Campbell River Maritime Heritage Centre

News

Community mourns master shipwright

Dan Maclennan
Courier-Islander

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Campbell River has lost a coastal treasure but gained a national heritage site thanks to his invaluable experience.

Master shipwright Buford Haines passed away last week at the age of 82 after a short battle with cancer, and after leading the team of volunteers who rebuilt the BCP 45 from the keel up.

"Just a little over three years," he said of the project last November as the crew gathered at the Maritime Heritage Centre once more for the last major part of the restoration - the stacking of the seine net on deck. "I never kept track of the time though.

"We're getting pretty close now. It feels pretty nice. We had a good crew, a really good crew. None of them had worked on boats before."

He's been described as a teacher, mentor and friend to everyone who knew him. His career as a fisherman and boat builder gave him great joy and satisfaction. Haines was born in Spallumcheen on May 22, 1924. He lived in Bella Coola and Naramata before settling in Heriot Bay in 1936.

"I went to school on Quadra," he said in November. "I went to work on the tugs and then I went over to the cannery at Redonda Bay, the reduction plant and cannery.

"Then in '44 I thought I'd better go and learn something, so I went down and worked (at Bensons Shipyards in Vancouver) for a couple of years. Then I came back and went fishing for dogfish for awhile.

"I've been fishing and building boats ever since."

He married Louise Henshall on May 9, 1946. They celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary in 2006.

The restoration of the BCP 45, the seiner that graced the back of the Canadian five dollar bill from 1972 to 1986, was a test of Haines' skills as a shipwright and foreman. The now gleaming vessel housed at the Maritime Heritage Centre has been officially declared a national historic site, with ceremonies slated for this October, but the ship was in pretty sad shape when it first arrived. The restoration was a much bigger job than first thought.

"Pretty well everything, right from the keel up is all new," Haines said. "All the planks, all the decks, all the beams, 90 per cent of the ribs. I would say there's close to 15,000 board feet in it."

But that wasn't the worst of it.

"The hardest part was there was no plans for it," Haines said. "We didn't have anything to go by other than just memory."

As friends and family gathered last weekend at the Maritime Heritage Centre to share memories of Haines and to celebrate his life, the Victoria Times Colonist was going to press with a front page photo and feature story on the boat he recreated.

Master boat builder passes away

Buford Haines spearheaded restoration of BCP 45

By Paul Rudan
The Mirror
Mar 23 2007

In the last few years of his life, Buford Haines spent hundreds of hours working on his labour of love, the historic BCP 45, at the Maritime Heritage Centre.

On Saturday, at 1 p.m., family and friends will gather at the centre to celebrate the life of Haines who died on Monday of cancer. He was 83.

Haines spent most of his his life on the water as a fisherman and then as a master boat builder. He was born in Spallumcheen, lived in Bella Coola and Naramata, and then settled down in Heriot Bay with his wife Louise and two children, Larry and Lynda.

Last year the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

More than three years ago, Haines and a handful of volunteers began rebuilding Canada’s most famous fishing vessel inside the Maritime Heritage Centre. Haines saw the project through to completion and led the craftsman who meticulously rebuilt the old table seiner.

“(Haines) won’t blow his own horn but I will,” volunteer worker Glenn Ashby told the Mirror last year. “He’s known up and down this coast for his experience and expertise. We still get people coming in here to ask him questions.”

Last June, Buford was climbing up and down ladders as they completed the restoration project. But he took a moment to take a seat on the deck of the BCP 45, as he reflected on his life and his work.

“I built 20 wooden boats over 20 years in Campbell River, and during the summers I would go fishing. As a fishermen, it helped me understand what needed to be done,” said Haines.

At the age of 13, he built his first boat and by age 80, he was working on his final piece de resistance, the BCP 45.

“It would have fallen apart and we realized what we had to do,” stated Haines.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the BC Cancer Agency or the Maritime Heritage Centre.

Campbell River Mirror 1 November 2006

Campbell River Mirror 16 June 2006

With surprising agility for an 82-year-old, Buford Haines climbs up and down ladders and scaffolding, and works in tight spaces which would make most people feel claustrophobic.

So what would possess an octogenarian to keep working, five days a week for the past two-and-a-half years?

“A labour of love,” says fellow worker Glenn Ashby, who, at 62, is just a “pup” compared to Haines.

And that love is the BCP 45, Canada’s most famous fishing vessel which is being rebuilt inside its “retirement home” at the Maritime Heritage Centre.

“We’re getting close to the end now. Maybe another six months work,” muses Haines, a master boat builder, during a morning break.

It’s Wednesday and this week the volunteer workers have hit another milestone in the rebuilding process. The BCP 45 table seiner is being repainted white with a rust-red coloured hull.

“It’s starting to look pretty good,” says Ron Macdonald, one of the six full-time volunteer workers.

The others include Don Nelson and brothers Vic and Bruce Andersen. They usually work every morning, Monday to Friday, rebuilding the 1927 vessel that was featured on the back of Canadian five-dollar bills in the 1970s.

