The Launching

The Sicamous was so well liked and delivered such first class service that the she became known as the “Queen of the Okanagan Lake” or the “Great White Swan of Okanagan Lake.” But she was certainly not like a queen or a swan on the day of her launching. On May 19, 1914, she was eased into the water, and she promptly got stuck in the mud. She was stuck for most of the day but was finally freed with the help of the Aberdeen and the Castlegar. Once she was out of the mud, Captain George L. Estabrooks invited everyone to come aboard for a free ride. Reports say that over 400 people took him up on his offer.

A trip on the Sicamous took approximately half a day from one end of the lake to the other. The boat would leave Penticton about 6:00 a.m. and would arrive in Okanagan Landing in mid-afternoon. Some passengers would rent staterooms so they could board the boat the night before. That way they didn’t have to board at 5:30 in the morning. These overnight guests would be soundly sleeping when the boat got underway in the early hours. The boat made the return trip from Penticton to Okanagan Landing every day except Sunday. This CPR sternwheeler made 28 stops during her return trip, stopping at places like Hall’s, Rainbow Landing, and Sunnywold. These are the old names for Westbank, Okanagan Centre, and Carr’s Landing. The boat’s arrival in Okanagan Landing would be at the same time as the train’s arrival from Vernon. Passengers and freight could then be loaded directly from the train onto the Sicamous. The boat schedules sometimes had to be changed to wait for a late train. Generally though, the paddlewheeler would arrive back in Penticton around 8:00 p.m.