❖ Fish Boat SINBAD ❖ 1943 ❖

SINBAD
Built at Hix Bay, Shaw Island, WA, 1943.
Owner/builder Art "Unc" Hoffman.
Original 8" x 10" photo by Rod Peterson, 1971
from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

During the winters of the depressed 1930s, Shaw Islander Art Hoffman (1900-1981) was off work from his engineering job on the NEREID and other local cannery tenders. He and his younger brother Delbert (1903-1992) would leap at a chance to hop in Del's launch to motor out to neighboring island beaches, combing for logs. They saved them up for a tow to the Spencer brothers' sawmill on Blakely Island.

      "Unc", as he was commonly called, carved out a scale half model, the lumber was rafted home from Spencer's and the keel for SINBAD was laid near the shore of Hix Bay. The oak framed boat was 36' lod and 32' registered length. She was launched in 1943 on the site where Art's nephew, Henry, would later build his sawmill. The fishing vessel was built with the idea of trolling and was rigged for dragging for scallops for a few years. According to Henry, "Unc used to drag up a lot of different stuff. One day he was particularly thirsty and it's said, he pulled up the drag to find a nice cold bottle of beer.

Arthur "Unc" Hoffman 
Shaw Island, WA. 
Undated photo courtesy of the Hoffman family.

      Later when he bottom fished for cod and halibut he would take a load to Bellingham once a week. Later still, the boat was used for gillnetting."

      The first engine in the SINBAD was a Stuts Bearcat, a heavy 4-cylinder massive engine, a Pontiac Straight 8, converted. Later it was changed to a Gray '371' Jimmy Diesel.

       It was a pretty picture to see the skookum little SINBAD nestled in Hix Bay, right where she was born.

SNOOSE (ex-SINBAD)
She was sold out of the family
and is now located in the Seattle area.
Photo courtesy of Ron Lloyd.