Dozer Boat In Ladysmith Harbour Booming Grounds

The ‘Boom’ or ‘Dozer’ Boat is a Ladysmith invention. After demobilization from the Navy at the end of World War II, Fred Fiander, a Comox Logging and Railway Company employee, was made foreman of a boat shop building conventional workboats used for log sorting. Fred envisioned a revolutionary type of boat and built Barby (named after his daughter), 12’ long, 6’ beam, 2’10” in the draft. Constructed of 24” square red cedar timbers, no keel, ribs or planking; bolted together with 1” rods; a Chrysler crown marine engine with a v-drive; the two-to-one reduction and a 26 x 12 propeller. Steel sheeting was installed later to protect the hull. The manager, Jim Shaesgreen, commented, “The way it looks, the way it darts in and out among the logs, with engine humming, well, it’s just like a busy bee”.

Since its inception, many variations of the original Boom Boat have evolved and are in use around the world.