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The B.C. Surveyor
by John MacFarlane and Joanna Lipsey 2017
The B.C. Surveyor (Photo from the Joanna Lipsey collection.)
Joanna Lipsey’s father served in the B.C. Surveyor.
In 1939 the B.C. Surveyor was built at Marpole BC by George Askew as the Leola Vivian. She was originally powered by a 110hp gas engine (by Vivian Engine Works, Vancouver BC). 17.0m x 4.4m x 2.5m (55.8’ x 14.3’ x 8.2’) wooden hull 46.92gt 31.91rt. In 1947 she was renamed as B.C. Surveyor. In 1949 she was rebuilt at the Forest Service Maintenance Depot and re–engined with a 230hp engine. In 1968 she was renamed as Oliver Clark II.
The B.C. Surveyor (Photo from the Joanna Lipsey collection.)
In 1939 she was owned by Will Vivian, Vancouver BC. In 1941–1942 she was owned by Vivian Engine Works, Vancouver BC. In 1942 she was a Canadian Naval Tender to H.M.C.S. Burrard chartered to the Royal Canadian Navy and later purchased on November 30, 1942. In 1947–1961 she was owned by Minister of Lands and Forests Victoria BC. In 1967-1983 she was owned by Minister Lands and Water Resources, Victoria BC. In 1983–1989 she was owned by James A. Burroughs, Surrey BC. In 1993–2011 she was owned by Jed F. Currie, Halfmoon Bay BC.
The B.C. Surveyor (Photo from the Joanna Lipsey collection.)
During World War Two the B.C. Surveyor was a Canadian Naval Tender to H.M.C.S. Burrard. In October 2015 she hit a rock and the owner was ejected from the wheel house into the water. The boat righted itself and kept on going. Some jerry cans fell off the stern of boat and served as flotation devices for the skipper who was later saved.
The dinghy tender of the B.C. Surveyor. (Photo from the collection.)
The crew of the B.C. Surveyor. (Photo from the collection.)
Survey party coming ashore from the boat. (Photo from the collection.)
A survey party departing to a remote location to carry out surveying operations. (Photo from the collection.)
Survey marker built ashore by one of the survey crews. (Photo from the collection.)
To quote from this article please cite:
MacFarlane, John M. and Joanna Lipsey (2017) The B.C. Surveyor. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/BC_Surveyor.php
Site News: April 17, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,205 vessel histories (with 15,628 images and 13,173 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).
In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!
My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into a semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.
Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.