The "Shawnigan Queen" was originally a patrol boat in Victoria during the "Rum Runner" years of the 1920s and early 1930s. It was acquired by Frederick Mason-Hurley and was christened "The Forest Nymph".
After the renovation of the "Forest Inn" to the Shawnigan Beach Hotel in 1938, the launch was renamed The Shawnigan Queen. It was a popular attraction at the Shawnigan Beach Hotel, as its guests would frequently be given rides around the lake by owner, Denis Mason-Hurley. Sometimes it would also be used to pull children on make shift boards.
When the hotel was shut down in the early 1990s, Ken Charters acquired the Shawnigan Queen, in hopes to have it repaired and upgraded. In order to preserve it, he removed the interior items, including the engine and dashboard and stored them under cover. The hull, however, he sank in about 10 feet of water in Shawnigan Lake in hopes of keeping it intact until it could be resurrected.
In 2008, local Jim Green, convinced Ken that he could make that dream come true. He drafted local friend and contractor, Ron Cuthbert, to oversee the project.
On September 9, 2008, a crew, organized by Jim and Ron, arrived on the "burial spot" and worked out a plan to take it out of the water to fixed up. Even local news, CHEK TV showed up to film the event.
The plan proved successful and the hull was taken away for storage at Jim's property nearby.
However the hopes to revive the "Queen" fell short when the costs to do so amounted to close to six figures.
In the meantime, many of the interior components of the Shawnigan Queen were donated to the Shawnigan Lake Museum, and are on display in its exhibit section. So, in part, the Queen lives on.
You can watch the news report about this little part of history here:
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