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | J Class passenger ferry |
| Tonnage: | 2,564 GT |
| Length: | 89.9 m (294 ft 11 in) |
| Beam: | 13.1 m (43 ft 0 in) |
| Draught: | 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) |
| Decks: | 3 |
| Propulsion: | 2 x Sulzer Type diesel engines |
| Speed: | 18.0 knots (33.3 km/h; 20.7 mph) |
| Capacity: | 191 passengers (159 first class, 32 tourist) |
Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant (incorporated as 1518756 Ontario Inc.) was a restaurant and banquet hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For most of its existence it was located in the MS Jadran, a former Adriatic passenger ship that was permanently docked at the foot of Yonge Street at 1 Queen's Quay West on Toronto's waterfront. The ship was moored off on a small laneway at the foot of Yonge Street called Captain John's Pier. Once a prestige destination, the restaurant was open every day of the year, including all major holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Day, for almost 40 years. When it opened, the waterfront was an industrial portland. The Harbourfront redevelopment turned the area into a recreational destination for residents and tourists and a residential neighbourhood; Captain John's helped begin a gentrification process that ultimately claimed it as a victim.
The restaurant was owned and operated by John Letnik, who came to Canada as a refugee from FPR Yugoslavia in 1957. Letnik found work at an Etobicoke country club and ultimately becoming its chef before opening his own restaurant in 1961, the Pop Inn at Dundas and McCaul which he ran for seven years. He came up with the idea of opening an onboard restaurant while travelling to Europe via ship in the late 1960s to visit relatives. He opened Toronto's first floating restaurant aboard the MS Normac in 1970. The Normac had served several years as a fire boat with the Detroit Fire Department and then as a ferry that traveled between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island.
In 1975, Letnik bought the larger Jadran from the Yugoslav government for $1 million and moored it alongside the Normac, operating it as a second restaurant. The Jadran was one of three luxury cruise ships built in Split in 1957; it was one of 3 “J” Class passenger ferries built for Jadrolinija (Jadranska Linijska Plovidba company) at the Brodogradiliste shipyard, its sister ships being MS Jugoslavija and MS Jedinstvo. For several years the Jadran operated as a luxury cruise ship in the Adriatic and Aegean seas and later served as a private ocean-going presidential yacht for Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito and his entourage.
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