Frustration mounts over 'Wild West' of boat mooring in Vancouver Island bay

People who live along Cadboro Bay in Saanich, B.C., arefrustrated by the number of boats that continue to break free and crash ashore during the frequent storms thatbatter the coast.

Severalmore vessels washed up during high winds earlier this week.

Twolarge sailboats weretowed off the sand and refloated on Wednesday after their owners came forward.

Standing on Gyro Beach while a crew from a marine towing company went to work, MaxBlouwsaid one of the boats belongs to his son, who is out of town.

Boat beached in Cadboro Bay back on water

7 years ago

Duration 1:04

A marine towing company managed to remove this sailboat from the beach in Cadboro Bay. It's one of several that broke free and washed up during during the most recent storm.

Blouwsays the 29-footsailboat was tied up in the bay because his sonis waiting for a slip to open up at anearby marina.

"It was a really rough number of days in a row," he said."He had it very securely moored, but six lines chafed through."

The other boat is owned by a man who lives onboard and also thought his anchor was secure enough to withstand the storm. He was on hisboat when it crashed into the beach but wasn't hurt.

The owners of both sailboats coveredthe cost of getting them back into the water.

But that's not always the case, said Eric Dahliwith the CadboroBay Residents Association.

"If the ownership can't be determined, then we through the Registrar of Wreckwill take ownership and dispose of it," he said. "Eventually it comes as a cost to all of the taxpayers."

A third vessel also washed up in the recent storm. The owner has not come forward to claim it and Dahli saidit's not clearhow long it will sit onthe beach, where it could be a hazard for children playing.

The issue of boats washing up inCadboroBay isa long-standing one.

"The problem here is that of boaters who really have no idea about how to anchor their boats," said Peter Simpson, a sailor who also lives near the beach.

"They don't realize that Cadboro Bay is like a funnel. It faces right to the southeast and we have had eight- to 10-foot [2.5- to three-metre] waves in here on really rough days.

• Derelict boat fee proposed to pay for cleanup of wrecks

In October,a cleanup was held to remove half a dozen battered and deteriorating boats from the beach, some of which had washed up years ago.

Derelict and abandoned vesselsfall under federal jurisdiction.

But after years of hounding from people who use the beach, theprovince and local governmentsstepped up with more than $10,000to help volunteers remove the boats and dispose of them.

• Oak Bay cleans up derelict boats as problem persists along B.C.'s coast

Last year, the federal government announced $6 million for an Abandonded Boats Program. Groupscan apply for a grant to remove small abandoned or wrecked vesselsthat pose a hazard.

But critics say the funding for the program won't come close to addressing the number of abandoned boats left rusting and rotting on Canadian coastlines.

Dahli said residents are workingto forma task force with local municipalities, the province and the Coast Guardto better manage boats that are anchoring and mooring in Cadboro Bay.

"We're going to try to bring some semblance of order to the Wild West, which is this Cadboro Bay," he said.