Palms Harbourside Marina Fire

Picture by the Calgary Herald

A fire broke out on Wednesday, 21 October with a huge loss for many of my fellow voting friends at the Marina. The fire is still being investigated at this time, and it is still unsure of the cause of the fire. As you can see from the picture from the Calgary Herald 3 to 4 boat houses were completely destroyed and I am sure several other boat houses may have some damage to them. My slip where I keep Springer was untouched fortunately, and with even greater luck, Springer is currently at the Shelter Island Marina undergoing a refit.

The fire department was at the Marina minutes after the fire started and contained the blaze. The Marina is brand-new, and is equipped with the most up to date fire systems as per the new fire codes. The firefighters simply had to plug in their hoses at the docks and go to work. Springer will have her refit completed by the end of the month. Hopefully the cleanup at the Marina will occur by then so that we can bring her home to our slip.

Shelter Island Marina

October 5, 2009 The weather is beautiful and the water is flat. After talking to Trevor at North Pacific Yachts, we decided that this would be a good time to bring the boat to Shelter Island Marina and get the " small" list of warranty items and general maintenance done. Unfortunately the small list is approx 20 items long and growing.

We crossed the channel from Nanaimo to the south leg of the Fraser River where we travelled for another two hours up the river. We arrived at the south leg at the same time as a monster freighter, so we decided wisely to let him go first. Within a half hour he had pulled out of site. When we arrived at Shelter Point Marina, Malcolm Ellison, our mechanic was there to greet us as well as Bob and Ella, the owners of North Star ( 52 ft North Pacific ). Very friendly and outgoing, we made instant friends.

Malcolm dropped by to discuss the small list and it looks like it will be here for 3 weeks. We are installing a tender sea wise system on the swim grid as well as a new hydronic Hurricane heating system. This has an inline water heating system that eliminates a hot water tank and gives you an endless supply. The heat throughout the boat is channeled into three separate systems and is very efficient. We will take the ferry to Nanaimo tomorrow and fly home on the week end for a couple of weeks. Life is good.

Shelter Island Marina and Boatyard Inc. Latitude: 49" 9 min. 57 sec. N Longitude: 122" 59 min. 16 sec. W.