The SeaBus’ ancester was a rowboat. is fis future a fast cat? Bob flackin News Reporter IF Nayvy Jack Thomas were alive today, what would he say about the ouilt-im-North Vancouver PacifiCat Explorer? The jewel of BC Ferries’ fleet went into “ull service Thursday — complete with tabletop maps that spell Navey Jack Point, the West Vancouver landmark named for the Welshman, with just one v. Te’s a small mistake on a buat with a big price tag, unless you know that Navy Jack was the patriarch of Burrard Jalet’s ferry industry. The pioneer came to Canada with dreams of striking it rick in the gold-laden Cariboo country, He ended up on the North Shore where he was the first ferry operator in Burrard Inlet: He would row passengers from Moodyville in the future North Vancouver to Brighton on the other side during the mid- 1860s. “They would holler across the inlet and actually be heard,” said City of North Vancouver Archives’ curator John Stuart. “He would row across and take people back and forth by row- boat. Our port has so much activiry that wouldn’t happen now.” Navvy Jack went on to other ventures, but he was followed by others who shared his optimism for the potential to move people across the inlet. The Sea Foam began regular ferry ser- vice between Brighton and Moodyville in 1868. The Senator, launched in 1880, provided service for work- ers at the Moodyville Jumber mill and was later operated by Union Steamships. The District of North Vancouver built a wharf at the foot of Lonsdale in 1894 for the Sexator’s sched- uled runs to the Carrall Street dock near Gastown. The district and Union Steamships didn’t have a cosy relauionship. Shaky finances and frequency of service were .points of contention. North Vancouver finally went on its own in 1900 when it built the generically named North Vancorver ferry and bought a wharf at the foot of Columbia Street in Vancouver. __ Like Premier Glen Clark learned with the PacifiCat at the end of the century, North Vancouver’s city fathers found ferry building an expensive exercise at the start. The North Vancouver had 2 $12,000 budget, but builders returned to council with cap in hand. The hull alone cost $10,950. The boiler was $1,705 and engine $3,893. Though the bills were high, its boosters lauded the North Vancouver, “They said this is absolutely wonderful, this ferry is going to carry us well into the future and it’s going to carry passengers forever,” Stuart said. “More than enough for whatever we need. Of course, when you make a statement like that, within . about two years it was perfectly obvious it was not big cnough .. for anything.” . » Alfred St. George Hamersley established the North “ Vaticouver Ferry and Power Co. in 1903 ard built the second ferry, the self-named Ss. George. It was hailed as the first dou- ‘ble-ended ferry on Canada’s west coast. When the No. 3 was -faunched in 1911, North Vancouver’s estimated population had mushroomed to 8,192. Just 10 years earlier it was only 365. : ; The ferrics sparked development in North Vancouver beyond Moodyville. A network of streetcars ran up Lonsdale, Capilano Road and Lynn Valley, feeding foot passengers to the ~. dock. at the foot of Lonsdale, much like buses do for today’s * SeaBus. Horses and carriages, motorcycles and cars were wel- come in the cramped vehicle space of the ferries. Ferries were the only means of crossing the inlet until the 1925 opening of the Second Narrows rail bridge. It took -another 10 years for a fourth vessel to be built, only to see the Guinness family construct che Lions Gate Bridge at the First . Narrows in 1938 to connect West Vancouver with Stanley Park. north shore news SUNDAY FOCUS Sunday, July 4, 1999 — North Shore News -— 3 SEVEN Seas proprieto; Diamond Almas bought the former North Vancouver No. S ferry in 1959 and turned it into a floating seafood restaurarit. It's business as usual while Almas fends off a lawsuit from North Vancouver City, However, vehicles: were pricey and the ferries remained the most popular means of crossing for ordiaary people. When war broke out in Europe, North Vancouver was turned into the west coast’s warship-building hub and ferry ser- vice was stretched to the limit, Stuart says. “During World War Uf there was a real labour shortage. How did you have 8,400 people working at the Burrard Dry Dock on any given day