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Soviet Yachtsmen Visit the Tilikum At the Maritime Museum of British Columbia

by John MacFarlane 2021

Soviet Yacht Crew

Soviet Yachtsmen From Nadhodka (near Vladivostok Russia). From left to right Dima Yermakov, Nikolai Kritsky, Vasily Demyaninko, Volodya Kondraskin, and Sasha Tuzovsky. (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

In the early summer of 1988 I had a surprise visit at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia at the old venue on Bastion Square. My memory of it is hazy now 33 years later but reminds us of the international reverence felt for the amazing dugout canoe Tilikum. I have often mentioned this visit when describing the significance of the Tilikum and her voyage to London by Captain John Voss.

Yacht racing was being to gain popularity in the old USSR, at that time, through sailing clubs and sailing schools. The crew that arrived in Victoria from Siberia worked with dependents and employees of a state–owned fishing company who had been chosen as instructors as a reward for dedication and hard work for the company.

They voyaged to Victoria from Siberia to participate in the Swiftsure Race. Their 13.1 metre sloop, the Kapitan Panaev, were unfortunately involved in a collision with the sloop Omega. Both vessels suffered internal damage and had to withdraw from the race only 20 minutes into the start. Captain Viktor Bukhalsky lodged a protest but I did not record the outcome of the decision of the protest committee.

With extra time on their hands the crew walked up to the Museum and asked to see the Tilikum. They donated a Russian‐language copy of the translated book originally published in Japan by Captain John Voss. It is now in the library collection of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. The crew indicated that the book was then very popular in the USSR and eastern Europe.

The Tilikum is the single most significant asset in the collection of the Museum and is the focus of interest from around the globe. It is now hidden from public view in a warehouse at Ogden Point, inaccessible to the public. Victoria can and should do better in presenting and interpreting this symbol of First Nations technology coupled with the unstoppable drive of Captain Voss in his three year voyage.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John (2021) Soviet Yachtsmen Visit the Tilikum At the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. Nauticapedia.ca 2020. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Soviet_Yachtsmen.php

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