Ships Blog

North Stars structure is nearing completion, all frames have been installed, the deck beams are going into place and lots of fresh wood is getting steam bent into the vessel. Credits: Executive Producer: Lyle Franklin Director & Producer: Johannes Fast Camera 1: Johannes Fast Camera 2: Emerson Cymet Music: Lyle Franklin Post Production: Johannes Fast French Subtitles: Morgan Labaisse Business Enquiries: Marketing@favouriteboatworks.com https://www.favouriteboatworks.com https://www.northstarofherschelisland.ca Favourite Boatworks is a Vancouver based wooden boat repair and restoration business that offers professional shipwright, corking, and rigging services in the lower mainland. The business is based in Vancouver on the Fraser River and is servicing British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest wooden boat fleet. We wish to acknowledge that Favourite Boatworks is located on the traditional and unceded territories of the Indigenous Peoples of British Columbia. We pay our respects to the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples of this area, acknowledging their enduring connection to this land, and we would like to express our gratitude and respect for their historical and ongoing stewardship of these lands.

Come on a tour of the historical sternwheeler Samson V and see the work that is going into the vessel to bring it back to its former glory. "Samson V, launched in 1937, is the last surviving wooden steam-powered sternwheeler built for the federal Department of Public Works for use as a snag-boat on the Fraser River. At 418 gross tons and 115’ on deck, she was the fifth in a series of similar vessels dating back to 1884 that cleared debris, maintained aids to navigation and government docks, performed surveys and served other functions as needed. Samson V was the last steam-powered sternwheeler to operate in Canada and representative of a of the federal government’s long-standing involvement in maintaining the waterways of western Canada. The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada has declared the operation of sternwheeler snag-boats by the Department of Public works on the rivers of British Columbia an event of national historic significance and in the future intends to commemorate this by means of a plaque installed on or near Samson V, “the last representative example” of these vessels." ↓ Support Us On Patreon ↓   / favouriteboatworks   Narrator: Mark Mackenzie Credits: Executive Producer: Lyle Franklin Director & Producer: Johannes Fast Camera 1: Johannes Fast Music: Lyle Franklin Post Production: Johannes Fast French Subtitles: Morgan Labaisse

In this episode we visit Oarloack and Sail, a wooden boat club situated in English bay on the shorelines of Vancouver City, operating out of a floating boat shed at the Vancouver Maritime Museum’s Heritage Harbour. The club is a community of wood boat enthusiasts who engage in building, repairing, and sailing small wooden vessels. The club shares docks with many other wooden boats, North Star of Herschel Island being one of them. 

Come on boardthe legendary Delta Lifeboat, originally a wooden admirals barge built 1944 in Pearl Harbour during the second world war and supposedly serving Admiral Nimitz as his private vessel. Following naval service transporting flag officers moving between warships, she passed into private hands and was modified for use as a recreational vessel. She's one of the last serving wooden boats of her era, making her a exceptionally unique wooden vessel.

In todays episode the shipwrights finishes the re-framing of the wooden vessel North Star of Herschel Island, a mix of sawn, futtox and laminated frames have been steam bent in place replacing the old rotten frames. James goes in depth in the complexity of the framing process and touches on the first evidence of a framed wooden boat, the Khufu boat found at the foot of the Giza Pyramids.

In todays video we take a tour of the 58ft Sealing Schooner Favourite, the wood boat that gave Favourite Boatworks its name. Favourite is a Frank Fredette design sealing schooner, built in 1981. Favourite has an internal 74hp Lehman Diesel engine, and is currently undergoing a full restoration and renovation headed by Lyle Franklin. The boat has been rebuilt from the keel up with extensive repairs to framing, planking and house.

In this episode we go in depth on how the steambox set-up works and how we use it to bend the wood that goes into the North Star.

In this episode our team of shipwrights removes the old stem and masterfully makes a new one. Having carefully taken the dimensions of the old steam shipwright Dylan transcribed the measurements onto what is becoming the new stem.

In todays video we take a tour of the 37ft Gaff Cutter Rainbear, a 20 year project built by Guy and Estelle Curwen. Rain Bear is number 108 of Paul Gartside's designs and was launched in 2020. A wood boat with epoxy coated hull planking. A beautiful custom interior made with multiple species of reclaimed wood from Western Yew to Broadleaf Maple. The vessel is a testament to Guy & Estelle's eye for detail and a masterpiece of the BC coast.

In todays episode the crew wraps up the majority of the demolition, James talks about North Star's history and her role in the cold war and the US nuclear defence warning system. Quill shapes the first frames and fits it to the bow, and the stern gets lifted off for pattern making and rebuild.

In this episode we build a forklift attachment that lets the crew practice corking and paying seams before the work begins on North Star.

After a lot of demolition and destruction the light can finally be seen at the end of the tunnel, new frames are going in from both bow and stern and it wont be long until North Star has a full new set of frames. Maya and Aladino from Sailing Magic Carpet visits pays a visit and plays a tune.

In this episode the crew wraps up the majority of the demolition, James talks about North Star's history and her role in the cold war and the US nuclear defence warning system. Quill shapes the first frames and fits it to the bow, and the stern gets lifted off for pattern making and rebuild.

In this episode the Favourite Boatworks crew continues the work of stripping down the rotten wood and what's left of the aft interior, James gives us a lecture on corrosion and electrolysis based wood deterioration, later the crew struggles removing the propeller.

In todays episode the crew dives deep into the demolition work and explores how extensive the damages actually are, and how much work we have ahead. James gives us a course on wood rot and its preventions, and Gary finds a cannonball behind the stove.

In this episode the crew gets to work stripping the miles of tarry copper that sheets the hull of the North Star, revealing the original layer of ice protecting ironbark hiding underneath.

In this episode the crew gets to work setting up the new workshop for North Star and proceeds with lifting of the rotten pilothouse from the deck of the boat.

North Stars interior gets emptied and the deconstruction begins, what will the crew find once the paint gets lifted?

The North Star made it safely to Shelter Island and she made it up on the hard, now it's up to the crew to start taking her apart.

Follow along as we go trough the history of the North Star of Herschel Island, when she was built, where she sailed and how she ended up at Favourite Boatworks.

The North Star of Herschel Island is the last surviving arctic fur trading ship, a living relic of Canadian maritime history and one of few still floating sailing ships of her age. Purpose built in 1935 for two inuit fur trappers to sail the high arctic, she's got a rich history from asserting Canadian sovereignty during the cold war to searching for mermaids in the Aleutian islands.