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New maritime signs target derelict boats in Cadboro Bay

A trio of new signs — two in Saanich, one in Oak Bay — promise to improve response times whenever derelict vessels wash up on the shores of Cadboro Bay beach.
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Eric Dahli of the Cadboro Bay Task Force and Coun. Karen Harper stand near one of the three signs in Cadboro Bay neighbourhood that promise to improve response times in case derelict boats wash up in the popular recreation area. Two of the signs on the Saanich side of the beach, the other on the Oak Bay side. Wolf Depner/News Staff

A trio of new signs — two in Saanich, one in Oak Bay — promise to improve response times whenever derelict vessels wash up on the shores of Cadboro Bay beach.

The signs include contact information for the Canadian Coast Guard and represent an early success for Cadboro Bay Task Force, a group that aims to bring order to the chaos that sometimes characterizes Cadboro Bay.

Derelict or abandoned boats frequently wash up in Cadboro Bay, a popular recreation and boating area, one of the busiest beaches in the Greater Victoria region, if not Vancouver Island, with multiple jurisdictions claiming some measure of jurisdiction.

One side of the beach falls within Saanich, the other side within Oak Bay. The ocean floor is provincial responsibility, the water above it federal responsibility.

While the signs won’t simplify this jurisdictional complexity, they will allow residents to call in washed up boats quicker, thereby lowering response times, and improving the odds of preventing serious environmental disasters.

Funding for the signs came from the District of Saanich.


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Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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