Apparently, John Voss and his companion in this venture, Norman Luxton, were inspired by the voyage of Joshua Slocum, who sailed the 37-foot (11 m) sloop Spray around the world a few years earlier and wrote a best selling book about his adventures.

The boat was refitted - reinforced, covered and rigged with sail, 230 square feet (21 m2) in total, and readied for her voyage at a shipyard in Spotlight Cove on Galiano Island BC.

Tilikum was then sailed to Oak Bay harbour, then departing from there for the Cook Islands on May 20, 1901, captained by Voss and mated by Luxton.

[1] Tilikum was crewed by 10 more men between that time and when she finally pulled into harbour on the Thames in London, England in September, 1904.

She was moved to another vantage point at the Exhibition Buildings, but during loading onto a 'wagon', the hook broke and she was damaged, with splits appearing in five different places.