Statistics:

M.V. Cy Peck
Previous Names	Daily (1913-18) Island Princess (1918-30)
Place Built	Tacoma, Washington
Year Built	1913
Year Retired from BC Ferries	1966
At Retirement:
Vehicle Capacity	18
Passenger Capacity	135
Length	116.2 ft.
Gross Tons	171
Horsepower	280

Special Notes:

• The Daily was a wooden hull ferry built in Tacoma, Washington, for the Puget Sound Navigation Company. (Griffiths and Cadieux, 42)

• According to Gary and Patricia Bannerman, the Daily was "the first large ferry boat specifically designed to carry cars to arrive on the coast." (Bannerman, 40)

• The Daily first came to B.C. in 1918 when she was sold to Canadian Princess Steamships (CP) and renamed the Island Princess. Until 1930, she was operated by CP in the Gulf Islands area. She was then sold to Gulf Island Ferries and renamed Cy Peck. It was the Gulf Island Ferry Company's first ferry. (Bannerman, 40 ; Turner, 109)

• Gulf Island Ferries not only renamed the Cy Peck but rebuilt it and converted it to diesel powered engines. (Griffiths and Cadieux, 42)

• The Cy Peck was the first ferry to operate on the new Swartz Bay - Fulford Harbour route in 1930. (Bannerman, 42)

• In 1961, the Cy Peck joined B.C. Ferries with the rest of the Gulf Island Ferry Company fleet. BC Ferries bought the company's ferries and terminals on September 1, 1961 for $249,823. (Griffiths and Cadieux, 42)

• The Cy Peck was sold in 1966 to J.H. Todd and Sons Ltd. for $5,125. (Griffiths and Cadieux, 43)

Origin of the Names:

• Daily - Possibly after Day Island near Tacoma but this is only speculation.

• Cy Peck The Cy Peck ferry was named after Cyrus Wesley Peck, a B.C. war hero and politician. Peck was born in New Brunswick in 1871 and moved to British Columbia in 1887. He became an owner of several businesses around the province in the ensuing years and was an active member in the militia. Just prior to World War I, Peck married Kate Elizabeth Chapman and moved to Victoria. When the war began, Peck volunteered for service and fought in France in several major battles, including Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Passchendaele. Peck was eventually promoted to battalion commander and by the end of the war had been awarded two Distinguished Service Orders and the Victoria Cross. The latter was given for his leadership of an attack on German tanks under heavy enemy fire. In 1917, while he was in Europe, Peck was also elected to the Canadian Parliament for the Skeena district. Subsequently he moved to Sidney and raised three sons. In 1924, Peck was elected to the British Columbia Legislature where he served as an MLA for 9 years. Peck continued to live in Sidney until he died in 1956. (Allinson)

What happened to the Cy Peck?

• According to Griffiths and Cadieux in 1967, the Cy Peck was "destined to serve as a floating fish camp." (43)

• Robert Turner says (in 1977) that after the Cy Peck was used as a fish packer, she was bought by two Saltspring Islanders and "permanently moored" at Ganges. (136)

• John Anderson of Parksville spotted a photo of the Cy Peck at the Fanny Bay Inn showing the old ferry partially submerged at a dock. Previous to this, she was moored in Nanaimo and Hammond Bay (north Nanaimo) for several years.

• If you have any more recent information, please e-mail me.

Works Cited & Sources:

Allinson, Sidney. "Sidney's hero: A decorated soldier, he went on to be a successful businessman and a popular politician." Victoria Times Colonist. April 15, 2001, Final Edition, p.D12.

Bannerman, Gary and Patricia. The Ships of British Columbia. Surrey: Hancock House Publishers, 1985.

Griffiths, Garth, and H.L. Cadieux. Dogwood Fleet. Nanaimo: Cadieux and Griffiths, 1967.

Turner, Robert D. The Pacific Princesses. Victoria: Sono Nis Press, 1977.

Relevant Links:

Saltspring Island Archives Photographs (By I.D. Number)

Number 294 - Cy Peck arriving at Swartz Bay on the first day of the Swartz Bay - Fulford Harbour service.

Number 999.163.049 - Cy Peck at Ganges.

BC Archives Photograph (By Call Number)

E-03902 - Island Princess (front view).

A-07309 - Island Princess (side view).

I-20723 - Cy Peck (view from back).

D-03994 - Cy Peck near Saltspring Island

I-20713 - Cy Peck (not in picture) loading at Swartz Bay ferry terminal (in 1947 - very different from today!).

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Page by John Hammersmark.

This page was last updated on September 4, 2003.