SAMSON V – How Oakum and Tar Kept The 87 Year Old Sternwheeler Afloat

October 4th, 2024 – Vancouver’s Wooden Boat Club – Oarlock and Sail: Building and Sailing the Iconic Gannet Sailboat

In this episode, Favourite Boatworks take us on a tour of the historical sternwheeler Samson V and see the work that is going into the vessel to bring it back to its former glory.

“Samson V, launched in 1937, is the last surviving wooden steam-powered sternwheeler built for the federal Department of Public Works for use as a snag-boat on the Fraser River. At 418 gross tons and 115’ on deck, she was the fifth in a series of similar vessels dating back to 1884 that cleared debris, maintained aids to navigation and government docks, performed surveys and served other functions as needed.

Samson V was the last steam-powered sternwheeler to operate in Canada and representative of a of the federal government’s long-standing involvement in maintaining the waterways of western Canada. The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada has declared the operation of sternwheeler snag-boats by the Department of Public works on the rivers of British Columbia an event of national historic significance and in the future intends to commemorate this by means of a plaque installed on or near Samson V, “the last representative example” of these vessels.”