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MOON path's end
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the Motor Ship Syrene, lying at Cannes, a now discarded plaything. The Society, learning the ship was sound overall, bought it. 1 The late Reverend John Antle, pioneer missionary in Columbia Coast Mission work, and a rattling fine sailor though then aged 70, undertook to go to Cannes from British Colum' bia and captain the Motor Ship from Cannes to London for a dedication ceremony.
He little dreamed the toil lying before him. The Syrene' s engines were in terrible condition. For weeks the new master and his crew of four chipped rust, cleaned, oiled and repaired. By a miracle they succeeded in making the decrepit engines carry as far as Gibraltar. Here at the Naval Dockyard it was necessary to install two new Widdop diesel engines. 1 i With new spring in her wake the Syrene came to London. She was dedi' rated beneath the shadow of Big Ben on Friday, June 16, 1933 by the Bishop of London, Winnington Ingram.
IN CHARGE of her aged skipper and crew of four she then crossed :he Atlantic, through the Panama Z!anal and up the Pacific to Van:ouver, and onward to northern waters. For three years she served as I Mission boat in the difficult island' lotted network known as "The In•ide Passage." Then, the Mission rejuiring a different type of craft, the lyrene again changed hands. She be;ame the pleasure craft of an Amerifan. Six years later, his death again but the ship on the market.
She was in better shape than ever, fier last owner had re-outfitted her
with two new 110 Ruston diesels, giving instant starting and pilot house control. She was valued by marine appraisers at $100,000. But no buyers came forward.
At this particular moment the British Columbia Forestry Department needed a new vessel to replace their best ship, the Caverhill, sunk in a collision during a fog. And they were in luck: they got the ship for a mere fraction of her value. She was fitted to meet all Forestry Department requirements. Her magnificent hull was warranted to outlast the youngest forester.
In the winter of 1943 the Syrene was on an inspection trip in northern waters. The then Assistant Chief Forester (today Deputy Minister of Lands for British Columbia) George P. Melrose, was making the inspection. He was an old friend of mine. Being in my vicinity, and as there was good anchorage for the night's stop, he sailed to my door to spend the evening.
And thus it was that, after being separated by the Mediterranean Sea, two oceans, and more than ten years of time, the Syrene and I were once more brought together. The Syrene had come 9,752 miles to anchor at my very feet!
No one in the world knew of my secret longing. George P. Melrose had no knowledge I had ever seen the Syrene. Sitting before my fire I told him, for the first time to anyone, my story, this story. And because he has a warm sympathy and a sense of the dramatic, my secret longing did come true : he took me on a two week cruise aboard the Syrene.