# Calgary Catalina



## BigMig

Hello fellow mariners past. I have been trying to find information about MV Calgary Catalina, a seismic vessel aboard which I sailed in 1969. She was a refitted and repurposed seiner originally named FV Golden Scarab. The Scarab had sat at Purdy Brothers wharf in Halifax for roughly 2 years before it's makeover. I joined her in May, 1969 and left her to join Fundy Gypsum in September of that year, and have always been curious about what her fate might have been. I've included a photo of the Catalina dockside in Halifax taken from the Fisheries Research Board, where I worked prior to signing aboard as 'assistant navigator', aka 'jack-of-all-trades'. Hope this rings a bell...


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## Frank P

Welcome onboard bigmig, enjoy the site. 
She looks like she was an ex Tuna fishing boat?

Cheers Frank


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## BigMig

Right you are, Frank P. I checked the registry of Canadian built fishing vessels, and found that she was built at the Davies shipyard in Lauzon, Quebec. A further search identified that she was contracted by StarKist to fish tuna off the west coast of Africa. I vaguely remember her being towed into Halifax under questionable cir***stances, and sitting alongside at Purdy Brothers for arguably a couple years. I haven't discovered where she was repurposed for seismic capability (yet). Anyway, we did most of our work off the eastern seaboard of both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in the river as far west as Lac St. Jean.


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## Bamse

IMO No: 6501109 
Year: 1964 
Name:
GOLDEN SCARAB 
[1969 cv to research vessel, 975gt] - 69 CALGARY CATALINA - 71 J.E.JONSSON
BU Bo'ness 7.2.85 [Bo'ness Scrap]


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## David Field

BigMig said:


> Hello fellow mariners past. I have been trying to find information about MV Calgary Catalina, a seismic vessel aboard which I sailed in 1969. She was a refitted and repurposed seiner originally named FV Golden Scarab. The Scarab had sat at Purdy Brothers wharf in Halifax for roughly 2 years before it's makeover. I joined her in May, 1969 and left her to join Fundy Gypsum in September of that year, and have always been curious about what her fate might have been. I've included a photo of the Catalina dockside in Halifax taken from the Fisheries Research Board, where I worked prior to signing aboard as 'assistant navigator', aka 'jack-of-all-trades'. Hope this rings a bell...
> [/QUOT
> 
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> Bamse said:
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> IMO No: 6501109
> Year: 1964
> Name:
> GOLDEN SCARAB
> [1969 cv to research vessel, 975gt] - 69 CALGARY CATALINA - 71 J.E.JONSSON
> BU Bo'ness 7.2.85 [Bo'ness Scrap]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BigMig said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hello fellow mariners past. I have been trying to find information about MV Calgary Catalina, a seismic vessel aboard which I sailed in 1969. She was a refitted and repurposed seiner originally named FV Golden Scarab. The Scarab had sat at Purdy Brothers wharf in Halifax for roughly 2 years before it's makeover. I joined her in May, 1969 and left her to join Fundy Gypsum in September of that year, and have always been curious about what her fate might have been. I've included a photo of the Catalina dockside in Halifax taken from the Fisheries Research Board, where I worked prior to signing aboard as 'assistant navigator', aka 'jack-of-all-trades'. Hope this rings a bell...
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...




BigMig said:


> Right you are, Frank P. I checked the registry of Canadian built fishing vessels, and found that she was built at the Davies shipyard in Lauzon, Quebec. A further search identified that she was contracted by StarKist to fish tuna off the west coast of Africa. I vaguely remember her being towed into Halifax under questionable cir***stances, and sitting alongside at Purdy Brothers for arguably a couple years. I haven't discovered where she was repurposed for seismic capability (yet). Anyway, we did most of our work off the eastern seaboard of both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in the river as far west as Lac St. Jean.


Ahoy mateys,
I am so excited to have found this site and hope I am understanding how to use it correctly. I have been searching for information on the fate of the Golden Scarab for 50 years and it is only now I have found this, I served as second engineer on the boat for six months 1968, I signed-on (a story in itself) in Gibraltar and we fished off East Africa and delivered our catches to Tema, Ghana, I left her in July. 
I recently found my journal and have now digitized it (34 pages) and am told it is an interesting tale of life aboard a tuna clipper and shore leave in Tema. Previous to this week the only info I had was that the boat was sold to a seismic company and her name was now MV Catalina. Last week I did one last Google search and discovered the 1968 newspaper ad for her auction, but still had no info on the successful purchaser or price paid (min bid $55,00). A few day later in another last ditch attempt by more googling I came upon this site.
I am hoping we can exchange more info and yarns. I will be happy to send my completed illustrated journal any interested persons.
David


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## David Field

David Field said:


> Ahoy mateys,
> I am so excited to have found this site and hope I am understanding how to use it correctly. I have been searching for information on the fate of the Golden Scarab for 50 years and it is only now I have found this, I served as second engineer on the boat for six months 1968, I signed-on (a story in itself) in Gibraltar and we fished off East Africa and delivered our catches to Tema, Ghana, I left her in July.
> I recently found my journal and have now digitized it (34 pages) and am told it is an interesting tale of life aboard a tuna clipper and shore leave in Tema. Previous to this week the only info I had was that the boat was sold to a seismic company and her name was now MV Catalina. Last week I did one last Google search and discovered the 1968 newspaper ad for her auction, but still had no info on the successful purchaser or price paid (min bid $550,000). A few day later in another last ditch attempt by more googling I came upon this site.
> I am hoping we can exchange more info and yarns. I will be happy to send my completed illustrated journal any interested persons.
> David


min bid $550,000. David


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## David Field

David Field said:


> min bid $550,000. David





David Field said:


> min bid $550,000. David


Another error in my previous posting I was aboard her Jan- July 1967. In the meantime I have gathered more history on this fated ship and failed enterprise. David


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