Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 14/05) - You wouldn't guess looking at it now, but in its younger days Lothar Ebke's rum runner was a law breaker.

The wooden boat was built to run alcohol illegally between Canada and the United States.

In those days, a rum runner needed three things: a strong engine, a compartment to store the alcohol and a fast hull. This boat had the full set.

The 34-foot boat has a unique design. It was built the old-fashioned way with brass rivets and it was built for speed.

The rum runner is powered by a Liberty engine from a First World War aircraft. Inside the hull is the compartment for the liquor.

How this boat ended up on supports in Ebke's yard in Old Town is a bit of a story.

From what previous owners have been able to piece together, the rum runner was built on the west coast, maybe in Seattle, around the 1920s.

It ran alcohol during prohibition, but even with its aircraft engine it wasn't fast enough.

American authorities captured the boat and put it to use.

The boat's journey to the North started when it was brought up to ferry parts during the Canol pipeline construction in the 1940s.

The boat ran on the Mackenzie River as far as Norman Wells.

In the 1950s it was given to the Dept. of Indian Affairs and operated by Art Look, a game warden. He used it to visit communities on Great Slave Lake. In 1956 the rum runner was sold to Walt England, a justice of the peace, who used to own Home Hardware. He was the last person to have the boat in the water.

A few years later he sold the boat to Gordon Piro who was going to restore it, but never found the time.

"You have to be somebody who knows a lot about boats to really appreciate the boat itself," said Piro.

The rum runner lived on what is now the new Canadian Tire lot. When the store was built the boat had to be moved and Lothar offered to take it.

Ebke meant to restore the boat, but ran out of time. He's now moving and needs to find the rum runner a new home.

Ebke admits it needs a lot of work, but it's not beyond repair. The boat is going for free because he didn't have to pay for it.

A few people have voiced interest, but so far no one has been certain.

"If no one takes it I'll have to cut it up," Ebke said.