Chasina was named after Chasina Island, which is in the Okisollo Channel west of Maurelle Island on the coast of British Columbia.[1] The actual meaning of "chasina", a word from the First Nations is unknown.[1]
Chasina was built in 1881 by John Elder & Co.[2] [3] The steel -hulled clipper-bowed ship originally was launched on November 3, 1881 as the steam yacht Santa Cecilia for a wealthy member of Parliament from a prominent family, Alfred Paget.[4] [5] (1816-1888). The vessel was built at Govan, Scotland, at the Fairfield yard of John Elder & Co.
The ship was 141.8 feet long, with a beam of 22.1 feet and depth of hold of 11.6 feet.[2] As a yacht, the ship's tonnage was calculated at 300 tons, using a special yacht tonnage measurement. As a commercial ship, the vessel was rated at 258 gross tons and 159 registered tons.[6] For operations on coastal British Columbia, Chasina was licensed to carry 200 passengers in summer and 153 in the winter.[6]
The vessel had a maximum speed of 13.5 knots, but generally proceeded as an average speed of 11.5 knots.[6]
As built, the yacht was equipped with compound steam engines.[7] The high-pressure cylinder had a bore diameter of 18 inches, with the low-pressure cylinder having a 36-inch bore.[7] The stroke length on both cylinders was 21 inches.[7] A single boiler was installed by the builders, which supplied steam to the engines at 100 pounds pressure.[7]
During the ship's career as the yacht Santa Cecilia, a number of notable guests were hosted on board, including King Edward VII and Lillie Langtry.[2]
In 1910 the ship was brought to the coast of British Columbia under Capt. Charles Polkinghome from the South Pacific.[2] [3] The ship was then purchased by the All Red shipping line, and renamed Selma.[2] The official Canadian registry number was 85075.[8]
Polkinghome continued in command of the vessel under the All Red line, which used the ship to serve a route out of Vancouver to Powell River in conjunction with another former steam yacht, the Santa Maria, renamed Chilco in Union service.[3] One ship would start at Vancouver at 9:30 am and the other would start at Powell River, usually passing at Sechelt, where both ships called.[3] Along the way, they stopped at a number of small landings, such as Roberts Creek, Pender Harbour, Stillwater, and Myrtle Point.[3]
In 1917, the All Red line and all of its ships and assets were purchased by the Union Steamship Company of British Columbia.[2] Selma was then renamed Chasina.[2] [9]
In 1923, Union Steamship decided to sell Chasina to make room for newer vessels which were then being brought into service.[10] [11] Chasina was then reputed to have been used as a rum runner.[2] On September 6, 1931, the ship departed Hong Kong and was never seen again.