Difficult to find annual moorage on Vancouver Island

anchoring

Thanks Tom. I understand the issues with a buoy perhaps being poorly maintained. In my travels around the Discovery Islands I have seen a lot of poorly maintained docks and just about everything else.

At Quadra Island I held onto the handrail on the ramp at the dock beside the ferry, it looks like one wrong step and you'll go right through.

RSN: That looks like what my friend was talking about, but I think I will google 'happy hooker' as well to see what comes up.

rsn48: Just watched the video for that Teepor boat hook, I am sure that's what my friend was talking about.

I agree though, something longer and perhaps a little sturdier would be nice. I hate to say it, but it seems too cheap. I don't mind paying for something that is better quality (if it really is).

Here is a link Robship Hook & Moor that we have used for many, many years.
We love it, very well built & sturdy, makes threading a line thru the buoy a breeze.

West Marine had a much smaller grabber. True to form, when WM sold out their supply, they apparently did not reorder. I also read comment about some folks saying they either trouble with it or it did not work.

The one in the video is much larger and may work.

Mike: That Robship Boat Hook looks great. It looks more sturdy and simpler than the Teepor. I'll keep my eye out for one while prowling marinas and marine supply stores.

Have you looked into Boat Harbour Marina. Probably the nicest marina in the region. Alternately, the community marina in Ladysmith. The wharfinger told me the other day that he was having lots of 30' and 40' slips coming available.

LakeMJim might have in mind a vertical pole with it`s own float on a short line attached to the mooring buoy attached to the mooring apparatus. The pole is tall enough to motor up to and grab. Easier than devising a pick up line running from cockpit to bow to slip the mooring line onto. We have them here.

Redoubt

Thanks for those tips, Boat Harbour is the first place I have seen that says they have slips available. I'll call them tomorrow.

From Nanaimo I headed North to Campbell river, then decided to cross to Powell River, and I checked marinas all the way down to Gibsons, so I missed the places South of Nanaimo.

Not much luck on the Sunshine (formerly 'Rainy') Coast but I saw some places I liked a lot (Halfmoon Bay, Gibsons) as potential places to live. Looks like some beautiful places to boat from Saltery Bay to Earl's cove, Secret Cove etc.

I'm spending some time in Vancouver now, and will head back to the Island in September, to check out Ladysmith, Saltspring, Sidney, Sooke, Ucluelet and Tofino.

I've put 7,000 km on my car in the last 6 weeks (that includes my initial drive from Ontario). I've seen a lot of the area!

Keep in mind that being on the waiting list, is different than accepting the slip when it comes available. Some people have intention, but not the wherewithal to pull it off when offered. When I moved up on the waiting list, it wasn't one spot at a time, but three to ten spots at a time.

Many of these lists don't require a deposit. Too bad, as I believe a $50 refundable deposit would decrease the list size dramatically.

As a serious prospect, I paid for my slip without even owning a boat at the time. Told the wharfinger that I would fill it in three months time, and I did.



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Northern Spy, have you considered contacting those on the list to see if they wanted to sell their position?

Northern Spy said:

Keep in mind that being on the waiting list, is different than accepting the slip when it comes available. Some people have intention, but not the wherewithal to pull it off when offered. When I moved up on the waiting list, it wasn't one spot at a time, but three to ten spots at a time.

Many of these lists don't require a deposit. Too bad, as I believe a $50 refundable deposit would decrease the list size dramatically.

As a serious prospect, I paid for my slip without even owning a boat at the time. Told the wharfinger that I would fill it in three months time, and I did.
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Many people sign up on more than one list, sometimes a dozen or so, just to have the best chance of getting moorage somewhere. So just looking at the number of people on a list may be kind of misleading. Moving up 3 to 10 people on the list may reflect just ONE opening coming available, and the marina called 3 to 10 people before they filled that ONE opening!

slowgoesit said:

Many people sign up on more than one list, sometimes a dozen or so, just to have the best chance of getting moorage somewhere. So just looking at the number of people on a list may be kind of misleading. Moving up 3 to 10 people on the list may reflect just ONE opening coming available, and the marina called 3 to 10 people before they filled that ONE opening!

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Yes. Good point. That would often be the case as well.

OldDan1943 said:

Northern Spy, have you considered contacting those on the list to see if they wanted to sell their position?

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This is coastal BC, not Miami or New York. Not a lot of hustle going down. Canadians have a polite stereotype for a reason. [emoji846]

Beside many marinas are municipal. Wouldn't happen.

In fact, owned slips aren't really common here either. Mainly because the water lots themselves are leased from the province.

