A boat that came to symbolize the derelict and abandoned vessels issue in Porpoise Bay has now been hauled from the water for salvage.
The Gulfstream II, a 30-metre (100-foot) cruiser, was one of the boats the District of Sechelt named when it applied for and received $70,000 to assess derelict and abandoned boats.
The boat sank last September, at which time Sechelt officials said it would be up to either the owner, the coast guard or Transport Canada to take the next steps on dealing with the wreck.
In a statement to Coast Reporter, Transport Canada confirmed it had the Gulfstream II removed under the Navigation Protection Act, “as it was determined to be an obstruction to navigation.”
Late last year, the district and Transport Canada advertised for the owners of six apparently abandoned boats in Porpoise Bay to come forward. The Gulfstream was not one of them.
Sechelt communications manager Julie Rogers told Coast Reporter that of those six advertisements, they got responses from four boat owners who will now have to work with federal agencies to deal with their vessels.
The district, meanwhile, said this week that it continues to work with a group called the Dead Boats Removal Society, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to clearing away derelict vessels, to file paperwork to take possession of the other two boats so they can be removed.
According to a presentation the group made to the qathet Regional District in Powell River last month, it has already removed 26 boats in the Gulf Islands and Victoria areas.
Rogers also said the district has had one owner come forward to voluntarily sign over possession of a boat in Porpoise Bay.
– With files from Powell River Peak
