The Tilikum was a 38-foot (12 m) 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 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 (11 m) 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.
On 25 October 1901, after leaving Suva, the mate, binnacle and compass were lost in 'large breaking seas'. Voss was now alone without a compass, 1200 miles from Sydney. Tilikum is claimed to be the smallest deep-water ship to have ever entered Sydney Harbour till this time.
Tilikum arrived in Melbourne on 13 March 1902 and was exhibited in full rig in Collins Street. She was moved to another vantage point at the Exhibition Buildings, but during loading onto a 'wagon', the hook broke and she was damaged, with splits appearing in five different places. Voss repaired it himself using thin steel ribs.
She was then sailed on Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, and presented with a new set of sails by local yachtsmen, before travelling to Geelong to be returned to the sea.
Voss was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London after lecturing in Britain about the voyage.
Captain John Voss published his sailing memoir as The Venturesome Voyages of Captain Voss[1] in 1913. The Tilikum changed hands a number of times but is now on display at the Maritime Museum in Victoria, British Columbia.
Norman Luxton kept notes of the voyage; his Tilikum Journal (ref), edited by his daughter Eleanor was published in 1971.[2]
==The Age (Melbourne) 11, 14, 25 March 1902; 23 April 1902. References==
Coordinates: 48°25′33.26″N 123°22′7.66″W / 48.4259056°N 123.3687944°W
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