The vessel was also named a national historic site last September and is the centrepiece of the downtown Maritime Heritage Centre which was constructed by local Rotarians.

When the vessel was finally retired – after being used for decades to fish for salmon in Johnstone and Georgia Straits – and turned over by skipper Ollie Chickite, it was first thought that little work needed to be done.

But once Haines stuck his head inside the “guts” of the vessel, he knew it would take more than a few patch jobs and a coat of paint to keep it intact.

“It would have fallen apart and we realized what we had to do,” says Haines, who built his first boat, an eight-footer, at the age of 13.

With his guidance and expertise, the volunteer workers have replaced all the dry-rotted wood, put in a new engine and fuel tanks, taken off the back drum roll and replaced it with at “table,” and have completed a thousand other little jobs.

“There’s still a lot to do but they’re finicky, finishing jobs,” says Ashby who gives a lot of credit to Haines. “He won’t blow his own horn but I will. He’s known up and down this coast for his experience and expertise. We still get people coming in here to ask him questions.”

Haines simply smiles and says the rebuilding project has helped him remain young at heart. He has spent a lifetime in Campbell River, building boats and fishing, and this project is the culmination of those many years.

“I built 20 wooden boats over 20 years in Campbell River, and during the summers I would go fishing. As a fishermen, it helped me understand what needed to be done,” says Haines. In addition to the volunteer workers, Ashby says this has truly been a community project. The fine yellow cedar was donated by Weyerhaeuser and TimberWest, Tom Pallan had wood milled and delivered along with Rona, Catalyst donated the stainless steel fasteners, Alex Baikie donated the 1955 Vivian diesel engine, and CR Metal Fabricators made and donated the fuel tanks.

“Everybody has stood up to the plate and delivered. That’s what makes this project so rewarding,” says Ashby. “To me the (BCP 45) is the equivalent of the Blue Nose schooner on the West Coast. I think it symbolizes the fishing industry through all generations, past and present. It has a tremendous legacy.”

Staying afloat:
Campbell River’s newest star

Article taken from Tourism Magazine April 2006

For those among us old enough to remember it, the $5 bill did not always have a hockey player (current) or a kingfisher (1986 – 2004) on the back. In 1973, the Bank of Canada released the “Scenes of Canada” series and adorning the back of the $5 bill was a fishing boat: the BCP.45.

Vancouver’s Burrard Shipyards built the BCP.45 in 1927 as a table seiner for Packer's Steamship Co. She was built with Douglas fir planking, oak gunnels and capping, with cedar for top planking. The vessel rose to fame in 1958 when she was photographed during the sockeye season near Ripple Point, BC located just north of Campbell River. The photograph first appeared on the cover of the Toronto Star's Sunday magazine before its use by the Bank of Canada. In 1986 the BCP.45 was invited to Expo ‘86 in Vancouver where thousands of people walked her decks. The ship proved popular, earning a rating of Number Six out of the 185 exhibits from Maclean's magazine.

In 1996, after 68 years of service as a salmon seiner, troller, gill-netter and herring boat, the BCP.45 was retired from the industry and on June 8, 2002 (following a brief stint in the Vancouver Maritime Museum) the BCP.45 moved into her present location inside the Campbell River Maritime Heritage Centre.

Several years ago the District of Campbell River began soliciting ideas from its citizens on the potential uses for a block of land near the Discovery Pier in the area’s central core. From this was born the Maritime Heritage Centre, a facility to showcase the history of the sea and its links to the community. With strong support from the local Rotary Club, fundraising was initiated in 2000, construction started in October 2001, and the Campbell River Maritime Heritage Society took over the facility in December of 2004. Since then a team of volunteers has been steadily working to restore the seiner back to her original condition, providing both a showpiece for the new facility and a tourism drawing card for the town.

The local community has rallied around the cause with donations of time, money and resources. Two logging trucks full of yellow cedar logs were donated, milled and delivered on site by local suppliers. The cedar was cut to size and will be used for the restoration of the BC P.45. The volunteer boat builders are replacing decayed ribbing and planking along with the deck beams and decking. The cabin is also getting a “make-over” replacing the rotten interior materials. Restoration work is carried out each day, starting at 7:30 a.m. until the fog horn blows at noon. The drills, saws, sanders and hammers are silenced and the work crew heads home for lunch while the Heritage Centre staff make preparations for the afternoon tours.

"We’re an interpretive centre and museum with many impressive marine artefacts,” explains Trish Whiteside, operations manager at the Maritime Heritage Society. “The BCP.45 is our centrepiece. We run tours in the building every weekday and plan to continue developing this aspect to include weekends too. The building is still a work in progress and has not fully touched on its complete potential as a tourist attraction."

“Our current location gives us a number of advantages that pretty much secure its place in the tourism market and generate business for local community,” she continues. The building shares its spot with another major Campbell River attraction, the Discovery Pier, visited by just about everyone who comes to the city. More than just a museum, the Heritage Centre serves as a focal point for the downtown core and provides space for conventions, meetings and community events.

“We are also home to regular annual events promoting local merchants, businesses, artists, painters and writers. Food, drink, art, books, crafts, and wares of all kinds share the space.” The busiest season for the facility is – surprisingly – not May through October but the Christmas season.

