Wave makers: the return of the small-scale wooden boat

by Rob Howatson

The Fraser River is the historical lifeline of B.C., and wooden boats the primary mode of transport used to navigate it until the turn of the last century. How fitting then that New Westminster’s newly expanded river interpretive centre has found the perfect way to merge and explore the mythology of these two icons.

The Fraser River Discovery Centre’s Build-a-Boat program (February 6 to May 15) offers the chance to help construct a 12-foot, flat-bottomed, wooden dinghy called a Fraser River skiff, with volunteer coaches from the Vancouver Wooden Boat Society (FRDC) assisting aspiring mariners in shaping and joining the marine plywood and Douglas fir parts. The FRDC will use the vessel for community events and may even mount it atop a parade float.   604-521-8401

Getting involved: The Fraser River Discovery Centre’s new exhibit, “The Ripple Effect,” documents river-activist-turned-MP Fin Donnelly’s two epic Fraser swims, the changing health of the Fraser waterway and tips on how to help save the river from pollution and overdevelopment.

Photo courtesy Dana Montgomery