Being able to get out on the water—whether it’s a day trip or extended cruising—is one of the big draws for those of who live on the West Coast. With a mild climate and some of the finest waters in the world, owning a boat gives us access to a world of adventures and travel that make us the envy of the rest of Canada.

However, over the past years, we’ve been hearing more and more about the increasing lack of permanent moorage in our province. Most marinas between Vancouver, Victoria and Campbell River now have two to three-year waiting lists (see Diane Selkirk’s “Moorage Mayhem,” May 2007). Add to this the fact that several existing marinas are eliminating smaller (20 to 30') slips to cater to the demand for moorage for larger vessels, representing a net loss of slips. In some selfish way, more boats mean more crowds at our favourite destinations—though statistics show that most people only use their boats for an average of two weeks per year.

Yet in recent years, sales of new boats, especially in the 40 to 50' range, have been thriving in concert with our booming economy. This is great for anyone in the recreational marine industry, but without an increase in the number of available slips, we could end up against the wall. Fortunately, brokers for high-end yachts have developed long-term relationships with marinas that enable them, for the most part, to quietly ensure that their clients get moorage. But that can’t last forever. And without new boats, the companies and industries that rely on recreational boaters can’t help but stagnate.
So while the demand for moorage is there, why aren’t we seeing more marinas being built? In the case of Vancouver, city council—even under our sailor mayor, Sam Sullivan—doesn’t appear to have any will to improve the situation. In fact, the solution has been to raise moorage fees at municipal marinas. The Port of Vancouver and the federal government are no better; they’re far more concerned about deep-sea shipping and gross tonnage than with marinas.

Yes, there are environmental issues associated with building new marinas, but the province’s two major cities, Vancouver and Victoria, don’t appear to be concerned about dumping raw sewage into our harbours (in Vancouver’s case, this happens during heavy rains), and marinas are hardly a threat. Another stumbling block is the concerns of those who own waterfront condos who don’t want their views “spoiled” by yachts.

About the only good news we’re aware of on the marina front is action at North Vancouver’s Mosquito Creek Marina, where manager Donny Mekilok is steadily building more slips and creating a valet service that allows boats up to 60' to be dropped off and then stored on the hard until their owners want to go boating again. In Saanich by the Victoria Airport, a big new dry-stack moorage facility is under construction and will reportedly offer a similar service. Despite these worthy efforts, which are really a drop in the proverbial bucket, we still have a crisis to solve. We need more marinas, and in upcoming issues, PY will be asking some tough questions of our government and looking for answers to this pressing problem.

Among the fallout from the lack of moorage is an increasing number of private mooring buoys. While these are legal when properly marked and maintained—and not a problem when placed in front of a landowner’s waterfront lot—the task of finding places to anchor in many of our favourite bays is becoming increasingly difficult. While the law requires they be clearly marked with the owner’s name, I’d estimate that more than half the permanent buoys I saw last summer had no markings at all. A simple solution is for Transport Canada to get out there and enforce the Private Buoy Regulations. This would be a more practical use of their time than dreaming up impossible new laws, such as the crazy sewage regulations they tried to saddle us with before recreational boaters forced them to see the light. For more on the issue of mooring buoys, see Catherine J. Johnson’s article on pg. 61 and the reader letter in letters.