Sechelt poised for new day float

The District of Sechelt is poised to move forward with plans to build a day float in Trail Bay.

"The initial plan that I think we can do in the next few months is to put the initial dock system up -a long, wide dock," Mayor Darren Inkster said.

Inkster said the day float would allow pleasure craft - to a maximum of 60-metre pocket cruise ships - to dock in the bay to unload passengers. It's part of a vision to get Sechelt looking back to its waterfront for opportunities, as it used to historically.

"What we need to do as a community, for sustainable economic development, is go back to our waterfront and have more boat traffic and have more opportunities to visit Sechelt," he said.

In warmer months, vendors could operate small stalls or kiosks along the day float, creating a market atmosphere, he said.

"You want boat traffic to come into a festive commercial atmosphere," he said. "You don't want them to come into a dock that's sterile and unexciting. You want a boat that's going by to go, 'Let's stop there.'"

Sechelt Downtown Business Association director Dennis Olson said any number of local businesses would stand to gain from boaters the day float would attract.

"Once you've been on the boat for three or four days, just about anything is great," said Olson, who is a boater himself. "So any opportunity to get off is more than welcome and [boaters] would shop for regular tourist things all the way to just taking the dog to a vet, [buying] parts for the boat, entertainment at the movie theatre -things just away from the boat."

The day float, Inkster said, is an initial step in what could ultimately be a large marina plan, if funding can be lined up from upper levels of government.

"If you do it right and do a big marina float plan, ultimately we could have cruise ships stopping here if they didn't mind stopping almost immediately after they left Vancouver," he said. "But we'd have to cultivate that relationship."

But for now, the day float project will progress in stages, as District staff prepares plans for the various steps of the project and the plans come before council for approval.

"Council wants to do it, we've put money aside for it," Inkster said. "I can't pre-judge next year's budget commitments, but I believe council's very supportive of putting as much money as we possibly can into getting it done in the new year."

And so far, the Sechelt community appears keen on the day float project.

"There's a lot of community support as far as I can tell," Inkster said. "I'd be really surprised to see non community support. Maybe a couple of people who live on the waterside who may be concerned about their view being affected, but that would be all."