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The North Arm Boat Works (Frank M. Honour)

by John MacFarlane 2020

North Arm Boatworks

A wooden vessel under construction at North Arm Boat Works. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Lanny Honour recently shared some images and background on the origins of the North Arm Boat Works. He states "North Arm Boat Works started just prior to the great 1948 Fraser River flood. It was located west of the Pacific Pine ‘B’ mill and East of the Queensboro bridge in Queensboro, on the North Arm of the Fraser River. Frank Honour built some vessels under his own name. It started with three partners: Albert Gravelle (my uncle), Basil Honour (my uncle, and Frank Honour (my father). I lived on the yard property for 12 years and saw a lot of commercial boats being built. About 1954, the North Arm Boat works was located on rented property. Frank Honour became the sole owner of North Arm Boat Works and moved to a location with no water access. In 1957 he purchased water front property on the Annacis Slough. Frank Honour died in 1979."

Frank Honour

Frank M. Honour (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Frank M. Honour was the founder and owner of the North Arm Boat Works and the father of Lanny Honour.

Turning the boats

Turning the boats. To turn the boat during construction a local towing truck firm was engaged. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Crane

Moving a boat from the yard to the water. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

When the North Arm Boat Works was land–locked, at 444 Boyne St. in Queensboro, boats would be trucked and lowered in the water by Jack Bruno’s crane on the Swiftsure, located on the Fraser River near the Patullo Bridge.

444_Boyne_StT

The North Arm Boatworks location at 444_Boyne_St., New Westminster. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Annacis Slough Location

The North Arm Boatworks location at Annacis Slough. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Lanny Honour

Lanny Honour (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Lanny Honour says that he lived in Ontario for a year,and in northern BC for four years. Having grown up in a boat yard he is very proud of the work of his Dad and the other workers in the yard. Lanny fished a gillnetter, the Dry Rot. Lanny says that his father was very demanding of quality in the boat yard work and respected his ability to observe any measurement issues on a boat. He says, "I was often sent inside the cabins to prepare the wood for varnish. No one else had the patience to use sandpaper. When I was 13, his eyes were failing. We used to gillnet in the Fraser River channel. My job was to watch for ships, and steer the boat up the drift while he would sleep. His health was beginning to fail at this point. He would not allow me to set or pick the net. As I got older He did everything he could to get me to quit fishing which I did. I ended up installing equipment on microwave radio sites, and working on the dam in the Peace River area. I guess he was right, as I would not have received a pension as a fishermen."

North Arm Boat Work built a number of vessels which Frank Honour and Lanny Honour documented in photographs. We present a selection of those with vessel histories from the Nauticapedia database:

Irene A.

The Irene A. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The Irene A. (later Mardi II) 10.4m x ?m x ?m (34.2’ x 11.0’ x 5.1’) wooden hull powered with a 77hp engine and later re–powered with a 135hp engine. (designed by Frank Honour) In 1949–1958 she was owned by Otto A. Arpe, New Westminster BC. In 1961–1968 she was owned by British Columbia Packers Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1969 she was owned by William Silda, North Surrey BC. In 1970–2008 she was owned by Donald J. Grant, North Surrey BC.

Westerner

The Westerner, originally built by Matsumoto &. Sons Shipyards Ltd. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The Westerner 13.2m x 4m x 2.2m (38.7’ x 13.8’ x 5.6’) In November 1956 this drum seiner owned by Marian Govorchi was discovered wrecked on the rocks on the Gulf side of Saturna Island. The skipper and his three–man crew had died from carbon monoxide poisoning. She was written off as a complete loss but was rebuilt at North Arm Boat Works by Frank Honour for Nerio (Zeke) Zecchel and Mike Harajda, New Westminster BC. In 1954–1956 she was owned by Marian Govorchi. In 1958 she was owned by Nerio (Zeke) Zecchel, New Westminster BC. In 1961–1966 she was owned by Nerio Zecchel (MO), New Westminster BC. In 1967–1972 she was owned by Nelson Bros. Fisheries Ltd., Vancouver BC. In 1973–1980 she was owned by British Columbia Packers Ltd., Richmond BC. In 2003–2007 she was owned by Mardi Fishing Ltd., Nanaimo BC.

