Author Archives: admin

Victoria Floating Boat Show

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The BCNR has secured a seat at the 2011 Victoria Floating Boat Show in Victoria, BC between APRIL 28 and MAY 1, 2011.

We would like to put out a heartfelt thankyou to the British Columbia Yacht Brokers Association and especialy Kathy Harvey for this generous invitation.

Without this kind of valuable support we could not survive as an credable organization.

I invite everyone to come and meet us at the main entrance to the show and support this fun and interesting event.

You can find further information at

www.floatingboatshows.com

BCNR Press release

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The BCNR has released a press kit.

The feedback has been positive and the press has contacted us for several interviews.

When contacting government agents this week we were recognized immediately and were told that they feel that our presence is of great value.

The directors feel that after a great deal of work the association is finally gaining credibility and will have the ability to make a genuine contribution to improving the live aboard lifestyle.

Story by Rachel Stern – Nanaimo News Bulletin

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New group looking to address liveaboard issues

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Nanaimo News Bulletin

Vancouver Island Central

 

By Rachel Stern – Nanaimo News Bulletin

Published: February 24, 2011 3:00 PM

A new Victoria-based association wants to create a unified front to address issues that affect people living aboard their boats along the B.C. coast.

The recently formed founded the British Columbia Nautical Residents Association is trying to recruit members.

Rick Schnurr, a founder and director of the group, said the association was formed to fight prejudices and create a unified voice on issues that impact the lifestyle.

“There is a fair bit of prejudice against liveaboards,” said Schnurr, adding there are a number of concerns in Nanaimo that have been brought to the association’s attention.

“It’s pretty restrictive for liveaboards anchoring in Nanaimo,” he said.

One of the major issues that has concerned Nanaimo boaters is the Nanaimo Port Authority’s permanent moorage policy that was introduced in 2009. The policy requires boaters staying more than 14 days in a 30-day period to get a permit and adhere to regulations set by the Port Authority.

The most recent issue to concern Nanaimo boaters revolves around buoys placed as anchorage around Newcastle Island.

Schnurr said an association is important to help boaters deal with issues and the regulations they are expected to follow in certain harbours.

The association wants to create a database so people can clearly understand the regulations for specific areas.

Schnurr said one of the difficulties boaters face is that most harbours fall under overlapping areas of government jurisdiction, including federal and provincial authorities.

The association is a non-profit society and currently has about 45 members.

The Nanaimo Harbour Boaters Community refused to comment as to whether it has joined.

The association has four main goals: to preserve and support the liveaboard lifestyle, promote environmental awareness amongst liveaboards, communicate and resolve issues of concern to liveaboards and serve as a voice on issues that affect B.C. waterways.

Membership in the association is open to anyone interested in the liveaboard life and annual membership is $10 per vessel.

For more information or to join the Nautical Residents Association, please go to www.bcnr.org.

Liveaboard Moorage

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In response to a an email regarding the difficulty obtaining moorage as a liveaboard, the British Columbia Nautical Residents Association board is investigating the terms that govern marina leases. The question is whether moorage has to be made available to all classes of vessel including liveaboards. Keep an eye on this thread for updates on what we find out in our investigation.

Derelict Boats

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Central Saanich Councillor Adam Olson, in an interview on the CBC, announced the formation of a working group to address problem of derelict and abandoned boats on the BC shores. The group includes staff from the Union of BC Municipalities, the Islands Trust, and the Provincial Government will look into how to manage this ever growing problem. The British Columbia Nautical Residence Association has a strong interest in this topic and will be approaching the working group in the hope that we will be invited to the table to assist in finding solutions to this problem.

BC Parks Mooring Balls

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The British Columbia Nautical Residents Association, with concern over the safety of boaters, contacted BC Parks regarding the mooring buoys installed in the marine parks and received the following reply.

“In response to your questions, our regional staff have provided the following answers

Buoys are inspected as per engineers recommendations annually.

-Maintenance is contracted out as it is done in other provincial parks such as Montague Harbour

-The buoys have been designed by our engineers to hold two classes of boats. Those under 30 feet in length and those under 40 feet in length. Maximum length is posted on the buoys.

-A wind warning not to anchor to the buoys if the wind is over 30 knots is also posted on the buoys.

-The buoys have been designed to industry standards by an engineer utilizing Nominal Design Standards.

-Larger vessels may anchor outside of the mooring buoys area and in portions of the Nanaimo Harbour as approved by the Nanaimo Harbour Commission, as they have done in the past.

-Mooring buoys are supported by many boaters.

-The fees charged is the provincial standard as found in Montague Harbour and other Provincial Parks.

-Our Park Facility Operator carries insurance.

On a final note, the Master of any vessel is responsible to decide if any anchorage is safe for his size of vessel or not.

I trust this information is helpful.

Regards

BC Parks”

As there is no indication in the reply as to who in BC Parks is providing the response we will be following up with a hope that we can get in contact with the person in charge of the buoys.

Marine Safety

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A member contacted one of the directors reporting that they had become entangled in the remains of an old mooring while trying to place an anchor at night in inclement weather. If this has ever happened to you, please contact us and let us know. As this is a dangerous situation, and with the increasing number of uncharted moorings, the British Columbia Nautical Residents Association will be contacting the Office of Boating Safety regarding their policy on how they deal with this public safety issue.

December 2010 Meeting

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At the meeting this month it was decided that it is time to announce the existence of the British Columbia Nautical Residents Association.Over the next month we will be developing a press kit that will be circulated to as broad a section of the BC media as possible. The point is to provide a level of credibility for the organization with the media on topics that are important to our members.

At this time the membership has reached the grand total of 27 master members with approximately 50 more associate members. Membership confirmation will be emailed out to the members with a short questionnaire are that will standardize the information and allow us to build a database of members.

At this month meeting one of the topics of discussion was the placement of 43 mooring boys in the area in front of the Newcastle Island Park. Our directors will research how this affects the liveaboards who frequent this area.

Another topic of discussion was the concept of maintaining a series of columns on the web page. If any one is interested in submitting such a column for publishing, they are asked to submit any ideas to bob_goth@bcnr.org. The topic can be pretty much anything that may be of interest to BC liveaboards.

In an attempt to normalize meeting times, the directors have decided to hold meetings on the third Thursday of each month.

Meanwhile the directors of the BCNR would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year

November 2010 Meeting

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The directors finally met Nov 18 2010 for the first time since we arrived back after the summer.

The first order of business was to establish a layout for the web presence and determine how to make best use of the Internet.

The directors then started discussion of a variety of topics that affect the liveaboard community.

The topics included :

The importance of anchoring rights and how the growing trends affect the safety and security of liveaboards.

What are the laws around mooring rights on docks. What are the rights of a person living on a boat in a marina. And what are the obligations of marina owners as spelled out in the contracts between the federal government, marina owners, provincial government, and civic governments.

Currently some communities are employing local security in place of the R.C.M.P. to police the harbours. These forces are demanding, in some cases, what appears to be unreasonable access to people’s homes. What is the legal role of the police and do they have the right to board a vessel, someone’s home, at anchor without a warranted reason.

There was also discussion of danger of mooring balls, official or otherwise, to liveaboards and to the boating public in general. What can be done to manage these moorings and protect the few safe places that one can anchor in inclement weather or an emergency.

The discussions above led us all to the conclusion that what is needed is research into the laws regarding living aboard.

To this end we are asking the members for assistance.

We ask for any knowledge that anyone has or any researcher that they may be able to provide.

Participation from our members is paramount so please contact us and help us out to make all our lives safer and more secure.