[BCMA] Vancouver Maritime Museum : EXHIBIT CLOSURE - National Heritage Site, RCMP schooner St. Roch Closed Until Late Fall

Mon Jul 23 18:35:34 PDT 2012

 I worked at the Vancouver Maritime Museum and then on the St. Roch for
4-years, from 1974 to 1978. I also served in the Royal Canadian Naval
Reserve, learned to sail under the Canadian Yachting Association, had a
family wooden schooner (re-rigged as a sloop) and more recently I was
responsible for the Samson V Maritime Museum.

There were several serious factual errors in the press release and as I
subsequently discovered, on the VMM's web site about the St. Roch.

*Press release errors: "**National Heritage Site, RCMP schooner St. Roch
Closed Until Late Fall*"* *Aside from some words that were joined but
should not be and the American spellings, the R.C.M. Police St. Roch is *no
longer a schooner and she is not a ship*, she is a ketch. People can argue
if she is a ship, but the rigging name is clearly wrong. It is also a
designated National *Historic (not Heritage)* Site.

*VMM web site errors:* *"(1944 configuration) ... Power source: 150hp Union
diesel, 6 cylinder, schooner rigged."* -* The 1944 configuration was 300
h.p. engine and she was ketch rigged*.

The St. Roch was a schooner (shorter mast forward) when she was built in
North Vancouver in 1928, but in 1944 as I recall, in Halifax, she was
converted to a ketch rig (taller mast forward), the 150 h.p. engine was
replaced with a 300 h.p. engine and a much larger cabin was built for the
crew.

Then when she was retired in Vancouver, her entire "Halifax" built
superstructure was scrapped and she was re-rigged as a schooner with the
small "Vancouver" style cabin rather than the larger Halifax style --- an
West Coast - East Coast rivalry there.

In the early 1970s Parks Canada restored the vessel to her 1944 appearance
which included re-rigging her as a ketch (larger mast forward) due
primarily I was told to the 1944 period 300 horsepower engine that is in
her as our tours included taking most visitors below decks - so for
consistency she should be the same time period above and below decks.

In summary, she has been a schooner twice and a ketch twice. She presently
is a ketch, not a schooner (something the maritime museum should be
especially conscious of!) and has her 1944 period 300 h.p. engine.

In 1974 we had 11 Parks Canada staff. Now there are none. This is a sad
example of Federal cutbacks which endanger our heritage treasures.

Some memories stick with you, especially the constantly repeated songs
on the radio in the foc'sle. ---  "I'm going to buy a paper doll that I can
call my own. A doll that other fellows cannot steal...."

*Found during restoration:* A small Bible or New Testament was found in the
foc'sle (forward crew area) during restoration. One of the crew said he had
placed it there in the 1940s while he was lying on his bunk, by reaching up
and placing it on top of a horizontal beam - and there it stayed for
several decades! It might have been Billy Cashin's but I am not sure.

*
Sentimental moment: The widow of the 1944 voyage's Inuit Guide Joe, came on
board for the official opening in 1974 along with her grown kids. In 1944
they had camped in a tent on the main hatch during the voyage and this is
recreated. She was blind and she climbed into the tent and started crying
as her memories flooded back.
How is that for a compliment to the Parks Canada Curator?

Conservation nightmare:* The Parks Canada Curator thought a musk-ox skull
would look nice and authentic on deck, so he sent one to us. It still had
some flesh on it which he expected would dry naturally. It did not. Bugs
appeared, crawling all over it. I ended up climbing up a steel ladder,
opening the steel hatch and placing it on the roof of the Maritime Museum
to dry out and weather naturally. When I checked on it later, the tar of
the roof had melted on hot days and had stuck to the skull and the fibres
of the horns had deteriorated and started to spring out, making it look
like a wire bristle brush. I suspect that the skull is still up there.

*Coincidences:* Interestingly, one of her daughters, Mary Panagooshuk as we
called her, met my Dad when he was serving as a doctor in the Eastern
Arctic on board the C.D. Howe c,1958-1959 and he had her make parkas for
our whole family. I still have some of these parkas.  We were then living
in Ottawa and Henry Larsen lived just down the street. In 1959 we knew
about this famous man but sadly I never did get to meet him.

 *Ghost story:* One night another guide and I were on late duty as we were
open to 9 pm I believe. It was "dead" quiet. A few minutes before 9 pm we
were sitting in the museum's lobby talking about the long-time skipper of
the vessel, Henry Larsen. At that moment the heavy wood and glass doors
connecting the lobby with the shelter for the St. Roch, swung open and then
closed - all by themselves! Suffice to say we hastily closed up and went
home!