I can't remember if I mentioned it earlier but if you are relocating to live then Texada is real option and you can join the Texada Boat Club (residence only). All the living is on the North end and you are quite close to Powell River. According to my banker, lots of big names live in the Powell River area incognito so to speak from all over.

PS: There is a ferry from Powell River to Texada.

Texada

rsn48: I took the ferry from Campbell River to Powell River, and then from Saltery Bay to Earl's Cove. The East side of Texada had some nice scenery, pretty deserted, but one or two cabins.

I thought that whole area around Saltery Bay was very scenic. Looking forward to exploring more in my own boat.

I've got more exploring to do, and I'll get to Texada. A local friend said he wasn't a fan of Texada, and he thought Saltspring was better. Only way I will know is to check them both out.

I'm a little concerned in general about lack of fresh water on some of these islands. I would prefer to live year round, and not sure yet what that would look like on some of the more remote islands. I'm adventurous but not crazy.

As for waiting lists, I am guilty of being on at least 4 at this point.

LakeMJim said:

I have been traveling up the coast of Vancouver Island from Nanaimo to Campbell river the past few weeks, including many of the main islands (Gabriola, Quadra, Cortes) and I have talked to every marina I could find.

Not one has a slip for a 30-34 foot boat available for annual moorage.

Most of the waitlists I am now on said from 2 to 6 years wait for a slip that size.

<snipped>

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Pt. Roberts marina has somewhere in the neighbourhood of 500 slips, most of which are rented by Canadians. Covid has closed that marina, and all the Canadian boats came to Canada and are stashed in various marinas. When the border opens, expect that swing to go the other way and when it does, moorage in Canada should ease a bit...

Thanks Nikko, more and more good news

I know water can be a problem. But some have used creative thinking. I dated an Anglican priest's daughter for about tens minutes many a decade ago who lived on Gabriola. Her dad had incredible gardens, flowers and veggies, around the house. He plumbed his house so that all the grey water (not toilet water) was sent to a large septic tank, but not a septic system. It was stored there long enough for heavier sediment to fall to the bottom. The water from this septic tank was used to water the gardens.

A lawyer friend inherited the family cottage ironically just across the street from the priest's house by a lovely small lagoon. She too complained of water shortages and I asked her why she didn't just purchase a water maker and put a retractably hose down to the ocean.

Most of the islands have "different" people, kind of back to the sixties types, not well off and quite arrogant about how their poverty frees them up. My buddy from Australia came up to visit his brother on one of the islands. I warned him about the different life style and I knew he didn't quite take it seriously. Turns out his brother but the bathtub where three trails merged. While taking a bath, no walls, you could talk to your neighbours.

Here is a video from Lasqueti Island. This couple owns up to fifty St. Bernards at one time. Apparently some do well at dog shows. Forget where they lived before but wherever, they were evicted and landed up on Lasqueti. BC Hydro offered to send power lines over to Lasqueti but they voted Hydro electricity down.

Island Living

rsn48:

I lived full time on a freshwater lake island for the past 5 years. I had hydro, thank god, but also a torpedo propane tank, a wood stove, a generator (and a generlink, brilliant device), a nice new septic system, and a big supply of firewood.

With those preparations, life was very easy and comfortable, even when the hydro went out for a week in the middle of winter.

The idea of fresh water not being in abundant supply is pretty foreign to me, but having spent some time in Costa Rica, where water is (bizarrely) also in extremely short supply, I don't like to be anywhere where it could run out.

I could stand running out of food for a month or two, it would do me some good, but lack of water in a somewhat remote location is a problem.

I was thinking exactly the same as you though: Why not just have a back-up water maker? And spend some $$ on some big holding tanks as well?

As I have been touring the Discovery Islands I really see that I would not fit in very well. I don't really want to live next to the places with rusting cars and old sofas out front. And there are a lot of those.

I've lived next to places with chicken coops and roosters and that's a 'never again' for me too. I prefer to buy my eggs from the store. I can't imagine how raising chickens is better than paying $4 for enough eggs to last a month.

My friends here tell me Salt Spring island might be more suitable for a non-hippy guy like me.

Where I came from the winters would be -30C so losing power (if you didn't have a back-up or two) could be life threatening, or at very least, property damaging. (No fun trying to drain plumbing at -30C)

So I suppose I could still live in one of those places, but I would be the guy with the very large, new, generator and a large tank of propane or diesel to run it. I'd make sure I had my own well (if allowed) and that it had a decent flow.

Much as I love 'water access only' privacy, I am keeping my search now to mostly mainland. Finding both the place I want to live AND a place to moor is not easy. I think I'll back off of both and wait for a while and hope things cool off.

