MV Rattlesnake explained

MV Rattlesnake was a ferry launched in 1907 to operate between the communities of Summerland and Naramata on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Rattlesnake was originally called Orillia before she was bought and renamed by pioneer John Moore Robinson, owner of the Okanagan Lake Boat Company. She was launched in 1907 and became Company's second boat after the tug Maude-Moore, though she was the third Summerland-Naramata ferry after Maude-Moore and the smaller Mallard.^[1] Rattlesnake was first used as Robinson's private launch before she began ferry service.^[2] She was a short, squat, slow and ugly tug that rode low in the water, but she was also powerful and she tugged cement pipe from factories, as well as hay and logs.^[3] In 1911, the Okanagan Lake Boat Company was sold to Peter Roe, who replaced Maude-Moore and Rattlesnake with two gas boats.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Book: Hatfield, Harley R. . Commercial Boats of the Okanagan . Okanagan history. Fifty-sixth report of the Okanagan Historical Society . 1992 . 20–33 . 2 Aug 2015.
2. Book: Naramata in Retrospect . The twenty-ninth report of the Okanagan Historical Society . 1965 . 184 . 14 Aug 2015.
3. Book: Higgin, C. Noel . The fifteenth report of the Okanagan Historical Society . The Summerland-Naramata Ferry . 1951 . 90–94 . 14 August 2015.
4. Book: Goett, R . Lakeboats of the Okanagan . PDF . Lake Country Museum . 2 October 2014.