This ship model is from our Collection. The Santa Rosa was a fishing seiner originally built in 1927 by Celtic Shipyards in Vancouver. The model is made from red cedar and built by Harvey George, a carver and a member of the T’Sou-ke First Nation.
George began carving when he was eight, after learning from his uncle who would carve tugboats for him. George continued to carve throughout his life, including when he was working as a fishboat deckhand at the Sooke docks. A fascinating aspect of his carving process is that he never measured or drew blueprints when creating a model. he would always start from scratch, and he “eye-balled” all of his elements, and hand-carved all of the aspects.
A fun tidbit about the Santa Rosa is that in 1938 she was purchased and commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy as a training vessel. She only received the name Santa Rosa after 1946, when she was no longer owned by the RCN. She was was B.C.P. 41 prior to 1938, then HMCS Skidegate, and briefly Ochichak.
