R.R. Venture

Linda Banner Bloom reports (British Columbia Nautical History Facebook Group 16/01/2017) that "Steve Banner and I were joint owners of her. Just a bit more background, for interest - When this vessel was the Ocean Triumph, Sanderson's crew ran her into the rocks (it was on the front page of the Victoria Times Colonist) in a winter storm, fully loaded with black cod. The vessel - according to his insurance company was a "total constructive loss".

They wrote her off. You could see right through the hull - both sides badly damaged. Steven and I bought her as a total write off. It took us nearly a decade to rebuild her. We did the reconstruction at my fathers property on Sooke River Road. A landmark for Sookites. Steven and I built a steam box to make the ribs pliable enough to be shaped - we replaced over 20 ribs, then onto the planking. We redid the entire boat. The engine is the same, but we did take it out for a rehaul too. We had to cut the dodger off with a chainsaw to have her transported from the jetty in Esquimalt to Sooke. That in itself was a journey! Steven has since passed at an early age of 54 as a result of cancer. I live now in Parksville, and knew the Donna Lou was nearby. I have been looking for her for years. I am heading to French Creek now, to see if she's still tied up there. Thank you for the most wonderful site on FB, which is far too often cluttered with non-sense.

In 1999 Steven and I circumnavigated Vancouver Island in our RR Venture. I have such grand memories of her, and all of the hard work that we both did to rebuild that beautiful vessel. A true west coast design, a sea worthy ship. It was quite a "Venture"!" On December 19, 1990 this vessel grounded on Robson Reef off Oak Bay BC Canada and was declared a total constructive loss after being salvaged.