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Erich Engert/The Telegraph. The San Juan de Pasajes, Canada’s oldest recorded shipwreck, was found submerged in over 30 feet of water in Red Bay, Labrador. It was believed to have sunk in 1565. Now, a replica is being built by the Albaola Foundation and is halfway through the first year of its construction. It’s expected to take another two years to finish.

Once it’s seaworthy, the San Juan will tour ports around the world, and plans to stop in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“What I’m told is the first trips are actually going to be around Europe,” said Jerome Canning, Newfoundland and Labrador boat-builder for the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador.

People building the San Juan replica, Canada's oldest recorded shipwreck, can be almost anyone with the ability and background in boatbuilding. Jerome Canning was one of the boatbuilders able to visit Spain to help build the whaler with the help of the Department of Heritage and Tourism.(submitted photo-The Telegraph)

He visited Spain to help recreate the San Juan, sponsored by the boat museum.

“So they’ll go to various ports in Europe and we’ll be the next summer after the launch, or probably the same year, that depends.”

The Albaola Foundation has welcomed people with experience from far and wide to help build the ship. The moment Canning received support from the Department of Heritage and Tourism, he was on a flight to help build the whaling ship.

“When I left, there was just the first level. All the frames of the first floor were done and they were just starting on the second flood when I left. Then it’s onto the third floor, and then they’ll start the planking,” said Canning.

He’s been involved in several boat-building projects. He constructed a rodney, a small Newfoundland wooden boat usually used by one man for hook and line fishing, at The Rooms, where he invited the public to watch his progress.

He’s also constructed boats in the Wooden Boat Museum in Winterton and the Boathouse in Placentia. Also in Placentia, Canning built a chaloupe during the 2004 French celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary of the French presence in the province.

The chaloupe is a French boat with Basque origins.

“He seemed to be very confident in what he was doing (building the boat) and he’s also very friendly in dealing with people’s questions about the project,” Tom O’Keefe, president of the Placentia Area Historical Society said of Canning.

Canning got his start in boat building when his father retired and spent his time as a fisherman. Canning and his brother liked to go fishing with their father but their boat was too small for the three of them.

So Canning made his own boat. For years after, Canning would build a boat or two every winter. Now he’s helping to build a massive whaler.

For now, he’s returned home to Newfoundland but plans on returning to Spain to help if he can gather the funds.

The San Juan played an important role as a whaling cargo ship. It went down in December 1565 while riding at anchor in the bay with other whaling ships. During a storm, the ship’s mooring broke and it struck the island. The blow led to the ship’s sinking with a full load of 1,000 casks of oil.

Parks Canada archeologist divers discovered the ship after Dr. Michael Barkham translated a Basque sailor’s will, which was found by his mother, historian Selma Barkham.

According to the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website, the Basque whalers of France and Spain hunted right whales and bowhead whales around Newfoundland and Labrador during the 16th century.

The whaling ships averaged 700 tonnes and were some of the largest and slowest vessels to cross the Atlantic at the time.

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, archeological teams from Parks Canada conducted underwater investigations, revealing the expertise of the Basque shipbuilding industry at its peak.

Parks Canada documented the details of the ship’s structure and formation.

The Spanish organization rebuilding the ship plan on making it as close to its original form as possible, including collecting wood used from the same type of trees in the same forest areas and using the same tar, pitch and tools, like the wooden nails and the ropes used to keep the ship together.

“This ship in Spain is a ‘fine line’ boat. It’s exactly what was underneath the water,” said Canning.

“We have a piece of history here. … We have a whaling ship that has not only been uncovered in the physical evidence, but the evidence was documented as well.”