Shipyard Workers

The staff of the shipyard – (l–r) Frank Honour, (Mike Harajda, Zeke Zechel (customers)), Ollie Negrin. Lanny Honour recalls "For a time I was Ollie’s shipyard helper. He was the fastest, most demanding, and wisest craftsmen I ever saw." (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Doreen C. (II)

Two boats were named Doreen C. both owned by Hans House. Doreen C. (I) (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The first Doreen C. (later Miss Joni) was built in circa 1948 to a design by Frank Honour. 11.66m x ?m x ?m (34.6’ x 10.9’ x 5.1’) wood hull powered by a 110bhp gasoline engine by Chrysler Corp., Detroit MI USA. Later re–powered with a 72bhp diesel engine by L. Gardner & Sons Ltd. In 1948–1958 she was owned by Hans O. Haus, New Westminster BC. In 1958–1964 she was owned by Roy D. Robinson, North Surrey BC. In 1964–1971 she was owned by Joseph V. Zailo (MO), Vancouver BC.In 1971–1975 she was owned by James & Frances Lobb (MO), Victoria BC. In 1975 she was owned by Frances Lobb (widow), Victoria BC. In 1975–1977 she was owned by Joseph Runowski (MO), Victoria BC. In 1978–1979 she was owned by Ronald Sacewicz, Port Alberni BC. In 1980–1984 she was owned by Allan F. Planes, Victoria BC. In 1985–1988 she was owned by Ernest G. Allen, Victoria BC. In 1989–1998 she was owned by 340383 B.C. Ltd., Sidney BC.

Doreen C. (II)

Doreen C. (II) (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The second Doreen C. (later Darandy) was built in 1959 to a design by Frank Honour. 11.83m x 3.78m x 1.37m wood hull powered by a 84hp engine. In 1959–1962 she was owned by Hans O.A. Haus, New Westminster BC. In 1963–1978 she was owned by Edward J. Zitco (MO), Vancouver BC. In 1979–1982 she was owned by Darryl A. Aikman (MO), Port Alberni BC. In 1983–2004 she was owned by Darandy Fishing Co. Ltd., Port Alberni BC. In 2012–2017 she was owned by Darandy Fishing Co. Ltd., Nanoose BC. In 2017–2020 she was owned by Quality Time Fishing Ltd., Parksville BC.

Boozer 2

Boozer II (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The Boozer II built in 1955 by Frank M. Honour she was 8.29m x 2.62m x 1.10m (27.2’ x 8.6’ x 3.6’) wood hull and powered by a 125hp gasoline engine. In 1961 she was owned by Albert W. Makarra, New Westminster BC. In 1980–1986 she was owned by David Lind, Maple Ridge BC. In 1987–1988 she was owned by Charles D. Keates, Maple Ridge BC. In 1989 she was owned by Harry G. Keates, Maple Ridge BC. In 1990–1991 she was owned by James P. Murphy, Mission BC. In 1992–1995 she was owned by Earl Norum, Delta BC. In 1997–2020 she was owned by David M.C. Atkins, Lake Cowichan BC.

North Arm

The North Arm (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The North Arm was built by Frank M. Honour on 6th Ave in New Westminster, at the Honour family home. It was owned by Basil Honour (Lanny Honour’s uncle.

North Arm on truck

The North Arm being trucked to the water on launch day. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Miss Patsy

The Miss Patsy (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The Miss Patsy was built by Frank M. Honour. In 1954 she was fishing for the Porcher Island Cannery.

Island Gold

The Island Gold (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The Island Gold was built in 1973 by North Arm Boat Works. 13.99m x 4.63m x 1.95m wood hull and powered by a 190bhp diesel engine. In 1973–1997 she was owned by Andrew R. Waterman, Port Hardy BC. In 2001–2004 she was owned by Harold Little Jr., Ahousat BC. In 2012–2020 she was owned by Greg A. Holm, Saanichton BC.

Ellen

The Ellen (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

The Ellen was a gill netter built for an American customer.

Crosswinds

The Crosswinds in difficulty. (Photo from the Lanny Honour collection.)

Lanny Honour recounts an incident involving three boats built by North Arm Boat Works. The middle one is the Cross Winds owned by Ralph Robertson. One of the others may be owned by Nels Rudolf. The third one was owned by Willie Harris. He says "I believe their destination was Johnstone Strait. While rafted together they hit a rock and Willie’s boat sank. They tied off Willie’ss sunken new boat between the other two and brought it back to North Arm Boat Works.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John (2020) North Arm Boat Works. Nauticapedia.ca 2020. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/North_Arm_Boatworks.php

Nauticapedia

Site News: December 21, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,824 vessel histories (with 16,274 images and 13,929 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 45,000 processed so far this year (2024).

The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3996 images).

Thanks to Ray Warren who is beginning a long process of filling gaps in the photo record of vessel histories in the database. Ray has been documenting the ships of Vancouver Harbour for more than 60 years.

Thanks to contributor Mike Rydqvist McCammon for the hundreds of photos he has contributed to illustrate British Columbia’s floating heritage.

My very special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.

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