old boatshop in Steveston

[Garret]

I know I posted once saying thank you, but I'm happy to do it again. I don't know your part of the world now & certainly didn't 50+ years ago - so I am really enjoying both the interesting boats and the glimpses into peoples lives. Please keep going!

[Don Kurylko]

There's a lot of interest Ron! I, for one, am really enjoying it. Having grown up in Vancouver in the 50's I can totally relate to all these photos and events. I used to love going to Steveston back when it was still on Lulu Island and "Richmond" didn't even exist. My how times have changed!

[ron david]

There's a lot of interest Ron! I, for one, am really enjoying it. Having grown up in Vancouver in the 50's I can totally relate to all these photos and events. I used to love going to Steveston back when it was still on Lulu Island and "Richmond" didn't even exist. My how times have changed!

seems that names almost disappear . can't remember the last time that I heard Lulu Island, nor Brighouse. there will be more to come
thks
ron

[Chris-on-the-Boat]

Do you have any pictures of those gillnetter hulls planked up before they were painted? I've always wanted to see the plank lines on one of those in bare wood.

-Chris

[ron david]

Do you have any pictures of those gillnetter hulls planked up before they were painted? I've always wanted to see the plank lines on one of those in bare wood.

-Chris

I will keep my eye open if I see anything in the negs
ron

[ron david]

these were some of the interned Japanese fishing fleet in 1942 when my dad got the boatworks. this shows the backside of the building. it was first put up around 1905
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ron

[ron david]

here are a couple of gilnetters that are in the finishing stages. as you can see, movement around there depended on the tides. It was eventually dredged out in there to form a nice size pond . you will see a walkway(wharf) going out a ways in the pics. at the same time as the boatshop was built there was also a cannery built further out. you should still see a building in the pictures. it was pretty well gone by WW II. also at the end of this wharf was an opening in the jetty out into the mouth of the Fraser. At this point during the 2nd war there was an anti-aircraft gun mounted there. Believe that there was also an army camp about a 1/4 mi up the dyke towards the Steves farm.
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ron

[ron david]

another gilnetter being moved around
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ron

[ron david]

here is what was called a utility boat that the old man had built, believed to be 18'. thia appears to be the only picture that had any writing on the backside. it says it was 6'6"inside, room for 2 collapsible berths, lockers included,3 windows and engine installed and ready to go. $1400.00
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ron

[ron david]

here is what it looks like today from an aerial perspective with other views inc, the orig wharf ran along the bottom of the pond in the picture and the boat shop was at the head of it

http://wiki.worldflicks.org/scotch_pond.html

here is a link to a picture of the Scotch - Canadian cannery site and a picture of the Scotch Pond http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-...spx?id=2397#i1
ron

[ron david]

here are a couple of gilnetters that are in the finishing stages. as you can see, movement around there depended on the tides. It was eventually dredged out in there to form a nice size pond . you will see a walkway(wharf) going out a ways in the pics. at the same time as the boatshop was built there was also a cannery built further out. you should still see a building in the pictures. it was pretty well gone by WW II. also at the end of this wharf was an opening in the jetty out into the mouth of the Fraser. At this point during the 2nd war there was an anti-aircraft gun mounted there. Believe that there was also an army camp about a 1/4 mi up the dyke towards the Steves farm.
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ron

¤¤¤ Steveston Battery
(1940's), Steveston
A field emplacement for two 18-pounder MK1 guns. An AA battery was also located here. One 18-pounder gun was later replaced with two 25-pounder guns. Located on the northern bank of the mouth of the Fraser River, on top of the dike near the town.
this info confirmed from - http://www.northamericanforts.com/Canada/bc.html
ron

[Bernadette]

ron, i suspect a lot of people would be interested in your history and photographs.
it does take time and energy to sit and upload photos so on behalf of everyone i would like to say, please keep posting. we do appreciate your efforts.
some of us might not say too much but rest assured, many will be pouring over every minute detail in the photos and enjoying them immensly.
i for one find a lot of similarities looking at your photographs to that of my own fathers work and i will be showing your posts to my father when i get home as i know he will be most intersted to see them.

[Bobcat]

Thanks so much for sharing these photos and the memories. I have not posted before, but that does not mean that I am not very interested.

