A Cape Island style fishing boat is an inshore motor fishing boat found across Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...

 having a single keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

ed flat bottom at the stern

Stern

The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...

 and more rounded towards the bow

Bow (ship)

The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...

. A Cape Island style boat is famous for its large step up to the bow.
It originated on Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia

Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia

Cape Sable Island, locally referred to as Cape Island, is a small Canadian island located at the southernmost point of the Nova Scotia peninsula. Sometimes confused with Sable Island. Historically, the Argyle, Nova Scotia region was known as Cape Sable and encompassed a much larger area than...

 about 1905. (Various online sources cite years 1905, 1906, and 1907.) Two families claim credit for its invention. The design is most commonly credited to Ephraim Atkinson of Clark's Harbour, Nova Scotia

Clark's Harbour, Nova Scotia

Clark's Harbour is a town on Cape Sable Island in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Barrington municipal district of Shelburne County. The main industry is lobster fishing. The community is noted as the birthplace of the Cape Islander fishing boat...

. The Atkinson family builders have continued building the world-renowned and recognized pleasure and commercial boats to this day.

The other claim to the boat's design is an accomplished boat-builder from Clark's Harbour, William A. Kenney, who is said to have constructed the first Cape Islander entirely from wood in 1905.

This boat can now be seen in use all over coastal Nova Scotia, North America, and the world. It is closely related to the Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 lobster boat.

External links

• Photo of Cape Islander at wharf
• Nova Scotia Motorized Fishing Boats by David A. Walker
  David A. Walker (marine consultant)
  David A. Walker is a naval architect, marine surveyor and historian based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Born in Yorkshire, England, he lived in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto before settling in Halifax and as a marine consultant, specializing in ship preservation and maintenance. Walker worked for...
  
  
• Clark's Harbour article at The Canadian Encyclopedia