Tilikum (boat)
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The Tilikum was a 38 foot dugout canoe that was used in an effort to circumnavigate the globe starting in 1901. The boat was a "Nootkan" (Nuu-chah-nulth) canoe which was already old when it was obtained by captain John Voss in April of 1901. The boat was built in the early 1800s as a dugout canoe made from a large red cedar log. The Tilikum was purchased for $80 in silver from a native woman (Voss describes her as a "siwash") in a transference ceremony allegedly sealed by a bottle of rye whiskey - the name Tilikum means "friend" in Chinook jargon. Apparently, John Voss and his companion in this venture, Norman Luxton, were inspired by the voyage of Joshua Slocum, who sailed the 37 foot sloop "Spray" around the world a few years earlier and wrote a best selling book about his adventures.
The boat was refitted - reinforced, covered and rigged with sail (230 sq ft in total) and readied for her voyage. The Tilikum was sailed out of Oak Bay harbour on May 20, 1901, captained by Voss and mated by Luxton. The boat limped into harbour at Penrhyn Island in the Cook Islands on September 2, 1901. Luxton abandoned the effort after they reached Suva, Fiji on October 17,1901. The Tilikum was mated by 10 more men between that time and when she finally pulled into harbour on the Thames in London, England in September, 1904.
Captain John Voss published his sailing memoir as The Venturesome Voyages of Captain Voss in 1913. The Tilikum changed hands a number of times but is now on display at the Maritime Museum in Victoria, British Columbia.