By the bye, my grandmother's family moved from Walla Walla, Washington to Lulu Island very early in the 20th Century. They did the pick by horse and wagon. It took about two weeks. Now in the Lower Mainland, if you mention Lulu Island you get blank looks

[ron david]

Thanks so much for sharing these photos and the memories. I have not posted before, but that does not mean that I am not very interested.

By the bye, my grandmother's family moved from Walla Walla, Washington to Lulu Island very early in the 20th Century. They did the pick by horse and wagon. It took about two weeks. Now in the Lower Mainland, if you mention Lulu Island you get blank looks

thanks Isak. what was your grandmother's family name. my mothers family moved there in about 1921 from Vanderhhoof, b.c. My grandfather went down to San Francisco 1n 1913 and brought my grandmother back up to Vanderhoof and she was Swiss and had taught english in New Orleans and San Francisco
ron

[Bobcat]

The family name was Bucholz. They were on the island by about 1910 or earlier. My grandparents were married by 1915.

[Phil Y]

+1 on the "this is interesting thanks for taking the trouble" theme. Or Like as its known on facebook.

[ron david]

My uncle Prosper was a deckhand on the "Iroquois" when it went down off Sidney, B.C. in 1911
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Prosper took a lot of water into his lungs and had a problem with it. he did sail for Australia for the climate in hope to clear his lungs out
ron

[Chris-on-the-Boat]

Did he continue in sea service in Australia?

It's amazing how much things have changed in the Pacific Northwest in a hundred years. It's also sad how few people are aware of the amazing history and what people had to do to survive and build civilization here only a few generations ago.

[ron david]

I am quite certain that he sailed afterwards. believe that 4 of the brothers sailed the merchant fleet during the first war and the early 20's as Grandmother got mail from around the world from them. I know that the old man had enlisted in the 1st war and got as far as Ireland before they discovered how old he was and sent him home. 3 or 4 of them worked on the whalers at one time or another.
there has been more written about the sinking of the "Iroquois" then any other ship sinking off of the B.C. coast
Prosper did bring a bride back from Australia.
ron

[Chris-on-the-Boat]

Thanks for the follow up. It must take some spirit (or big brass ones) to go back to sea after a fiasco like the Iroquois. The only boats I've ever been on that have sunk were designed to do so, and came back up (after weeks of months) as planned.

[ron david]

Thanks for the follow up. It must take some spirit (or big brass ones) to go back to sea after a fiasco like the Iroquois. The only boats I've ever been on that have sunk were designed to do so, and came back up (after weeks of months) as planned.

I think that he was only 15 years old in that picture above and when the Iroquois went down. so he was only a kid when it happened
ron

[ron david]

here is another Athabasca pic which I found hiding . I do have a batch that I only have 4x 6 negs of that I have to scan in. my older epson scanner on windows 7 do relate to one another all of the time and then it decides to work
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ron

[ron david]

here is link as to how the Bristol Bay boats were utilized in their day http://threesheetsnw.com/blog/2013/0...bay-sailboats/
i guess that illustrates the old statement; "when men were still men"
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here is 4 of the 5 that were sent to Bristol Bay. I have been trying to find out which cannery or whomever they went to. the 2 black vertical stripes would more than likely identify who they were fishing for
ron

[ron david]

found some more info on the tug today. It's name was "East Delta" not Delta Queen
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It ended up rotting away on the beach in Port Hardy, do have some of it's history coming
found it's registration
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ron

[ron david]

these are courtesy of Robert Critchley of Sayward
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ron

[ron david]

more from Robert Critchley
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[ron david]

Hi Ron:I have been watching your forum at woodenboat.com
I registered but don't seem to be able to post.
I thought that you and your readers might be interested in a little novel that I wrote some years ago.
In it I tell the life story of a wooden seiner built at the Atagi yard in 1927. In the novel I explain the practice of launching vessels bow first in order to move them through the mud and shallows.
Here is the link to the novel at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Suzie-A-Haigbrow/dp/088865068X


