Firstly, full disclosure – my boat was recently damaged by a derelict / squatter in the creek during a storm. It has been hit multiple times over the past few years by badly anchored vessels, legitimate and otherwise. An uninsured boat strike puts all of the onus of payment on the person that did not do anything wrong. In a worst-case situation a strike could cause injury or death depending on its location and time.
We should all be fully aware the City of Vancouver has a policy of leaving what would be considered a derelict boat anchored in the Creek if there is a resident on board. This policy has been in place since the beginning of Covid19. What isn’t being spoken is the amount of damage these boats do as they are poorly anchored by people that appear to know little about boating. I have literally seen a shopping cart being used as an anchor. Not to mention multiple boat fires and the daily discharge of toilets and garbage directly into the Creek.
The issue of costs and the loss of quality of life by visiting boaters and residents affected due to these incidents does not seem to be weighed at all by the City of Vancouver. One part of a solution that is currently employed by some coastal cities in California is the placement of mooring buoys. There is a nominal fee (I think it’s $10 per night) charged for the use of these buoys and as they are professionally anchored the buoys are permanent.
Permanent buoys are a great option for transient boaters (of which we have plenty) and can be placed in appropriate spots away from the water leases of our marinas. They will specify the number of spots available and the installation cost will eventually be recouped. The fee could even be waived for people that are deemed otherwise homeless by the Marine Patrol. Currently these derelict and unpowered vessels are tracked by employees of City of Vancouver. Yes, we are paying for this function in man-hours and gasoline spent scouting the Creek and in damages to our vessels/docks. Instead they could be adding to COV revenues which could then be allocated to improving the coastal experience for all.
If you have any other ideas please bring them forward in our comment section but for now anything would be better than just continuing to ignore the growing issues and doing absolutely nothing.