MV Skookum (1906)

Last updated
MV Skookum
History
Canada
Operator
  • Len A. Hayman (1907–1911)
  • Okanagan Lake Boat Company (1911–)
BuilderH. B. D. Lysons
In service2 April 1906
Nickname(s)Tut Tut
General characteristics
Type Ferry
Length30 ft (9.1 m)
Beam6 ft (1.8 m)
Draught2 ft (0.61 m)
Installed powerTurscott one-cylinder, 7 hp (5.2 kW) engine
Speed8–10 mph (13–16 km/h; 7.0–8.7 kn)
Capacity20 passengers

MV Skookum, also known as Tut Tut, was a ferry that operated on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada starting on April 2, 1906. [1] She was the first official, government-subsidized ferry on the lake to connect the communities of Kelowna and Westbank. [2]

Skookum was built by the H. B. D. Lysons and measured 30 feet (9.1 m) by 6 feet (1.8 m) by 2 feet (0.61 m), with a Turscott one-cylinder, seven horsepower engine that gave her a speed of eight to ten miles per hour. [3] She had a capacity of 20 passengers and would charge 25 cents per passenger or one dollar per horse. [4] In addition, Skookum had a scow that was 40 feet (12 m) by 16 feet (4.9 m) by 4 feet (1.2 m) to handle livestock or one vehicle. If the scow was needed, the customer would build two fires on the West side of the lake as a signal. [5] Skookum was granted a CAD$1000 per year subsidy to run two round trips daily, except Sundays, for three years. [6]

In 1907, the ferry charter was bought by Captain Len A. Hayman, who continued the service until 1911, when the Okanagan Lake Boat Company, owned by Peter Roe, took her over. [7] Roe and his brothers, Fred and Gerald, then operated Skookum and another ship, MV Trepanier, for many years. [8]

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<i>Canadian National Tug no. 6</i>

Canadian National Tug no. 6 was a diesel-powered tugboat owned and operated by the Canadian National Railway (CNR) company on Okanagan Lake, British Columbia. It was launched in 1948 and transferred railway barges between Penticton and Kelowna. It was retired in 1973, becoming the last of many tugboats to operate on Okanagan Lake. Tug 6 was moved to Penticton in 2007 to rest alongside the SS Naramata and SS Sicamous, two Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) steamboats, as part of the S.S. Sicamous Inland Marine Museum. The ships are currently being restored by the S.S. Sicamous Restoration Society.

MV Okanagan was a tugboat that operated on Okanagan Lake, Penticton, British Columbia, from 1947 to 1972. It was the largest and last Canadian Pacific-operated tugboat on Okanagan Lake and its retirement marked the end of Canadian Pacific’s service on B.C.’s inland lakes and rivers, as well as 80 years of service on Okanagan Lake. During service, the Okanagan pushed railway barges up and down the lake and broke ice during winter.

MV Pentowna was a motor ship that transported passengers, and later freight, on Okanagan Lake from 1926 to 1973. It was the first boat to be owned and operated by Canadian National Railway (CNR) on Okanagan Lake and the first diesel-powered boat on the lake. Pentowna served the communities between Kelowna and Penticton with two daily round trips, aiding the development of the Okanagan Valley with its modern technology and speed.

MV Aricia was a ferry that operated on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. She was built in 1912 by J. Y. Campbell and was also known as the Kelowna-Westbank ferry, because she served the communities of Kelowna and Westbank, British Columbia.

SS Clovelly was a steam ferry that operated on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. She was commissioned by Captain L. A. Hayman and built by DeFoe in Vancouver, British Columbia in the fall of 1907. She was named after Clovelly, a small village on the Bristol Channel in England. She was launched by Captain J. B. Weeks and began a service of two trips a week hauling lumber, feed, and fruit between the communities of Westbank, Bear Creek, and Kelowna. She was the fourth ferry on the lake. Shortly after her launch, it was discovered that her vertical boiler leaked, so a water tube boiler was built by A. Brunette of the Leckie Hardware Company of Kelowna. She was inspected and passed by J. H. Thompson, Dominion Government Steamboat Inspector for the Province. In 1911, Clovelly was sold to E. Hankinson. Complaints about poor service reached the government and Hankinson lost the charter. Clovelly went to J. Y. Campbell, who operated her from 1912 to 1916 and also built MV Aricia in 1912.

MV Lequime was a ferry that operated on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. The most well-known of the long line of ferries on the lake, Lequime was built in 1947 and was later called Fintry Queen. Plans for the construction of Lequime began on May 1, 1946 and she was built in a fashion similar to the earlier MV Pendozi. Lequime carried cars and freight between the communities of Kelowna and Westbank with two other boats, MV Lloyd-Jones and Pendozi. However, the three struggled to carry the increasing load prior to the opening of the Okanagan Lake Bridge in 1958. After retirement, Lequime was renovated, a paddle wheel added to the stern, and used as a restaurant and for Okanagan Lake cruises.

MV Lloyd-Jones was a steel ferry that operated on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. She carried cars and freight between the communities of Kelowna and West Kelowna with two other boats, MV Lequime and MV Pendozi. However, they struggled to carry the load, especially after the opening of the Okanagan Lake Bridge in 1958. Lloyd-Jones was launched in July 1950. She had a capacity of 35 cars and was the last of a large fleet of ferries on Okanagan Lake.

MV Kelowna-Westbank was a diesel-powered ferry that operated on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada beginning in 1927. Although private ferry service had long been established on the lake, Kelowna-Westbank became the first provincial government-operated ferry upon her launch on February 21, 1927.

