In late June and early July, the fabulous shoreside boat The Labrador came to life in its incarnation as an art gallery, 12128 Boat. I went to two of the three events and talked to Kyle and Caitlin. Ever since I found out a bit of history of the boat I was curious to learn more.
The Labrador was built in 1942. I hope I can read my scribbled notes: It was built in Napa, CA and it was a U.S. Navy "body boat." The hold was built for bringing returning World War II bodies from Europe and the eastern seaboard. A lot of Navy boats -- big and solid, and could be rebuilt with a lot of machinery -- ended up in Alaska as crabbing boats.
In 1977 The Labrador was fitted for crabbing. Kyle's father, Dave Thompson, was its skipper for 30 years. Kyle worked on the boat with him for five years. His dad is 55, so he was working on the boat from his 20s. The boat worked the Aleutian Islands and was used for crabbing and other fisheries.
At one point The Labrador was moved to Seattle, and it arrived at its current location at the Multnomah Yacht Harbor in 2009.
It was certainly a fascinating setting for an art gallery show -- Kyle and Caitlin are both artists. I especially liked seeing the pieces in combination with windows that brought in river views that seemed to make it part of the exhibit. Having paddled past that boat regularly now for more than a year, I was thrilled to be on board, looking it over from its decks. Kyle said, "New crabbing boats don't have quite the same character of the Navy boats." How lucky we are to have this piece of history in our river backyard.
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