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Crystal S Restoration Project

Latest updates on the Crystal S restoration project.

Japanese wooden fishing boat Crystal S on display in large wooden workshop
About the Crystal S

Built in 1963 at M. Sakamoto Boat Works in Steveston as a combination gillnetter and troller fishing vessel. It was constructed by shipwright Mamoru Sakamoto, who owned and maintained the vessel until his passing in 2003. The Crystal S has fished on the Fraser River, Johnstone Straits, Rivers Inlet, and up the coast to Camano Sound. Mamoru retired from commercial fishing in 1986, when his oldest son took over the fishing operations.

White wooden fishing boat with mint green trim at Scotch Pond
Vessel description

Wood hull (red cedar planks, yellow cedar bulkheads and beams, gumwood trim and oak ribs)

Length 37 feet / Width 10feet 6 inches / Draft 3 feet 6 inches

The M. Sakamoto Boat Works was established in 1950 at the south foot of No. 2 Road in Steveston, upon Mamoru’s return to the west coast after forced internment in the Okanagan during the Second World War. Over twenty-six years, sixteen boats were built and launched from the boat works, ranging in size from 32 to 40-footers, known for their high quality and craftsmanship.

Sakamoto, Bud. Historical Documentation (2003)


Restoration Project

Watch this space for information on restoration progress, programs and workshops.

Virtual Tour of the Crystal S restoration project

For a view of the Crystal S inside Richmond Boat Builders workshop (recorded in December 2024), take this 3D virtual tour, showing its current condition and configuration as a working gillnetter. The net drum and rig have been removed and stored. We are now in the documentation phase of the project, emptying the interior and cataloguing the gear for future interpretive use.


Move into Richmond Boat Builders

Filmed on October 15, 2024, when the Crystal S was moved into the Richmond Boat Builders workshop to begin the restoration process in her temporary new home.


Lumber Stock

lumber stacks inside an open grey container
Lumber storage for crystal s restoration project

To begin the restoration of the Crystal S, our shipwright first sourced the materials required for the project, with the aim to use the same materials as the original builder. Read more for a description of the materials, how they were sourced, and how they are stored to maintain quality.


Clean Out and Object Inventory

Various items salvaged from fishing boat, displayed in a red tub

In a span of just over two weeks, our team cleared out the cabin of the Crystal S, and found the small space deceptively full of what must have been hundreds of items from fishing gear to household items, maps, permits, and even some art supplies! Learn more about this part of the process and see some photos of found treasures.

Man with blue baseball cap and white beard holding up a netted bag for woman with glasses wearing a black coat.
Bud Sakamoto showing a net bag used to collect nori (seaweed)

Kagami Mochi on the Crystal S

Bud Sakamoto shares with us an annual tradition of the Kagami Mochi display that can be found in Japanese and Japanese Canadian homes at New Year’s. The Kagami Mochi (translated “Mirror Rice Cakes”) is made of a stack of two round mochi rice cakes, topped by an orange citrus. It is typically displayed from mid to end of December until mid-January. The round shape of the mochi symbolizes mirrors, once an auspicious offering to the gods. This is just one example of a tradition that has continued in Japanese Canadian families through the years.


Umeki Plug

A recent find on the Crystal S is an example of an edge-nailing and plugging technique used to join the bulkhead timbers together. This process of using a pre-bent nail and shaping the special plug called “umeki” is a real hallmark of traditional Japanese boat building, as detailed in the book Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding by Douglas Brooks.

Questions? Please contact britannia@richmond.ca