"Handliner" Boat Rendezvous

Jun 24, 2009

A Handliner Boat Rendezvous was held near Pipers Lagoon Park on Sunday, June 21. Approximately ten Handliner boats and over 30 boat enthusiasts from Nanaimo and as far away as Sechelt gathered with their vintage and newly-built Handliners on Sunday afternoon to socialize, swap stories on their boats, and participate in a group row.

 According to Larry Westlake, the event organizer, "Handliners or Hand Trollers were small - commonly 13 to 15 feet long - round-bottomed, double-ended skiffs that fished commercially for salmon by trolling under oar power. They are known to have existed in both British Columbia and Alaska in slightly different forms, and may once have extended into Washington state. They are first documented in 1905, but seem to be already an established type when they appear in the historical record. Many of them were built by the fisherman themselves. Informal transmission of design by tracing inside an existing boat or passing along builder's forms to another fisherman appears to have been very common, and may have been the rule. The origins of the designs and type are unknown and there are few hints. Orkney builders of York boats released from employment by the Hudsons Bay Company may have had an influence. Until after the Second World War, government regulations encouraged rowed fish boats through cheaper fishing licenses. Regulation changes after the war reversed this advantage, and effectively discouraged their use for commercial fishing. However, they were already disappearing because of postwar affluence and cheap, reliable gasoline engines.

Handliner boats, and the people who built and used them are an icon of British Columbia's early resource and social development. The fishermen were required to be resourceful, highly independent, and capable in a great many areas of skill, but they were not isolated individualists. They depended on strong ties and supportive cooperative behavior within the community of fishermen they worked in. The fleets were so large and crowded in some areas that informally established rules had to be followed to avoid gear or fish loss and resulting conflicts. Some rough-shore areas required cooperation to avoid damaging the boats when hauling them out, and information and lore about fishing methods and equipment was shared, sometimes in the form of a hot partisan argument. They had to work in unison against political opponents who were far more powerful than any of them individually, and the Handliner fishermen became an important early force in the labour unions of this province."

Photos courtesy of Toby Gorman.