This boatworks was built in the 1930s by the Kishi family and was originally called Richmond Boat Builders. The Kishis and other Japanese boat builders crafted 24 and 26 foot wooden gillnetter fishing boats in this shop – sometimes up to four at a time. The original steambox, boiler and boat ways are still intact. Gillnetters and trollers were still being repaired in this facility until the late 1960s, but mostly by boat builders of European decent that occupied the shop during and after the Second World War.
Today, visitors can explore the exhibit inside the Richmond Boat Builders to discover the history of the building and the Kishi family that first built boats there. Follow the live boat restoration work happening in this space, bringing the workshop back to life with the tools and techniques once used by both European and Japanese boatbuilders in crafting Steveston’s fishing boats.
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Crystal S – Restoration Project
Follow along the progress of the active restoration of the Crystal S wooden fishing boat.
Silver Ann – Britannia’s Last Wooden Gillnetter
Watch this video about the Silver Ann – the last wooden gillnetter built in the Richmond Boatbuilders building at Britannia in 1969.
