As a director of the B.C. Nautical Residents Association, an organization representing people who choose to live aboard their boats, I would like to point out that most live-aboard boats are not derelict (“Derelict boats migrating to Brentwood Bay,” Dec, 13, and “Region-wide strategy charted for derelict boats,” Dec. 14).

All too often the terms “derelict” and “live-aboard” are used interchangeably and incorrectly when reporting on issues related to harbour usage.

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According to Transport Canada, “wreck” can include wrecked aircraft, cargo lost from vessels in distress, as well as vessels or parts of vessels that have grounded or sunk during storms at sea and rendered incapable of navigation to the point where they are effectively a total loss.

“Wreck” also includes “derelict,” i.e., a vessel or cargo that has been abandoned and deserted at sea without any hope of recovery.

There is no readily available definition of derelict or abandoned ship in the federal legislation. The Canada Shipping Act includes derelicts in the definition of wreck:

“Derelict vehicle, vessel, item of equipment or machinery includes a vehicle, vessel, item of equipment or machinery that is (a) left on property, with or without lawful authority, and (b) appears to the administrator to be disused or abandoned by reason of its age, appearance, mechanical condition or, where required by law to be licensed or registered, by its lack of licence plates or current vehicle registration.”

It becomes readily apparent, by the above definition, that vessels that were navigated under their own power by their rightful owners from downtown Victoria to Brentwood Bay could not be derelict, as the owner was in charge of (responsible for) the vessel and that it was functional and able to be used for its intended purpose. Such vessels are neither abandoned, deserted, sunk or a “total loss.”

The term “live aboard” appears nowhere in the definition of derelict. There is no such term as “live aboard” in the description of boats in the regulations. There is no restriction on the number of hours, days a master of a vessel and or the crew may be present on the boat.

More to the point, these vessels and their owners are not violating any laws by anchoring the boats in B.C. coastal waters and maintaining a crew aboard the vessel. In fact, until the City of Victoria changed the rules, these vessels were not in violation of any laws or rules related to anchoring while moored in the Gorge.

All of this is not to say that Brentwood Bay does not have issues with boats, unused mooring buoys, marinas, sewage disposal, garbage disposal, parking and other issues relating to all the boats crowding the bay.

But to single out only the live-aboard vessels when addressing these issues is not only wrong but counterproductive. It is obvious, as Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps points out in the Dec. 14 article, that “the CRD is a maritime community … we need to make a regional approach to make sure that people who want to live on the water have a place to do so that works for everyone in the region.”

The B.C. Nautical Residents Association would like to work with other stakeholder groups, municipalities, marina operators and others to deal effectively with these issues. Central Saanich and other coastal communities need to focus on solving perceived problems relating to their waterways and harbours to provide for real sewage control, garbage collection, parking and efficient harbour usage.

Those of us who live on our boats are literally out there 24/7, 365 days a year, and have a stake in working with the larger community to see that our waterways and harbours work for all citizens.

The most effective action local governments and citizen groups can take to deal with actual derelict boats is to support MP Sheila Malcolmson’s bill, which is before Parliament. The BCNR has supported this legislation to deal with derelict boats all through the process of getting it before the house.

For more information about live aboard issues please consult the BCNR website at BCNR.org.

Rick Schnurr is a director of the B.C. Nautical Residents Association. He lives aboard MV Julie May.