Low Tide

Yacht Designer Tad Roberts' Web Log
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Wooden seine boat Chelsea Lake. Sank 1987Documenting Historic BC Boats

BC Maritime History

OF RATS AND MEN

By admin | Published: August 25, 2023
A story by Harry Roberts. Re-written by Tad Roberts in August 2022. From : Of Rats And Men, I believe this could have been an unpublished chapter of his Trail Of Chack-Chack book, or it was intended for the sequel to the Trail. The setting is Roberts Creek, approximately 1915-16. Bill is Harry’s brother, two[.....]

Cruising the West Coast of Vancouver Island by M. Wylie Blanchet.

By admin | Published: October 2, 2022
Cruising the West Coast of Vancouver Island By M. Wylie Blanchet Published in Rudder Magazine of December 1936 Is cruising the West Coast of Vancouver Island feasible for the small cruiser? “Quite feasible,” I thought, when I examined the charts a few years ago in search of new waters. “Quite feasible,” I continued to think,[.....]

SISTER KEELSONS

By admin | Published: April 13, 2021
Sister Keelson installation by Sterling Shipyard. The sister keelson’s were a west coast substitute for floor timbers, adopted to do the floor’s job and deal with some other problems. Floors do at least two things; connect the two sides together across the centreline, and connect the keel to the hull bottom. The sister keelsons do[.....]

Saving Old Boats

By admin | Published: January 14, 2019
Assessing the significance of a vessel From: Recording Historic Vessels by National Historic Ships, UK. The goal of researching a vessel’s history is to gain a fuller understanding of the significance of: A) The vessel’s uniqueness or typicality in terms of its type and function. Is she a surviving example of a once-common type or[.....]

Framing Wooden Hulls With UHMW-PE

By admin | Published: June 1, 2017
Wooden boat building, like all construction methods, continues to evolve with availability of skills and materials. But I have to come down against the wholesale replacement of bent oak ribs with UHMW-PE. As a semi-temporary sister frame repair in isolated cases, the use of UHMW-PE makes perfect sense. It’s easy to install and holds fasteners[.....]

The Cogge Nonsuch

By admin | Published: May 10, 2016
In 1916 Douglas P. Urry was serving (probably RCN) in the North Sea. While reading off watch he came across mention of “the Cogge Thomas,” and started to wonder what that ship might look like. He wrote to his brother, F. Wavell Urry, in Vancouver, and Wavell started sketching. These drawings are the result, the[.....]

Sakamoto Brothers Boatbuilding at Osland

By admin | Published: March 23, 2016
Above is the beautiful gillnetter Bee, built 1933 at Osland. She might be double-ended or round-sterned, but hard-chined (vee-bottom) which is very unusual. It’s launching day. There’s another boatshop in the background, along with one or two houses and a substantial deer fence. This may be one of the earliest streamlined pilothouses. Photo from the[.....]

Gillnetters at Cassiar Cannery

By admin | Published: March 21, 2016
Storing gillnetters ashore for the winter, at Cassiar Cannery outside Prince Rupert. These were probably taken either before or during WWII, some of the boats have round front proper pilothouses, but many are still the little square one-man box. Also they all seem to have the outside horns on the stern roller, before the taller[.....]

Post Class Patrol Boats

By admin | Published: February 8, 2016
Once again our Federal Government is selling off what I think are irreplaceable assets at a bargain price. Five of the 65′ x 17′ Post Class Patrol boats were built by Philbrook’s Boatyard in the early 1970’s. The next few days will see what I believe is the last one still in government service, the[.....]

BC Handliner, Luoma Loon

By admin | Published: November 28, 2015
Luoma Loon, BC Handliner built by the Luoma Brothers at Shack Island probably in the 1930’s. She’s 13’2″ x 4′ to the outside of her 1/2″ planking. 12 strakes of red cedar, six per side, on 1/2″ x 1″ bent frames spaced 6″. The Luomas built dozens of these between the 1920’s and 1940’s. At[.....]

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