ia a city whose population was only 15,000 by the end of the war? You brought a lot of people over from the south shore.” Among those who piicd the waters as a commuter was Jack Loucks. He wasn’t building boats, but helping shape the minds of North Vancouver scl.celchildren. The city’s fiture mayor was + school teacher at North Star school and took the ferry te work. “I used to take the stucients on field trips,” Loucks remein- bered. “We didn’t have libraries in the schools those days. I had some parents who put up some moncy and we bought library membership cards for the Vancouver Pubtic Library. I used to march the kids on to the bus. We'd get on the ferry and we'd march over to the old library ae Hastings and Main.” The fifth and last of the North Vancenvers was launched in 1941 and remained in service watil a new Second Narrows crossing opened in 1958. The doable-ender, which cairicd 600 passengers and 30 vehicles, was bought by Dismond Almas and his parents in 1959. A year later they rerned it into che Seven Seas, the seafood restaurant still captained by Almas and still moored at the foot of Lonsdsfe near the site of the original lock. With the proliferation of cars at the end of the 50s, ferries weren’t needed. At feast not uniil the Lions Gate Bridge began showing its age in the early 1970s. By 1974, the provincial government sought proposals for a passenger-only ferry service on a route similar to the one dis- See Cats page 5 es0tRS grort 65 Boa nc i Mt , ust #0 iets Heritage ‘hazard’ firmiy anchored — DIAMOND Almas says the former North | Vancouver No. 5 ferry is staying put and it’s business as usual at his 39-year-old floating . restaurant. Almas, with help from his parents, bought the vessel for $155,000 in 1959 after it was decommissioned from its Burrard Inlet ferry run. He transformed it into the Seven Seas seafood restaurant. Almas, then 20, achieved a childhood dream. “Here was a chance to get involved in the restaurant field. We saw this as a wonderful opportunity. “When you take a vessel and change its original direction, stop using it as a carrier, it’s difficult. This is made for some- ~ thing clse. We're glad we persisted. It caught the imagination ° of the public.” There were times that Almas did whatever. he could to stay afloat. Like hiring Canadian Pacific Airlines’ flight attendants to work at the Seven Seas during !ayovers. The Seven Scas never ventured from area waters. But word of the. floating restaurant with a view of Vancouver's ever. changing skyline made it around the globe, thasks to the fight attendants. ; The heritage site’s fitture is uncertain, Almas admits. Tie City of North Vancouver filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in March secking the historic boat’s removal from the water- .- front. The city contezids it’s 4 safety hazard. Almas says it’s going nowhere, because a condition of its purchase from the. - city was that it remain at the foot of Lonsdale. He’s heping « the instaliation of a protective liner on the hull will placate city hall. But he thinks he’s having a tough time convincing the :: public that he’s still in business. Employees are constantly ; answering the phone te hear potential guests wonder-if the ; restaurant is open or the ship is condemned. “Think about this, for every call, how many peopic are not oo calling?” He can’t fathom why the city would want its best known : waterfront landmark removed, especially when it remains a. - ° seaworthy vessel and viable business. “The vessel is sitting at port, never moving. Forty years and |: we haven’t had a problem. Why destroy something that’s worked so hard to survive, especially in these economic times. Why not a helping hand rather than the halt?” " Mayor Jack Loucks rode the No. 5 and its sister No. 4 dur- . ing the 1940s when he commuted to his schoolteaching'job . —- Gove bus, plus terry, North yer ierecadelts ez Ch Commutation ey Bus Only: . Round pe ares its 30c; Children 1Se. in North Vancouver. ; wale “I think there are a lot of people who would like to see i remain there,” Loucks says. “We get letters from people who would miss it. It’s been a landmark for years, but there are cer- tain things we are concerned about, that’s why we leyed down - certain expectations.” - : A trial date’has not been set. plus feeder bus: jidren_33¢- — Bob Mackin