From mid-July to mid-September, it is a familiar sight to see the rowboats bobbing on the water, converging in front of ʔuxstalis (Tyee Spit). Anglers, combining skill, the right equipment, and a great deal of patience, aspire to catch a Tyee—a chinook salmon weighing 30 pounds or more.
Among the preferred equipment is the Painter’s boat, named after its designer and builder, Ned Painter. These rowboats were meticulously crafted for the unique conditions of the waters off Campbell River.
E. P. Painter, commonly known as Ned, was born in Vancouver in 1887. A master boat builder, he began his shipwright's apprenticeship at the Burrard Dry Docks in North Vancouver at fourteen. During World War I, he served as a naval diver in England. After the war, he decided he wanted to start a business renting rowboats. He relocated to Port Alberni and started building and renting boats with moderate success. On a suggestion, he visited Campbell River and immediately loved the area and felt it offered more potential with its established sport fishing industry. In 1922, he moved his family to start a new business building and renting rowboats on ʔuxstalis.
He developed his own style of boat which he named "Painter’s boats." These rowboats were light, strong, comfortable, and easy to row—ideal for Tyee fishing. They featured clinker-style planking where the planks forming the hull overlap each other with the edges acting as tiny bilge keels, working to keep the boat from rolling.
The Painter design drew from a classic rowboat style with adaptations for the Campbell River waters. It resembled a variation of the Whitehall rowing skiff, which originated in New York City around 1820, and bore similarities to the Acme Skiff built around 1900 in the Seattle area. Given his shipwright apprenticeship in Vancouver, Painter was likely familiar with both designs.
The boat's profile was highest at the prow, sweeping low along the sides, and rising slightly at the stern. This distinctive feature of lowering the sides in the middle, reduced wind effects on the beam and made it easier to lift Tyee salmon, potentially weighing up to 70-pounds (31.75 kg), into the boat.
The keel, the ridge-like structure running along the center of the hull, is shallow at the bow (front) and deepening to about 8 inches (20 cm) at the stern (back). It acted as the main stabilizer, preventing oscillation, or fishtailing in the strong local currents. This robust keel also enabled the boat to be dragged up on the rocky beach without significant structural damage.
Typically, a Painter’s boat measured 14 feet 3 inches (4.3 m), although some 12-footers (3.7 m) and a few rare 10-footers (3.1 m) were also built. The beam (the width of the boat at its widest point) of the 14-foot model was generally 4 feet 2 inches (1.3 m), scaled down proportionately in the smaller models.
During the late 1920s and early 30s, Painter produced up to 50 boats a year in a roughly built shed on the Spit. Inside the shed, long materials like planks and keels were stored in the cross ties in the open ceiling. Several workbenches lined the walls, equipped with wooden vices. Tools and materials, including saws, levels, planes, spokeshaves, sandpaper, screws, and tacks, were kept on shelves above the benches.
The first step in crafting these hand-built boats was to prepare all the pieces. Painter himself cut all the planks, tapered the edges, punched the nail holes, and had all the components ready. Then hired 4 other people to help assemble.
Working in teams, they laid down clinker-style overlapping planks, made of western red cedar, which were steamed into shape, and then cut in pairs from the same board to ensure symmetry during construction. Each boat was a replica of the previous one, with identically cut planks.
Painter innovated by cutting out the planks, shaping them, and then splitting them in half with a band saw to ensure an even boat—a unique technique of his process.
Each boat featured seven planks per side, held together strictly by copper nails, without any glue. The hulls were coated with enamel paint for sealing, while other parts were varnished. Each boat bore a signature look: white with varying varnished finishes on top.
The result was a beautiful, streamlined boat designed to efficiently maneuver in the waters off Campbell River and to catch the prized Tyee salmon. Visitors can see an original Painter’s Boat, along with some of Painter’s hand tools, in the permanent exhibits at the Museum at Campbell River's. Learn more about Tyee fishing at ʔuxstalis in the exhibit "Fish On: 100 Years of the Tyee Club," on display at the Museum until October 6.
A Look Back into the History of the Campbell River Area is a monthly presentation of the Museum at Campbell River and the Campbell River Mirror.
