Log of the Echo III

We left Vancouver Saturday,

The natives gave a cheer.

For we'd been standing at the dock

For over half a year.

But now she's got her bottom clean,

And looking mighty fine,

With half her railing laid away

And washing on the line.

Chorus:

What's the matter with Echo?

Not a single thing,

Her whistle gives a lovely toot,

Her bell will always ring.

She steps along at seven knots

To cheer a sailor's heart,

And we'll reach Louisa Inlet

If she doesn't fall apart.

O Captain Sherry's in command,

A seasoned salt is he,

He left the tarpot on the dock

And headed out to sea,

And Allan left the steering wheel

And scampered all around,

To tell his daddy down below,

"We nearly ran aground!"

We thundered out of Stanley Park

Before the morning came.

The cooks and crew were all asleep

But that was all the same.

The natives watched in reverent awe,

They all were stricken dumb,

The mosquitos and teretas shouted,

"Fellow, here they come!"

(Chorus)

We ambled into Buccaneer,

The engine coughed and died,

The Nor'west wind began to blow,

It was a running tide,

And Paul he tied the rowboat on

And pulled her from the land,

With seven captains on the bridge

And all were in command.

The Echo is a noble ship

As all Canadians know,

She used to be an oil barge

But that was years ago.

They built a handsome superdeck

To heighten all our joys,

With a galley and a main saloon,

And room for gulls and buoys.

(Chorus)

There was Diesel in the water

And the stores were getting thin,

The Shangri-La she volunteered

To take the steward in,

She brought us back the groceries,

And mighty glad were we

And Helen manned the motor boat

Without her lingerie.

O Marilyn's in the galley

A-mixing cookie dough,

And Harriet runs the dishpan

And Sherry's down below,

While Steve and Allan pole the raft

And Mal is cooking stew,

And Bud is in the wheelhouse

A-cussing out the crew.

(Chorus)

It was a lovely morning,

The sea was smooth as glass,

The seagulls circled round about

To see the Echo pass,

And everyone was at his post

While Allan baked a cake,

And Mal and Paula in the stern

Strewed garbage in the wake.

The compass was a little off,

The charts were out of date,

The Engineer he wasn't sure

If we made six or eight,

We had to get to Pender

Before the end of day,

So we hailed a passing salad boat

To point us out the way.

(Chorus)

Our boat she thumps and bumps along

As graceful as a bird,

She is the pride of Puget and

She's called the Echo Third.

We give three cheers for everything,

The echoes give reply,

And so she's called the Echo III

And that's the reason why.

We had a consultation

Aboard our little boat,

We needed milk for all the kids

And should we keep a goat?

We'd ring a bell to milk her,

Another bell to feed,

And she'd serve us for a foghorn

Whenever there was need.

(Chorus)

We tied our boat at Malibu North

To see its beauties rare.

The place was built for ritzy folk

But they are otherwhere,

We saw a northland Hollywood

So grand and so absurd,

And vowed that we had rather be

Aboard the Echo Third.

And when we reached the oyster beds

We quickly hied ashore,

And filled our buckets and our sacks

With more and more and more.

A noble food, we ate them stewed

We ate them cooked and live,

And I hope I never see another

Till 1955.

(Chorus)

We all went out a-fishing

But still we dined on meat

Cause all we caught were shiners

And they're not much to eat.

But Helen in the galley

Concocted noble fare

Of bully beef and powdered milk

And healthy mountain air.

The men all went a-fishing,

They paddled all about,

They set their bait for salmon,

They cast their lines for trout,

And Harriet in her solitude

Heard a terrific din;

"Marilyn's caught a 10 pound cod

On a bended pin!"

(Chorus)

We saw a pretty waterfall

A dimpling down the rock,

And Bud he took the motor boat

And tied it to the dock,

He took that little waterfall

And stowed it safe away

And took it out in far Lucerne1

To grow the Lucerne hay.

O Paula does the dog-paddle,

Paul he swims the mile,

Sherry swam the Hellespont

To win a lady's smile,

Mal she has the wherewithal

To keep her well afloat,

But the greatest swimmer of them all

Is Echo III the boat.

(Chorus)

Upon the point at Hamiltaire,

Where every vessel clears,

There stands an ancient totem

That's weathered with the years,

And when you near this landmark

From the leeward side,

You see that it is Uncle Bud

A-watching of the tide.

Oh have you seen the Echo?

She passed along this way.

She has a crew of water tramps,

Her color's black and gray.

She isn't quite a camp-boat,

She's surely not a yacht,

The seagulls wheel around her top

And whistle, "What is that?"

(Chorus)

O Bud he made a crab-trap

To pick us up a meal,

He made it out of chicken wire

And a rusty wheel,

The skipper of the Spindrift

Declared it had been made

By a scavenger by nature

And a carpenter by trade.

"O have you seen my waterfall?"

Said genial Mr. Mac,

"The Lord gave me the waterfall

And didn't take it back.

Oh some may boast a fine estate

And some may sport a crown,

But just give me a mountain

With a river falling down."

(Chorus)

We heard a plaintive melody,

Arising from below.

"What seems to be the trouble, Mal,

What makes you holler so!"

"With all the world of scenery

A-passing grandly by,

I'm down here in the galley-o

With onion in my eye."

O give a cheer for Canada

Where Echo has her berth,

Her scenery so wonderful

Her food of honest worth,

Her fair and gentle women

Her sturdy workingmen,

Whenever I think of Canada

I'll want to come again.

(Chorus)

What's the matter with Echo?

Not a single thing.

Her whistle gives a lovely toot,

Her bell will always ring,

We'll sail her round about the sound

Till all her stores are gone,

And she'll get back to Vancouver

With her rudder hanging on.