Welcome, and thank you for your interest in Canada’s Arctic tall ship.
Q. When and where was the ship built?
A. North Star was purpose built for two Inuvialuit fur trappers, Fred Carpenter and James Wolki in 1935. The work was done by GW Kneass of San Francisco who was considered an expert in building ships for the Arctic.
Q. Were there any other of these types of ships built?
A. There were over one hundred of these ships built during the early 1900s, many of them by Kneass but also in Vancouver, Manitoba, Halifax, Lunenburg, and Peterhead, Scotland and other places.
Q. Where did the ship first operate?
North Star was launched from the deck of C.T. Pedersons S.V. Patterson in Pauline Bay, Herschel Island. Her home port soon became Sachs Harbour, Banks Island. She would sail each summer during the short ice-free summer to trade the winters catch of fur for the up-coming winter supplies at Herschel Island, Aklavik, Arctic Red River, Inuvik, and Tuktoyaktuk.
Q. What happened during the Cold War to the ship?
With the coming war and the falling price of fur the owners left Banks Island and settled in Tuktoyaktuk for a number of years. Banks Island was essentially abandoned and both the USA and Russia were eyeing it as a prime strategic place to be. The Canadian government asked Fred Carpenter to find volunteers to sail North Star back to Banks Island and to hold it and the entrance to the NW Passage “for Queen and Country”. There were so many volunteers that a second ship, Reindeer, was also filled.
Q. Who was North Star’s second owner?
Sven Johannson purchased the ship from Fred Carpenter and Susie Sidney and began a refit on her on the beach at Sachs Harbour which included installing a diesel engine.
Q. What happened during the initial gas and oil boom in the Beaufort Sea?
Upon arrival in Inuvik from Banks Island Sven was hailed by a group needing a ship to do survey work for the oil industry in the Beaufort Sea. Two weeks later he had outfitted North Star with bunks, a campstove, portable head and they were out to sea surveying.
Q. Why was North Star’s 2nd owner asked to survey the controversial B.C./Alaska boundary?
Under Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government a dispute arose between the United States and Canada over the boundary. North Star was chartered to find the original survey marks in order to prove Canada’s ownership, in particular of two islands close to the boundary. This was done by Captain Sven Johannson and his his wife and daughter.
Q. Who were North Star’s third owners?
Sheila and Bruce Macdonald purchased North Star in 1996 and moved aboard with their two daughters. A few years later two more (foster) children joined the family.
They sailed up and down the inside passage favouring remote anchorages where the family could explore the islands. They had always pets aboard. The last one was one dog, Luna. They have also participated regularly in tall ship festivals and classic boat shows. Bruce sold North Star in August 2023
Q. Who is North Star’s current owner?
In August 2023, June Victoria Harrison bought the North Star. As a passionate boater and lover of the sea, June cultivated a profound appreciation for the ship and her storied history through extensive time spent at Heritage Harbour and the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Enthralled by the vessel’s charm, she is spearheading her restoration and has gathered a team of experts in wooden boat renovation. This committed group initiated their work in late October 2023, embarking on a long journey to restore the North Star to its former glory.
Q. How many people does it take to sail her?
Her second owner used two masts salvaged from wrecked trading schooners to re-rig her as a fully rigged ship intending to sail her by himself or sometimes with a small crew via the trade wind routes around the world. Under Bruce and Sheila ownership, self steering was added and all of the yards brace to the capstan so it was possible to sail her solo.
At this point June and her team are brainstorming which rigging will be installed. The three masts will remain, making North Star of Herschel Island a large ship which will need a crew to sail her. We’ll update the answer when the renovations are done.
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