Cyrene

Cyrene was a steamboat that operated initially on Puget Sound and later on Lake Washington from 1891 to 1914. Cyrene and another similar vessel Xanthus were somewhat unusual in that they had clipper bows and were both originally built as yachts. Construction and launching Cyrene was built in Seattle in a boatyard on the site of Colman Dock. The vessel was commissioned as a yacht by James M. Colman, a prominent early Seattle businessman. Colman hoped that the building of the yacht would encourage employment in the shipyard. Matt Anderson superintended the construction of the vessel. She was launched in 1891 and passed her final inspection at the end of July that year. As originally built, Cyrene was long, in beam, and had a draft of . She displaced 21 gross tons. She was substantially enlarged in 1904 in order to carry more passengers at a cost of $4,000. The work was done at Atwood's wharf near Leschi Park. After this rebuild, she displaced 25 gross tons. She was lengthened to and had her beam increased to . Her pilothouse was moved to the upper deck in order to create more room for passengers on the lower deck. Cyrene's original engine was removed and installed on Inland Flyer in late 1900. Seattle Machine Works built a new compound steam engine for Cyrene in 1901, and it was installed at least by April of that year.