Or maybe soon I'll write a post titled "I paid a million dollars for a slip" and then explain that the slip came with a new condo attached.

watermakers as water supply solution

I just remembered listening to CBC radio in my long drives around Vancouver Island, and some engineer came on to say why he thought water makers were not a solution to the shortage of fresh water on the islands.

I was rolling my eyes already but waited to hear what was wrong with them and what was his 'solution'. It turned out to be: We should all become vegans, as that would lower the usage of water.

I went back to my Dave Brubeck CD at that point.

I'd make sure I had my own well (if allowed) and that it had a decent flow.

Its not the government or locals not allowing wells, its just the 1000 feet of rock you have to get through.

wells

Sounds like a water maker is a much cheaper and more guaranteed solution

I don't know about your area but here in the Midwest (Great lakes)....

People are boating like CRAZY! Transient slips on weekends are non existent. Good anchorages are crowded. Transient slips are going up in price, drastically. Boats are selling quickly, occasionally we will see a "back row beauty" getting refurbished and back on the water. Mechanics are booking for late winter.

pete

Hi Pete, Yes I came from the Muskoka region in Ontario and the guy who bought my property had a difficult job finding ANY boat to buy under $400,000...for a bowrider...

When he finally found one and bought it at a different marina than where he had just obtained a slip, the marina owner came out as he tied up the new boat and told him he no longer has a slip, he should have bought from them (A $400k Chris Craft).

Luckily the owner of the marina a little further away gave the guy his own slip until one becomes available. As you can imagine, the second marina is wildly popular and loved and the first one is despised passionately.

But the first marina has probably sold more boats than ever before, and they just laugh in the face of their former customers (hundreds of which have relocated to the second, customer friendly marina).

It's pandemic driven, and I can't wait until it's all over.

I have to say, as a former economist, I am in awe of how much money people seem to have after a year and a half of economic 'shutdowns'.

I'm one of the beneficiaries, as my property doubled in value in a year.

But now I have to figure out where to go next and that's not so easy.

LakeMJim said:

I have to say, as a former economist, I am in awe of how much money people seem to have after a year and a half of economic 'shutdowns'.

I'm one of the beneficiaries, as my property doubled in value in a year.

But now I have to figure out where to go next and that's not so easy.

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Jim, you're only a beneficiary if you sell the property NOW and don't have to replace it a the current inflated prices, otherwise, you're just paying higher taxes on the same property that last year was only work 60% of what it's valued at now. . . . it's a win/win for tax collection, double the income, without ever changing the "tax rate".

I have already sold, which is what brought me to BC.

The idea was/is to rent until I figure out for sure if this is where I want to be for the next 5 to 10 years.

But with no boat (due April 2022) and no building project I'm getting bored silly and so I've been looking for any possible 'bargains' in the way of building lots. Not having much luck!

To build myself (I have done it before) seems the only way to come out ahead unless I get lucky and property magically falls in price, which I honestly don't see on the horizon, looking at inventory numbers, which are extremely low.

I might have to get a job just to keep me from going stir crazy.

As I said, I am really looking forward to normalcy returning.

Of course, the more I read up on trawlers, the more tempted I am to buy a Nordhavn 42 and live on that....

But that's a big leap even for a guy like me, who has done some crazy things in the past. (Like buying a mansion In Argentina, for cash. It's a fun story).

Point Roberts Marina is not closed. A friend of mine was there this week! Perhaps you meant that the Marina is closed to Canadians at this time?

See if I can find something:

Meridian 459 2004:

https://nanaimo.craigslist.org/boa/d/ladysmith-meridian-459/7342238774.html

1991 Cooper Prowler 12M sedan:

https://comoxvalley.craigslist.org/boa/d/quathiaski-cove-1991-cooper-prowler-12m/7355779807.html

50 foot aluminum trawler, never have to worry about hitting logs:

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/boa/d/port-moody-trawler-aluminum/7351084875.html

1983 Kadey Krogen 42: [just repowered]

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/boa/d/vancouver-1983-kadey-krogen-42/7353027580.html

A Classic 1952 Monk. This boat will get you into the Vancouver and Victoria Classic Boat Shows. It would be a lot of work to maintain but it would be a fan favourite for visitors:

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/boa/d/maple-ridge-monk/7347101659.html

Trojan 44 footer:

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/rds/boa/d/delta-trojan-44f/7349034985.html

Saloon Cruiser/Trawler 42:

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/boa/d/duncan-42-salon-cruiser-trawler/7344812689.html

Forgot you had a boat.....lol... well, enjoy anyway.