Historic Shelburne schooner could be lost

By Greg Bennett

The Coast Guard

NovaNewsNow.com

A significant piece of Shelburne’s maritime history is in mortal danger.

The Robertson II, a schooner built in Shelburne in 1940 that for years went on to serve in the area’s fishing fleet and later became a well-known sail training vessel on the west coast, struck a reef last week and as the paper went to press remained in serious trouble.

The 130-foot ship struck a reef off the southeast coast of Vancouver Island on July 1.

Victoria area photographer Toby Snelgrove, who supplied photos of the damaged ship to The Shelburne Coast Guard, said damage to the ship was significant, noting that new planned salvage efforts would be difficult. “I’m not sure how they’re going to do it,” he said. “It’s lying on its side and is filling with water on each tide.”

He said earlier salvage attempts were unsuccessful.

Shelburne area sail enthusiasts and historians were still holding out a slim hope the vessel could be saved.

Local historian Louis Jackson said the vessel was one of several built in the area that have survived, and he noted the Robertson II had been pulled off reefs in the past and had been refloated, including after a 1956 nor’easter storm that left dozens of ships in Shelburne County on the shore.

Jackson said the Robertson II’s construction was greatly helped out by a delay during its construction, noting that the wood had time to season on the docks before the boat hit the water. “Back then, they were putting out a lot of ships with green wood,” he said.

The vessel was built by W.C. MacKay & Sons for the Shelburne Fish Co. Before the vessel was decked, the shipbuilders were taken off the job for a rush Navy contract. When they returned, including surviving shipwright Bill Cox, the timbers of the ship were well-seasoned.

The vessel has had a storied history, including being the witness to a World War II U-boat attack in which the vessel was later tracked but left unharmed by the German submarine.

After surviving salt and storms for more than 30 years, the Robertson II retired from fishing in 1974, and became an adventure-training ship on the West Coast.

In 1995, a replica of the vessel was constructed on the West Coast by the Sail and Life Training Society of Victoria with the help of Cox to continue the ship’s more recent legacy as a sail training vessel.

Jackson, among others, is hopeful someday, that the Robertson II, or another of the few Shelburne-built schooners that survive will be returned to Shelburne Harbour as a historic reminder of the area’s sailing past.

Editor’s note.

As the paper was going to press the Canadian Coast Guard issued an assessment of the vessel that indicated it was too badly damaged to be refloated.