*Funny stories*:

1. Henry Larsen was a skilled seaman and Arctic navigator when the RCMP
recruited him c.1928. He was sent for police training at 33rd and Heather
in Vancouver, where horsemanship was a compulsory subject. Unlike the other
recruits, he was not allowed near a horse.They were afraid that a horse
would kick him and they would lose their only Arctic skipper/navigator.

2. The Guide Supervisor, John, decided to order a rubber stamp with the
address for the St. Roch National Historic Site. He was an Englishman and
was very proud of his English and his diction. He ordered the stamp over
the telephone. When it arrived, it read "*St. Roch National Stork Site*"  I
wanted us to keep it but John insisted on returning the rubber stamp so
that a correct one could be made. I did however keep an impression of the
stamp - for posterity.

3. Wayne, the Parks Canada Curator thought that we should appeal to more of
the senses of the visitors. He had a dummy walrus and some stuffed Husky
dogs on board. Accordingly he sent us some machines and spray cans. The
machines would automatically depress the spray button on the cans at
intervals, just like those modern air fresheners that we see today on TV.
The cans contained various authentic smells. One of these was dog kennel
smell.  .... Wait for it ....
Down in our office, one of our young male tour guides decided to see what
it smelled like. He pressed and sniffed. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing.
Then he held the button down for a LONG spray.  .... We had to evacuate the
office for a whole day!  John refused to install the machines, so they went
they went straight into permanent storage.

Colin MacGregor Stevens, CD
Richmond,
British Columbia,
CANADA

On 2012-07-18, at 11:58 AM, "Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv." <
bcma at lists.vvv.com> wrote:

  PRESS RELEASE****

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****

Vancouver Maritime Museum****

* *

*EXHIBIT CLOSURE *

*National Heritage Site, RCMP schooner St. Roch Closed Until Late Fall***

** **

VANCOUVER, BC (July 2012)* * — *Every Ship Needs a Safe Harbour.* ****

(Image<https://twitter.com/vanmaritime/status/224959498685657089/photo/1/large>
)****

Nearly fifty years after RCMP schooner St. Roch was brought ashore and the
A-frame shelter built up and around her, the *Vancouver Maritime Museum* and
the *City of Vancouver* are undertaking much-needed repairs to the building
and fire suppression system to protect her from fire and water damage. ****

** **

Although the A-frame shelter and St. Roch will be inaccessible during the
repairs, all our other galleries will remain open, including featured
exhibits: DON’T EAT THE WHALE MEAT and GIRL IN WETSUIT: A Journey to a
Vancouver Icon. The Vancouver Maritime Museum is offering a variety of
activities and crafts throughout the summer. ****

** **

*About St. Roch*

Built for the Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceForce to serve as a supply ship
for isolated, far-flung Arctic RCMP detachments, St. Roch was also designed
to serve when frozen-in for the winter as a floating detachment with its
constables mounting dog sled patrols from the ship. ****

** **

Between 1940 and 1942 St. Roch navigated the Northwest Passage, arriving in
Halifax harbor on October 11, 1942. St. Roch was only the second ship to
make the passage, and the first to travel the passage from west to east. In
1944, St. Roch returned to Vancouver via the more northerly route of the
Northwest Passage, making thetrip in a record breaking 86 days. The epic
voyages of St. Roch demonstrated Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic during
the difficult wartime years, and extended Canadian control over its vast
northern territories.****

** **

Retired after returning from the Arctic in 1948, St. Roch was sent to
Halifax by way of the Panama Canal in 1950. This voyage made St. Roch the
first ship to circumnavigate North America. Returned to Vancouver for
preservation as a museum ship in 1954, St. Roch was hauled ashore in 1958.
In 1966 the A-frame building was built over her to protect her, and the
Canadian Parks Service restored her to her 1944 appearance. The ship is the
centerpiece of the Vancouver Maritime Museum at Kitsilano Point.****

* *

*Information about St. Roch and her designation as a National Heritage Site can
be found HERE<http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=83&utm_source=July+St.+Roch+Closure+announcement&utm_campaign=Summer+2012+News&utm_medium=socialshare>
. *

** **

*For more information go to www.vanmaritime.com** or contact:*

Jen Hill****

Marketing Officer****

jen at vancouvermaritimemuseum.com****

604-257-8300/Direct 604-257-8302****

** **

*The Vancouver Maritime Museum is a not-for-profit museum and gallery that
celebrates the profound significance of the oceans and waterways of the
Pacific and Arctic, through the preservation and growth of its
extraordinary collection, and as a centre for dialogue, research, and
experience. *

* *

** **

###****

  Jen Hill
Marketing
604.257.8302
@vanmaritime

Vancouver Maritime Museum
1905 Ogden Avenue
Vancouver BC  V6J 1A3
www.vanmaritime.com

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