On June 25, 1965, the masts and gear of the P-Class Sloop Patricia were removed and given to the STV Pathfinder. The sails of Patricia were also used on Pathfinder until 1977 when the last of the re-cut sails became unusable.
Patricia was owned by Thomas K. Wade, who was a Past Commodore of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC). Designed by George Owen, Patricia was launched in 1912. Thomas K. Wade had been a member of RCYC since 1902. Unfortunately, Wade passed away suddenly on January 20, 1965. In accordance with his beneficiaries’ wishes, it was decided to dismantle Patricia and sink her in Lake Ontario, creating the “Patricia Memorial Fund.”
Commodore Paul Phelan, at the time, honored the memory of Past Commodore Wade and Patricia during the Sailpast event of 1965. On May 22, 1965, Phelan took the fleet’s salute from Patricia. Then, on Sunday, June 27, Patricia was towed into Lake Ontario and sunk in a simple ceremony. Ben Colenbrander and Gordon Nortone were on board to open her seacocks. The ceremony was officiated by Cannon Guy Marshall, the captain of the Mission to the Seaman for the Port of Toronto. As a gesture, Oswald K. Schenk donated his painting of Patricia to RCYC.
Meanwhile, the STV Pathfinder, with Patricia’s masts and gear, participated as an afterguard vessel in the RCYC Sailpast of that year, paying tribute to Patricia and Thomas K. Wade’s memory.
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