Editor:
This is where we moved to so many years ago – for the lifestyle, that beachcomber outdoorsy life of work and community, surrounded by water, boats, trees and wildlife. From the postcards to the Sunshine Coast telephone book, our lifestyle with quaint, rustic, charming fishing boats and houseboats is showcased.
It’s almost iconic and idyllic for the B.C. coast to have live-aboard houseboats. It’s so unique a way of life and great to see as an option. Yet I’m hearing a lot of trash talk about the live-aboards due to a few, making the whole scene look bad.
Most live-aboards have holding tanks aboard their boats and most take responsibility for their refuse. Most have good, solid boats and most have a passionate respect for the ocean. Caretakers of the body of water they live on, they are even rescuers and first responders to situations on the water.
While a few may make a bad name for all, as this happens in most situations in life, we really should step back and look at the healthy community and lifestyles we have on the Sunshine Coast. Instead of abolishing it, we should work to protect our unique way of life in this very special province. It would be sad to lose a traditional way of living on the Coast even though it is exactly the lifestyle we treasure in art and showcase as a lifestyle and for tourism.
The Sunshine Coast is a way of life. What lifestyle did you come to the Coast for? “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?”
Denise Burns, Wilson Creek
