Silva Bay Shipyard
A long history
The distinctive Silva Bay Shipyard housed the Silva Bay Shipyard School for 10 years, from 1999-2009, but its history placed it at the heart of Gabriola Island’s wooden boatbuilding community long before.
In 1945, Vancouver boatbuilder Les Withey brought his young family to Silva Bay. He partnered with local fisherman Norm Sear and established a shipyard to build wooden fishing boats. Gabriola Island had no electricity at the time; so Withey used a Fairbanks Morse diesel motor, from the Gabriola Island ferry Atrevida, to power his woodworking and machine shops, hardware store, and small cafe. Withey’s Shipyard gained a reputation for its sturdy West Coast fish boats and became the largest enterprise on Gabriola Island, employing shipwrights, electricians, mechanics, painters, and clerks. In the mid 1950s, the Canadian Navy ordered five 75ft wooden crew boats from the yard. Many are still afloat today as private yachts, a testament to the skill and quality of Withey’s craftsmanship.
By the 1970s, sensing the future was in tourism, Withey installed fuel pumps for visiting yachts and expanded the marina to accommodate recreational boaters. In 1974, he retired aboard a converted wooden tugboat with his wife Marg, to spend their last years cruising the British Columbia coast.