A Very Short History of Boatbuilding in Pender Harbour

Undoubtedly, the first boats built in Pender Harbour were dugout canoes.  Members of the shishalh (Sechelt) Nation wintered there, where they fished and harvested shellfish.  Early white settlers fitted these canoes with sails, oarlocks and eventually small engines, tailoring them to their own needs and cultural traditions.

• Shishalh canoes fish Pender Harbour
• Pender Harbour shipwrights supply herring salteries of the 1920s
• Boatbuiding activity peaks in 1950s
• Plywood and fibreglass boatbuilding techniques perfected in the 1970s

By World War I, a fleet of fishers served the herring salteries of both Pender Harbour and Vancouver and a local community of shipwrights grew up to provide vessels  for the growing industry. Pioneers of this era included George Duncan and Harry Dusenberry.  By the 1950s boat activity was at its peak.  John Daly, along with shipwright Russell Keillor, constructed fish boats at the current site of the Seattle Yacht Club.  Gillnetters, seiners, trollers, tugs, water taxis, camp tenders and pleasure craft were built in the many shipyards in the Pender Harbour area.  Members of the Gooldrup, Farrell, Cumming, Duncan, Warnock, and Crosby families contributed their skills as designers and builders.  

By the 1970s, Marshall Rae constructed both work boats and pleasure craft at the site of Headwater Marina and, in the fishing off-season, Jimmy Reid built and repaired fish boats in Whiskey Slough.  But the 1970s also brought changes in building techniques, and the distinctive plywood hulls of Bert and Victor Gooldrup were easily recognized in the Harbour.  One of the Harbour's largest builders, Barry Farrell, pioneered fibreglass construction and produced hundreds of  32' and 37' gillnetters, as well as some 70' seine boats. By the 1980s fibreglass moulded boats were still in production by Don Penson in Garden Bay, while Fred Crosby and Jack Cumming continued to craft traditional wooden boats.