Derelict boats: the drop-off zone

As published in MapleLine Magazine: Aug.5, 2009

by Mary P. Brooke

Like a grand jack-o-lantern on a warm Halloween night, a large tugboat burned big and bright on Friday evening July 3, 2009, spewing off smoke and attracting crowds and media from miles around. Visible by Sooke and East Sooke residents and anyone approaching by vehicle on Highway 14, the fiery spectacle brought to light a significant issue about environmental protection and safety as well as the community’s social and aesthetic sensitivities.

The abandoned 38-metre vessel – the Florence Filberg (reportedly owned by Ronald Cook of Victoria) – has been an eyesore for tourists and many residents since Nov.07 when the tug seems to have been ‘let loose’ to glide into the Sooke Harbour where she found a shallow bottom, and there she sat. The boat has been a prominent reminder of that aspect of human nature that one might try to get away with what they can, if circumstances allow. Due to the action of two men (later arrested) who lit the boat on fire that summer evening, the derelict vessel is likely to be removed relatively promptly now, perhaps even with urgency due to the danger to boaters from loose debris that was at first contained by the Coast Guard Auxiliary #37 but which has been breaking off in pieces, some of them large enough to damage a vessel on the water at night.

According to Mayor Janet Evans, Sooke has volunteer beach cleanup teams, but not the quoted $120,000 (nor apparently the legal obligation) to take care of this boat cleanup or to deal with approximately 25 other derelict vessels (smaller than the Florence) that are languishing in the Sooke Harbour Basin. However, the 2009 District of Sooke annual report included a goal to remove all derelict vessels by December 2010.

The question of responsibility is key. Who should pay for the cleanup? The two individuals who set the boat on fire, the owner who abandoned the ship, the towing company who let it go loose, the District of Sooke whose Communities in Bloom profile may suffer, the provincial government (the boat touches the ground below the water), and/or the federal government (waterways)? Cleanup funding requests by District engineers were issued right away to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and to the BC Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Ralph Hull, a certified sea captain and owner of Sooke Ocean Resort, saw the boat arrive in Nov.07 and remain fully in view. He says the cleanup cost could reach $250,000 for barge, crane, divers and salvage crew. Had it been tugged out when it first arrived the cost would have been more like $10,000, says Hull.

Meanwhile, residents and businesses who directly or indirectly suffer the consequences of abandoned on-water vessels and resultant debris are left to wonder. In general, what of the social conscience of those who litter, particularly with items as large as boats? And why would it take so long for residents and the District to finally be fed up with the run-down look of the harbour with the Florence tipped sadly on its side? Sooke already suffers from something of a reputation for the downside of things, a phenomenon that the District does hope to dispel with Town Centre improvements and by generating a collaboration of business, community and government toward improving the look and feel of Sooke as a town with strengthened dignity.

The 65-year-old Florence had been emptied of oil and fuel before embarking on its eventual journey to Sooke, so environmental issues are fortunately not of great concern. The wakeup call is about a community needing to rally around the proverbial campfire to come up with a better way to deal with issues that in one way or another affect us all – before they get out of control. This is one case where the cost for having waited is clearly evident. MM

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