On September 17, 2005 the BCP.45 was declared a National Historic Site, a significant title which in itself adds marketing value (and recognition from Parks Canada). Although it has already been declared, the official presentation won’t be until May 2007. In the meantime work on the boat continues: “Through the fall we worked on painting in the engine room. We’re now wrapping up the installation of the engine, and then it’s on to electrical work and construction of the table seine. Our returning visitors do notice the changes!” Whiteside says.

Programs are in the development stage to provide more and more to the local community in the areas of education, culture, art and sport. A new cruise ship dock is being built outside the breakwater of the Discovery Harbour Marina and preparation for expanding visiting hours is underway. The overall consensus: "It is a well received, much needed space enhancing the Campbell River community".

Of five identical table seiners built, only two survive; three have sunk or been wrecked, one has been converted into a pleasure boat plying the waters of the Fraser River, and the BCP.45 has sailed into a fortunate – and glamourous – retirement.

BCP45 now National Historic Site

Campbell River Mirror - September 23, 2005
Official: Federal minister proclaims the national significance of fishing vessel

First Part of the article.
Second Part of the article.

The designation means the site will be posted on the Parks Canada Web site. Keep checking to see when it is published. http://www.pc.gc.ca/progs/lhn-nhs/index_E.asp

Dianne Bersea

The Maritime Heritage Society is honoured that Dianne Bersea of Manzanita Muse Studio has chosen The Maritime Heritage Centre to hang her painting "Gulf of Georgia Cannery NHS" We are appreciative of this loan. The history is shown through keys making it interactive & magical. Use the keys & you can follow a segment of our colourful maritime history that has helped to mold who we are to-day. (To see in closer detail).

June 8, 2005

Oceans of Fun

May 25, 2005

Community Excellence Awards

Nominees: For the Chamber of Commerce 2005 Community Awards of Excellence: Buford Haines

Community Excellence Awards 2005

Nominees for 2005 - Community Awards of Excellence Ballot

May 25, 2005

The men behind the ship
Buford Haines leads a crew of dedicated volunteers who are restoring the historic BCP 45 seine boat at the Maritime Heritage Centre. Geoff Goodship - Campbell River Mirror - May 25, 2005

Last plank was finally installed on May 5, 2005

Seven months after starting to replace all of the planks on the BCP 45, the last plank was finally installed on May 5, 2005. A gourmet barbeque was held in order to celebrate the event. Work has started to replace the rotten wood around the base of the cabin and installation of the engine room lining will start shortly.

Campbell River Mirror 4 May 2005

Boat Branders

Glenn Ashby, vice-chair of the Maritime Heritage Society, Timerline teacher Jim Hesketh and students Simon Desjardins and Kayla Hayward stand in front of the centre's showpiece BCP 45 fishing boat. The boat inspired the students to create a logo and slogan which will be used on letterhead and souvenirs at the centre's office.

Students Design Winning MHC Logo

Two students have had their work chosen to "brand" the Maritime Heritage Centre.

Timberline Secondary School students Simon Desjardins and Kayla Hayward were presented Friday with awards from the Maritime Heritage Society for their contribution to the centre. Desjardins designed a logo for the centre, an outline of the BCP45 fishing boat currently being restored inside the centre. Hayward came up with the slogan "Discover Our Heritage."

Campbell River Mirror 4 May 2005

"Clearing the air: The Coastal Community Credit Union's (CCCU) Campbell River branch donated $7,000 to the Maritime Heritage Centre to pay for an air returning unit for the centre's kitchen.

Letter to Campbell River Mirror

All make the project a huge success
MHC's many contributors

On behalf of the Maritime Heritage Society, I want to thank you for your informative article on the reconstruction of the BCP 45. It is important that we keep the community updated on its progress and chronicle the ongoing steps in its restoration for future generations. Although you were able to mention most of the people and organizations that have generously assisted us so far, there are a few additional contributors that should also be recognized.

They include Tom Pallen and his Pallen Timber staff for obtaining logs from Timberwest, transporting them to a mill near Courtenay, milling them and then delivering them to the centre, Bruce Andersen for his generous financial contribution, Bruce Baikie for the donation of the Vivian diesel engine that Don Nelson is overhauling, Early's Building Supply (Rona Building Centre) for transporting finished timbers from Black Creek to the Maritime Centre, Ron Macdonald for his tireless work on the BCP 45 reconstruction, and Norske Canada for supplying most of the plank and deck fasteners.

Thanks again to all the contributors that are making this project such a huge success. - Glenn Ashby

Campbell River Mirror 22 December 2004

Happy hull days

The restoration of the historic BCP 45 an enjoyable challenge
Grant Warkentin
Mirror Staff

Volunteers restoring the historic BCP 45 fishing boat are continually challenged but not discouraged by the ongoing project.

"We're trying to keep as much of the original construction as possible, but some of it needs a lot of work," says Glenn Ashby, vice-chair of the Maritime Heritage Society. "I don't think anyone had a concept of the previous condition of the boat."