Persephone (tugboat)
Encyclopedia
Persephone is a steel logging tug used in the filming of the CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
series The Beachcombers
The Beachcombers
The Beachcombers is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that ran from October 1, 1972 to December 12, 1990 and is the longest-running dramatic series ever made for English-language Canadian television...
. Built as a small tug named John Henry, it is today preserved as a museum ship in the town of Gibsons, British Columbia
Gibsons, British Columbia
Gibsons is a coastal community of 4,200 located in southwestern British Columbia, Canada on the Strait of Georgia. It is the main marine gateway to the Sunshine Coast....
.
The tug was built in 1965 for Harry "Smitty" Smith, of Smith's Marina in Gibsons. As John Henry, the tug was used as a small tug
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
and work boat in the waters of the Sunshine Coast
Sunshine Coast
There are several places around the globe that use the name Sunshine Coast. They are collections of coastal towns and/or cities that have banded together, usually for tourist promotional reasons...
. In 1972, the vessel was chartered by CBC Television to portray a log salvage
Marine salvage
Marine salvage is the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or other property from peril. Salvage encompasses rescue towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship...
boat owned by the central character Nick Adonidas in the series "The Beachcombers". The tug's television name, taken from the Greek goddess Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
, reflects Nick Adonidas' Greek heritage. The tug appeared in most episodes of the long-running series. Her battered, black hull became one of the show's iconic backdrops. Despite her small size and modest speed, her strength, seaworthiness and reliability made Persephone something of a character in her own right, often contrasted with the fast and aggressive jet boat piloted by Relic, Nick Adonidas' longtime rival.
After the end of the series in 1990, the engine was removed and Harry Smith donated the vessel to the Town of Gibsons in 1991. The tug was kept for several years at the town public works yard. In 2003 the Sunshine Coast Museum & Archives Society in Gibsons took ownership of the tug for restoration. John Henry was removed from the vessel registry on June 13, 2003 as a team of volunteers restored the tug to its appearance in the television series as Persephone. The tug was transferred back to the Town of Gibsons in 2007 after restoration was complete. It was agreed that the vessel would not be used in the water again but would be prominently displayed in the town. A location was chosen at an intersection of Gower Point Road, just down the road from the Sunshine Coast Museum & Archives which continues to maintain a display about the show's production, and just up the road from Molly's Reach, the cafe building which featured prominently in the series. Persephone was installed by crane on a special landscaped cradle in July 2007 during the town's annual Sea Cavalcade celebrations.