Ivar Johansen (Sr.)

Ivar Johansen is a Prince Rupert fisherman who came to Prince Rupert from northern Norway in 1928. Like many people who have been around the Prince Rupert waterfront all their lives, he has a valuable knowledge about the boats, who built them and what happened to them. He spoke with Sparrow Taranov on January 28, 2006.

Ivar: I remember the names of lots of boats and owners. Most of them are dead, but most of the boats are still alive - but not their owners.

There was one guy who built boats beside the Wahls, Ole Wick. Ole Wick, he lived in Oona River to begin with. Then moved to Prince Rupert when the kids grew up- school I guess. He built, first, the Lancing then the Lancing II which was bigger. That's a famous name of some kind. And the Pacific Standard, then he built the Ramsefjord - that's where he came from in Norway. And Rendal, another Norwegian name, that's where Chris Burg came from.

Sparrow: Was he building those in Prince Rupert or in Oona River?

Ivar : He built the Lancing and the Lancing II, the Pacific Standard, and he built another one, I think, anyway, in Oona River. But then he built the Ramsefjord here and the Rendal and the Pride, and a boat called the Tell, for Carl Marki, a friend of ours. Of course he was from Switzerland that is why he called the boat the Tell. You know, the guy who shot the apple off somebody's head. Then he built the Nymph, for John Jenkins. Mary knows him because he lived in Bella Bella for a while. Then the BC Eagle, he built. He built some of these for himself and then sold them. Both Lancings he built for himself and then sold. And the Ramsefjord he built for himself and then he died. So then Johnny took over the BC Eagle. He had that for a long time.

A lot of these wood boats are disappearing now. Right now, who wants a fishing boat? The only people who really want wooden boats are some who are not fishermen. To live on, because they don't want to listen to all that noise when you are out on the waves. Especially aluminum, it's noisy. But anyway, them wooden boats have character. And who can build a wooden boat today?

Sparrow: I can't think of anyone who can build a wooden boat, up here anyway, maybe down in Vancouver.

Ivar: That's where they've all gone. The Wahl's are down there too you know. But they are building aluminum, fiberglass…I guess they can. But nobody wants to build a wooden boat. They cost a fortune besides. I don't think you can even get lumber that is good enough.

There were quite a few Japanese boat builders here. And they were taken away, like everywhere else, when the war started. They were sent away, like Matsumoto. The boat I had before, which was the Stanley A when I bought it. It was built by Matsumoto. And I bought it, and after our daughter was born, Marlene, we renamed the boat after her: the Marlene J. That was a Matsumoto boat.

Her brother had it for a while. Then it was sold several times. It wound up on Vancouver Island. It became a little dragger. They ran it up on the rock pile, but they salvaged the boat. They got the boat up to the north end of Vancouver Island, in Port Hardy. They put it on a flat-deck truck and took it down to Comox. That's where the guy was from. And they had it sitting out there in the yard. It sat there for…I don't know, maybe it's still there. It sat there for a couple of years anyway.