Earl and Oakley Johnson’s most recent venture has proven they are following in their father’s footsteps. In his time, their father was known among the fishermen of Newfoundland as a man who would be one of the first if not the first to embrace new ideas in the fishery. He was one of the first to get a diesel engine and the first one with a hydraulic hauler. Now on a bitter morning in April, his sons await the arrival of a dream of theirs for two years. It’s a catamaran built specifically for the commercial fishery, the first one in Newfoundland.

This was Earl’s idea but he soon sold it to his brother Oakley. They were ready to replace their traditional long liner so Earl started his research. He discovered that fishermen in the North Sea and in the Straits of Tasmania were using catamarans. They found them faster, more stable and safer than single hulled boats. The two brothers with government officials in tow, visited a boatyard in England where Clive Jeffory was building catamarans for the commercial fishery. After hundreds of phone calls and a couple of fishing seasons later, the boat was ready. Clive Jeffory said he was over the moon when he got the order. In Newfoundland alone there are eight thousand boats registered in this size category so the market potential is huge. Jeffory built the Johnson’s boat for cost to get a foothold into this market. The dream some day is to build these boats in Newfoundland.

The first big test was the crab season six months later and Land and Sea joined the brothers and their newly christened boat, the Eastern Point. It usually takes four and a half hours to steam to their fishing grounds, but the Eastern Point did it in half the time, although burning more fuel. After a rough day at sea, the Johnson brothers came home sold on their new investment. They loved the stability of the boat. It rolled with the swells but didn’t pitch and heave like their old built. It felt as if they were fishing in much calmer waters. There was lots of space on deck and a lot of creature comforts below. There was no question they were delighted with their gamble. Time will tell if it pays off better for them than following the traditional route, but even it doesn’t they’ll be happy to be remembered as fishermen who followed their dream and in their father’s footsteps.