Weather and schedule permitting, it would be back in Penticton by 8pm each night. There were 14 scheduled stops throughout, and the ship could also make unscheduled stops at smaller settlements (the residents would stand on the shore and wave a white flag, or light two fires at night, to get the attention of the Captain!) The Sicamous would depart from Penticton at 5:30am every day, except Sundays. The Sicamous travelled all along the shores of Okanagan lake, from Penticton in the south up to Vernon at the north of the lake. The Sicamous is a unique part of Okanagan history and heritage. It opened as a museum and heritage site and is cared for by a non-profit organization called the SS Sicamous Marine Heritage Society. Today the ship is preserved on the shore of Okanagan Lake, in Penticton BC. Her luxury and beauty attracted crowds at each dock, while travelers experienced elegance in dining and service renowned by Canadian Pacific. The Sicamous travelled from Penticton to Okanagan Landing with 14 scheduled stops throughout. The ship was launched in 1914 from the Okanagan Landing Shipyards, at the north of the lake. Room and board was included with the wages). After alterations to the ship in 1935, the maximum number of guests was reduced to 260 (plus crew of 31-33 staff, plus one mail room clerk, and two express room clerks. There were 30 rooms for overnight stays, and a total of 5 levels. It was a luxury vessel that was used to transport passengers and cargo to remote communities along the shores of Okanagan Lake, carrying up to 500 people at a time. The ship was in service for 22 years (until 1936). Photos courtesy of Greater Vernon Museum and Archives. The tug boats lasted much longer, with the last one operating until 1967. While the ships were still important for linking the North and the South of the lake, demand for passenger service provided by the stern wheelers dropped. The motorways were completed in the 1930s, and motor transportation increased in importance, further reducing reliance on the lake boats. The Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) line to Penticton was completed in 1915. The trip from North to South would take about 8 hours (or a 16 hour round trip).Ī few short years after the launch of the Sicamous, life in the Okanagan began to change. The upper levels of the ship were reserved for passengers. The CPR also had a contract for the mail routes, so letters and parcels would be transported inside. The cargo deck of the Sicamous would have contained: fruit and vegetables from the farms and orchards, livestock such as pigs or horses, machinery or supplies for building the KVR and many other items besides. Ships were the only reliable and efficient way for mail, people and cargo to travel. The lake boats would have carried everything needed for daily life and commerce. All rights reserved.The Importance of Steam Ships in the Valleyīefore the rise of the automobile, journey by ship was the fastest and easiest way to travel in the Okanagan. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Seven years later the Philadelphia, the first twin-screw steamship, was built at Glasgow. In 1881 the Servia, a merchant steamer capable of crossing the Atlantic in 7 days, was the first vessel to be constructed of steel. By the late 1850s the screw propeller was conceded to be superior to paddlewheels, and the steamship began to supplant the sailing ship. The first seagoing vessel to be fitted with a screw propeller was the Archimedes (1840) the Great Britain (1845) was the first large iron steamship driven by a screw propeller to cross the Atlantic. The first crossing under steam power alone was made in 1838, when two British steamship companies sent rival ships to New York within a few days of each other the Great Western made the trip in 15 days, arriving a few hours after the Sirius, which had left England 4 days before her. It was a full-rigged sailing ship fitted with engines and side paddlewheels during the crossing the engines were in use for about 85 hr. The first ocean crossing by a steam-propelled vessel was in 1819, when the Savannah voyaged from Savannah, Ga., to Liverpool in 29 days, 11 hr.
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