MV Skookum was a ferry that linked the communities of Naramata and Summerland on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada.

MV Rattlesnake was a ferry launched in 1907 to operate between the communities of Summerland and Naramata on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Rattlesnake was originally called Orillia before she was bought and renamed by pioneer John Moore Robinson, owner of the Okanagan Lake Boat Company. She was launched in 1907, becoming the Company's second boat after the tug Maude-Moore, though she was the third Summerland-Naramata ferry after Maude-Moore and the smaller Mallard. Rattlesnake was first used as Robinson's private launch before beginning ferry service. She was a short, squat, slow and ugly tug that rode low in the water, but she was also powerful and she tugged cement pipe from factories, as well as hay and logs. In 1911, the Okanagan Lake Boat Company was sold to Peter Roe, who replaced Maude-Moore and Rattlesnake with two gas boats.

MV Trepanier was a ferry that operated between the communities of Naramata and Summerland on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Trepanier was added to the Okanagan Lake Boat Company's fleet in 1912. The company's owner, Peter Roe, operated her and the earlier MV Skookum with his brothers, Fred and Gerald. Trepanier was purchased by Captain J. A. Noyes and his brother, I. R. Noyes, and used for pleasure trips until November 1913, when the larger MV Skookum, built in 1912 and not to be confused with the Skookum mentioned earlier, collided with the Canadian Pacific Railway company-operated SS Castlegar and sank. Although Trepanier was smaller than Skookum, she was used as a replacement and began regular ferry service soon after the crash.

SS Maude-Moore was a wood-burning screw steamer that provided a ferry service between the communities of Summerland, Naramata, and Penticton on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada.

MV Mallard, later Kaleden, was a ferry that linked the communities of Summerland and Naramata on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada from 1908 to 1910, and later served Skaha Lake and Kaleden, British Columbia, under the name Kaleden.

MV Cygnet was a 40 feet (12 m) by 10 feet (3.0 m) motor launch that provided ferry and freight service on Skaha Lake in British Columbia, Canada. She was built by Summerland Boat Works in 1911 for the South Okanagan Transportation Company, owned by James Fraser Campbell and A. S. Hatfield, to replace the tug Kaleden. Cygnet had a Fairbanks marine engine that was started by turning the flywheel with a steel bar that fitted into sockets in the wheel. In the early 1920s, she was moved to Okanagan Lake to carry fruit to Kelowna, British Columbia for a summer before she was sold in Kelowna.

SS Red Star, later called Okanagan, Lucy, and Red Star again, was a screw steamer that operated on Spallumcheen River and later Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada, serving various purposes under many owners, as well as undergoing renovations and modifications from her construction in 1887 to the closing of her registry in 1915.

SS Mary Victoria Greenhow (MVG) was the first steamboat on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. She was built by Captain Thomas Shorts and Thomas Greenhow and although she was not perfect, she was the harbinger of a long and significant line of steamships in the Okanagan.

MV <i>Pendozi</i>

MV Pendozi was a ferry that operated on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. The provincial government commissioned her in 1939 and she was the first steel ferry built for the run connecting the communities of Kelowna and Westbank. She was 147 feet (45 m) by 42 feet (13 m) and weighed 237.5 tons. She was powered by two 150 horsepower Vivian engines and had two life boats and two life rafts, as well as four propellers, two at each end of the ship. Pendozi could carry 30 cars. Kelowna residents suggested her name after Rev. Father Charles Marie Pandosy, O.M.I., who established Okanagan Mission, British Columbia in 1859. A street in Kelowna was also named Pendozi after him and the misspelling was never changed and even applied to the new ship because it reflected the proper pronunciation of his name. In the line of Kelowna-Westbank ferries, Pendozi came after MV Kelowna-Westbank and was later joined by MV Lloyd-Jones and MV Lequime. However, the three struggled to carry the increasing load prior to the opening of the Okanagan Lake Bridge in 1958. The retired ferry was later sold to Kelowna for a dollar, moored at a city dock, and used by the sea cadets. On New Year's Eve, 1964, vandals opened the seacocks, which sank the vessel. On refloating in the early new year, Pendozi was returned to rest in Westbank, and is now the clubhouse for the Westbank Yacht Club.

SS Wanderer was the second, unofficial ferry to serve Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada.

References

  1. ↑ Fortin, Ayla (1999). "Early Ferry Transportation and the Okanagan Lake Floating Bridge". Okanagan history: Sixty-third report of the Okanagan Historical Society. pp. 122–125. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Hatfield, Harley R. (1992). "Commercial Boats of the Okanagan". Okanagan history. Fifty-sixth report of the Okanagan Historical Society. pp. 20–33. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Upton, Primrose (1 Nov 1973). "Okanagan Lake Bridge". Thirty-seventh annual report of the Okanagan Historical Society. p. 70. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Hayman, L. A. (1971) [1937]. "The Kelowna-Westbank Ferry". Reprint of report numbers 7, 8, 9, 10 of the Okanagan Historical Society. Vol. 10. pp. 39–44. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Pooley, Ian (30 September 2013). "Getting across the Lake: Sinking Scows and Panicked Passengers". Daily Courier .
  6. ↑ Clement, J. Percy (1960). "Early Days in Kelowna". The twenty-fourth report of the Okanagan Historical Society. pp. 165–166. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Goett, R. Lakeboats of the Okanagan (PDF). Retrieved 19 August 2015– via Lake Country Museum.
  8. ↑ Andrew, W. F. (1955). "Peachland, Summerland and Naramata". The nineteenth report of the Okanagan Historical Society. pp. 62–72. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
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