Before any restoration work begins on the Crystal S, a wooden fishing vessel built by a Japanese Canadian boat builder in Steveston, all the items left on board in the wheelhouse cabin, must be cleared out. Natasha L. writes about this part of the project, and some of the treasures (and surprises!) that she found on board.
In the span of just over two weeks the cabin of Crystal S was cleared out.
It was amazing to see how much stuff could be stored in this seemingly small cabin! There were probably hundreds of various objects in there.
Lots of fishing gear such as hooks and nets, safety gear, tools, engine oil and other necessities to keep a fishing boat running. There were old maps stored above the helm, copies of fishing permits from decades ago and even some art supplies sitting on the dash from when Bud (Sakamoto) took a break to do some painting on the boat.
After the objects were cleared off the boat, they were put on tables to be tagged by our Collections team — we used a lot of tables! It is important that all objects taken off the boat are accounted for and that we are able to record exactly where everything originated from (on the boat).
Countless photos were taken, labeled, and organized according to which section of the boat that the object(s) was removed from. It was a big job but we found some really neat treasures – for more on some of the items found, be sure to see the next post.
For more updates on this project, visit the Crystal S Restoration Project page.
