Motor vessel – ‘Relief’
RELIEF was built and launched in 1929 in Cow Bay, Prince Rupert, B.C.
This West Coast troller’s first owner, Merrill Sollows, immediately put RELIEF to work running rum into the United States from Nova Scotia during prohibition. After a stern machine gun warning from the US Coast Guard, Merrill and his burley crew of 5 headed west to fish the abundant waters of the Pacific Northwest.
The origin of the boat’s name “RELIEF” is as muddy as the Fraser River. Perhaps, this new troller was a “relief” from the leaky old troller Merrill had before her. Through the generations the name has loaned many different meanings to each owner she has had. The stories and memories of this old sea troller run as deep and wide as the waters she fished.
For most of it’s life, RELIEF fished salmon, tuna and halibut along the West Coast of British Columbia. For a brief period, during World War II, RELIEF and her crew were enlisted in the “gumboot navy”, or the Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve.
In it’s lifetime, RELIEF harvested over 3 million pounds of salmon. The vessel could pack up to a maximum of 26,000 lbs of salmon or up to 40,000 lbs of halibut in her hold. Never lonely at sea on this old girl!
RELIEF is a troller using lines and lures to catch fish as opposed to nets. Can you imagine how busy you would be hauling in up to 120 lines at once with fish fighting and trashing around.
Six stainless steel lines run off of trolley poles extending at a 45-degree angle from the boat. A main line and 2 pig lines (a line with a float attached to keep the lines from tangling) run off each trolley pole.
Each stainless steel line hosts up to 20 nylon fishing lines that drag lures, flashers, plugs or spoons depending on the species of salmon. The lines are hauled in on the 3 brass winches mounted on the boat’s rails.
RELIEF’s last owner was Bob Johnson. With his crew, Bob and RELIEF fished the waters from Cape Fairweather, Alaska, down to Crescent City, California for over 35 years. They fished primarily for salmon and tuna before retiring her to this current mooring.
The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant on Granville Island wishes to thank Bob Johnson for assistance in creating this final mooring for RELIEF.