Regards
Alan

Atagi Boatworks was the name of the boat shop prior to WW II

ron

[ron david]

some more pieces of the puzzle from Ken Campbell of Half Moon bay

HI Ron Thanks for you enquiry. It has got me doing some real digging into my archives. I was able to uncover a bit of information about the Northern Breeze and Until II. Northern Breeze: built 1941 in Vancouver for Jentoft Eilertson. Probably built by Park Shipbuilders (aka Stanley Park Shipbuilders) in Coal Harbour. I couldn't find anything definite about who built her, but there is a 1942 item in Western Fisheries saying that she was in for repairs at Park, so it is likely they would have taken it back to the original builders. (Park Shipbuilders was the first establishment on Coal Harbour, right next to the Stanley Park causeway.) I've attached the registration info from the 1941 list of ships, and the Western Fisheries clipping. Though the registration says the Eilertsons lived in Rupert, the boat is mentioned several times as belonging to the Vancouver halibut fleet that fished out of Rupert. As you say, the boat became a Co-op boat and was one of the 5 main boats involved in the big UFAUW strike in Rupert in 1967. I'm attaching an item from the Rupert paper of the day. She was was owned by Ralph Deinstadt at that time. Also there are some pictures that you may not have come across on the UBC library site: http://digitalcollections.library.ub...e/order/nosort Until II: built in 1946 by Conrad Stokkeland in New Westminster. He was from a family of Norwegian boatbuilders. He seems to have worked mostly as a shipwright for other builders, such as Bensons, and built a few boats of his own through the 40s. John was the most well-known brother. (at least I think they were brothers) He ran the Stokkeland's New Westminster yard on Lulu Island in the 20s and 30s but then, interestingly, went to work for Park Shipbuilders as Superintendent. I'm fascinated with the stories and pictures of your Dad's boatbuilding shop. Lots of history there. I found one boat he built that is still registered: http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/...=190099&lang=e I wonder if this is the tug shown in your pictures? Also 3 others with closed or suspended registration. (clipping attached) Gorgeous wood turning and furniture! I particularly like the sea-urchin like creations. Do you have a studio in Sidney? I grew up in Sidney, but spent most of my life on the north coast in and around Prince Rupert. Right now I'm in Victoria. Thanks again for the intriguing questions!
Cheers Ken

I forgot to add this bit of info. You mentioned the Iversons. Stokkeland built a boat for Lew and Harold Iverson the same year as he built Until II, called the Kay. I don't have the original owner of the Until II. Next time I'm up at Uvic I will check to see in the Lists of shipping (they're on the open shelves there which is convenient to access).
ron

[ron david]

a few more items from Robert Critchley. this one is more on the tug "East Delta"
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ron

[ron david]

this one from Robert is about a name plate for an Easthope Engine that the old man had gotten from Easthope's and installed in '43
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ron

[ron david]

coming out of dodge cove and heading into pr. rupert before heading over to the Charlottes before the first halibut trip about 40 years ago on the Hells Gate. wonder if that old building is still there?
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ron

[ron david]

this was a 15' S.A.mahogany flag pole that I made for a 67' at Park Isle Marine shipyards about a dozen year ago. fellow from Texas owned it.
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ron

[ron david]

the "Siwash" this boat was built by my cousin Frank David out of Vancouver, B.C. I believe in the 60's. Frank also served in the Canadian merchant marines in WW II. His father Prosper who you have seen earlier in this thread who was the deck hand on the Iroquois when it went down off Sidney in 1911
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ron

[ron david]

more on the Siwash. Frank passed away a couple of years ago . think that he was 85
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[ron david]

one of the local fellows came into the shop about a year ago this time. H asked me if my dad's name was Mike and I replied so was my brother's. well then he said your dad built my dad a gilnetter called the "Tradewinds" back in 44-45. I thought that was sort of neat.
another time about 10 years ago I had this elderly lady in her high 80s come unto my shop> we got talking and I said that I was from Steveston. she said that she had 3 brothers that used to be in business in Steveston. I said then that you have to be an Easthope. I think that must have warmed her heart that someone remembered. use to go into Easthope''s quite often when I was a little kid with my dad when he was ordering or picking up an engine fpr onr of the boats.
ron

here is a picture of that gilnetter called the "Trade Wind". the picture was behind glass, tough to kill the reflection. It was sitting on a wall at the Tsehum Harbour Authority here in Sidney. that is Lloyd Rooke's Grandmother in the picture. it was his grandfather who bought it from my dad.
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ron