Ship details

Ship Details
Princeton No. 1 Photo Credit: John M. MacFarlane

Ship Details

Princeton No. 1

Photo Credit: John M. MacFarlane

Registry #1	154667 (Canada)	Registry #2		Registry #3
IMO#		MMSI#		VRN#	90334

Name 1	1928	Princeton No. 1	Name 6
Name 2			Name 7
Name 3			Name 8
Name 4			Name 9
Name 5			Name 10

Year Built	1928	Place	North Vancouver	Area	BC	Country	Canada

Designer	(nk)	Measurement (imp)	48.7' x 13.9' x 6.7'
Builder	Eriksen Boat Builders Ltd.	Measurement (metric)	14.84m x 4.24m x 2.04m
Hull	Wood	Displacement
Gross Tonnage	35.25	Type 1	Fishboat, seiner
Registered Tonnage	22.16	Type 2	Yacht, power-cruiser
Engine	54bhp Atlas semi-diesel engine (1928)	Engine Manufacture	Atlas Gas Engine Co., San Francisco CA USA
Repower	Repowered with a 68hp engine (1957c); Repowered with a 96hp diesel engine (1956) Norris Henty & Gardner Ltd., Patricraft, Manchester UK.	Propulsion	Screw
Rebuilds	In 1974 she was a yacht.	Call Sign
Pendant #		Masters

Owner(s)
In 1928-1942 she was owned by Charles E. Prince, Vancouver BC Canada. In 1943-1945 she was owned by Chesley Torraville, Vancouver BC Canada. In 1946-1974 she was owned by George R. Grossmith, Victoria BC Canada. In 1974-1979 she was owned by Wallace Martin, Aldergrove BC Canada. In 1979 she was owned by Francis Tenham, Vancouver BC Canada. In 1980-1984 she was owned by Bold Venture Marine Ltd., Vancouver BC Canada. In 1985-1989 she was owned by Velma Lewis, Vancouver BC Canada. In 1990-2012 she was owned by David N. Lewis, Delta BC Canada. In 2013-2019 she was owned by David N. Lewis, Alert Bay BC Canada. In 2023-2024 she was owned by Robin M. Perrin, Victoria BC Canada.

Owner(s)

In 1928-1942 she was owned by Charles E. Prince, Vancouver BC Canada. In 1943-1945 she was owned by Chesley Torraville, Vancouver BC Canada. In 1946-1974 she was owned by George R. Grossmith, Victoria BC Canada. In 1974-1979 she was owned by Wallace Martin, Aldergrove BC Canada. In 1979 she was owned by Francis Tenham, Vancouver BC Canada. In 1980-1984 she was owned by Bold Venture Marine Ltd., Vancouver BC Canada. In 1985-1989 she was owned by Velma Lewis, Vancouver BC Canada. In 1990-2012 she was owned by David N. Lewis, Delta BC Canada. In 2013-2019 she was owned by David N. Lewis, Alert Bay BC Canada. In 2023-2024 she was owned by Robin M. Perrin, Victoria BC Canada.

Fate	Afloat in 2024	Date	0000-00-00

Named Features
Significance of Name

Anecdotes
There is a nice model of his vessel at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Bryon Taylor (Email to Nauticapedia 23/01/2019) stated that "This vessel formed part of the pre-war Fishermen’s Reserve Fleet. This vessel participated in the 30 January – 25 February 1939 Fishermen’s Reserve Training Session. This vessel was however not mobilized for active duty during the Second World War." Alan Haig-Brown (British Columbia Nautical History Facebook Group 30/07/2017) states that "From an article that I wrote about Dave when he lived in Rupert. ....When I first met him, back in 1986 he was part-time living aboard the ex-fishing boat Princeton I. He had bought her as-is-where-is which happened to be on the bottom. Now he had her moored near the end of A-float in the False Creek Fisherman’s terminal. The tie up spot was important, because this was the dock that had all the real classy boats in the Fisherman’s Terminal. There were the big wooden west coast trollers and halibut boats that earned their keep in less than 100 days per year but could weather the toughest that the north Pacific could brew. Their owners honoured them with meticulous care in the off season. There was the little fleet of False Creek towboats that had an owner equally passionate about maintaining their immaculate working condition. The float and its forty or fifty boats were a nice and very close little community. In fact it was so nice that as I watched and visited Dave over the next five years I wondered if he would ever leave his 60 feet of moorage. There seemed always to be one more job to get the old boat in just the condition he wanted. Built in 1927 in the conventional forward house style of most west coast fish boats, the Princeton retained its harmonious lines when Dave added a comfortable salon and masters cabin aft over the former fishhold. He did it the right way, stepped down from the main house to match the fine shear of the vessel’s hull. He matched the half round moldings of the main house and carried them aft to the new house so that those who didn’t know would swear the original was designed just so. Dave paid for some of the work by doing light towing jobs for insurance companies that needed boats with fried engines delivered to Vancouver. He used other boats for this work and never took the Princeton I from the dock. But he added a set of H-bitts to her stern so that he could continue the light towing work when this vessel was ready. In the engine room he stripped and rebuilt the boat’s reliable old five-cylinder 5L3 Gardner. Whether mechanical or woodwork, Dave did it all, one painstaking detail at a time. Hardwood capped bulwarks were extended aft then cut away around the stern to accommodate a towline. A davit with a hydraulic winch was mounted on the deckhouse to launch the little rigid hulled inflatable with a big outboard that was stowed there...."

Anecdotes

There is a nice model of his vessel at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Bryon Taylor (Email to Nauticapedia 23/01/2019) stated that "This vessel formed part of the pre-war Fishermen’s Reserve Fleet. This vessel participated in the 30 January – 25 February 1939 Fishermen’s Reserve Training Session. This vessel was however not mobilized for active duty during the Second World War." Alan Haig-Brown (British Columbia Nautical History Facebook Group 30/07/2017) states that "From an article that I wrote about Dave when he lived in Rupert. ....When I first met him, back in 1986 he was part-time living aboard the ex-fishing boat Princeton I. He had bought her as-is-where-is which happened to be on the bottom. Now he had her moored near the end of A-float in the False Creek Fisherman’s terminal. The tie up spot was important, because this was the dock that had all the real classy boats in the Fisherman’s Terminal. There were the big wooden west coast trollers and halibut boats that earned their keep in less than 100 days per year but could weather the toughest that the north Pacific could brew. Their owners honoured them with meticulous care in the off season. There was the little fleet of False Creek towboats that had an owner equally passionate about maintaining their immaculate working condition. The float and its forty or fifty boats were a nice and very close little community. In fact it was so nice that as I watched and visited Dave over the next five years I wondered if he would ever leave his 60 feet of moorage. There seemed always to be one more job to get the old boat in just the condition he wanted. Built in 1927 in the conventional forward house style of most west coast fish boats, the Princeton retained its harmonious lines when Dave added a comfortable salon and masters cabin aft over the former fishhold. He did it the right way, stepped down from the main house to match the fine shear of the vessel’s hull. He matched the half round moldings of the main house and carried them aft to the new house so that those who didn’t know would swear the original was designed just so. Dave paid for some of the work by doing light towing jobs for insurance companies that needed boats with fried engines delivered to Vancouver. He used other boats for this work and never took the Princeton I from the dock. But he added a set of H-bitts to her stern so that he could continue the light towing work when this vessel was ready. In the engine room he stripped and rebuilt the boat’s reliable old five-cylinder 5L3 Gardner. Whether mechanical or woodwork, Dave did it all, one painstaking detail at a time. Hardwood capped bulwarks were extended aft then cut away around the stern to accommodate a towline. A davit with a hydraulic winch was mounted on the deckhouse to launch the little rigid hulled inflatable with a big outboard that was stowed there...."

References
Harbour & Shipping (Progress Publishing Co. Ltd.) Vol. 11 (1928); Canada List of Shipping
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Ship Details

Princeton No. 1