The Dominion I
The Dominion I has been a political football in Cowichan Bay since it first arrived in 2007. The story has been a long one. Below is an incomplete chronicle of events, those stories I was able to save from the shambles of The Current after it suffered a database crash in December of 2012.
Since these articles were written, the vessel has been through two prospective “owners” Robert Hall is no longer involved. It dragged anchor twice and is now moored against the deep-water shipping dock where lumber was once loaded onto freighters. It continues to float albeit at an odd angle, defying those who predicted it’s imminent sinking.
January 15 2011; Commentary: What a Pile of Ship.
We who live on the water in Cowichan Bay tend to be a fairly independent bunch. There aren’t too many among our group who enjoy being told what we can and cannot do. We enjoy the freedom our waterborne lifestyle gives us, that ability to come and go in our vessels as we please. Some of us anchor out in the bay, others choose to tie up at one of the public or private marinas. More than a few call our vessels “Home”. I personally live on a float-home and keep my retired commercial fishing troller in the harbour.
We enjoy freedom of choice as dictated by pocketbook and need. Many a satisfying lifestyle is supported here on a shoestring budget. It’s been that way here since the first settlers arrived back in the 1860′s and of course since long before then when only the original Native residents inhabited the area.
Now there’s a group of “concerned individuals” who would like nothing better than to see all that change. They would like to do away with more than a hundred and forty years of tradition through regulating at the local level the Federally granted rights we enjoy on our waterways.
The concentrated attack on anchoring and live-aboard rights which began at Vancouver’s False Creek, has been underway for the last several years up and down Canada’s Western coast. The fight has intensified this year in Cowichan Bay and it’s largely the fault of a 40 year old 560 ton former Japanese factory-fishing vessel now known as the Dominion One.
At Anchor – Original Location
The Dominion has been a problem one way or another for its owner, Robert Hall of Oregon almost from the day he bought it. It’s been a problem for the citizens of Cow Bay ever since it arrived here from Victoria in 2007.
This is one of those “dreams gone sour” stories. Bought by it’s current owner in 2002 as a retirement investment and to partake in the long-line halibut fishery, it’s current value is roughly that of scrap metal. Declared an “eyesore” by many bay inhabitants and “definitely an environmental risk” by our own deputy fire chief, not many local residents have too many good things to say about the vessel.
It’s been neglected, vandalized, had half its fuel tanks emptied by thieves, and according to one rumor, once even had it’s sea-cocks opened in order that it might sink. In one storm during the winter of 2009/2010 it dragged it’s anchor more than 200 meters and appeared ready to smash a number of smaller vessels on deep water moorings nearby. Today it floats uneasily with a noticeable list, down at the stern due to water in the engine room and the fuel having been taken from only one side of the vessel.
Owner Hall, who apparently holds dual US/Canadian citizenship, says he doesn’t have the money to return the vessel to an operational state. He’s desperately seeking a buyer who will give him at least a bit more than scrap value and return the vessel to useful work. Otherwise he stands to take a massive financial loss. It’s listed with Pacific Boat Brokers at time of writing for just under 200,000 dollars US. Scrap value has been estimated at between 12 and 25 thousand dollars, a figure that fluctuates when salvageable on board machinery and the remaining diesel fuel is taken into account.
Meanwhile, Regional Director for Area D, Cowichan Bay, Lori Iannidinardo is calling for tough new “Derelict Vessel” regulations to be enacted, allowing local enforcement agencies to tow and impound “vagrant boats”, then fine and jail owners who can’t pay hauling bills and clean-up costs. Her recent article in the Cowichan News Leader Pictorial (December 29 2010 Page 11) makes her opinions clear.
“Give us the authority we need to protect our coastline” she writes. “Derelict vessels plague every harbour on every coast.” she states. “The Washington Department of Natural Resources Derelict Vessel Removal Program is a model we could emulate quickly.” “… additional funding comes from annual vessel registration fees…” “A first step is to inventory all vessels, rate in environmental risk priority..”
This is the sort of thing that quickly turns boating and boat ownership from a reasonably priced pastime to one centered around red-tape, bureaucracy and money.
There are historical vessels afloat today that would undoubtedly have been scrapped long ago under such rules, for almost every vessel at one time or another, particularly the wooden ones, pass through phases of disrepair at least once in their lifetimes. The Sea Lion a 130 foot wooden tugboat built in 1914 is a prime example of this, rebuilt twice and having foundered in 2000, she is currently owned by a tour company and rests at the Vancouver Maritime Society dock.
Another vessel which came back from a low point in it’s career is the SS-Master, the last remaining steam powered tugboat on this Canadian coast. The Master lay “dilapidated and stripped” at the mouth of the Brunette River in New Westminster in 1962 waiting to be rescued and restored. Sold to members of the World Ship Society of Western Canada for the princely sum of $500, preservation work began August 14, 1962. That good work continues to this day and we are all a little better for it.
No doubt that once the Dominion One has been disposed of, more than a few of our smaller vessels will be declared “eyesores”, to be dealt with.
Iannidinardo also spearheads environmentally motivated regulatory efforts to restrict traditional anchoring and live-aboard rights in the bay, attempting to over-rule federal laws already in place. She aims to see much of Cowichan Bay revert back to a natural state by sharply controlling it’s traditional and industrial uses.
From a recent article pertaining to Eel Grass beds in the river estuary, again from the Cowichan News Leader Pictorial (September 11 2010): “Unfortunately, we don’t have regulatory control for a (regional) bylaw officer.” Still, staff with the federal navigable waters branch could regulate where boaters could travel and moor locally to protect more sensitive areas”; she said. “Hopefully by this time next year we’ll have the new Cow Bay official community plan and results of community dialogue around more valuable estuarine areas.” “It’s shocking we should be ahead when we’re so far behind,” she said of the bay’s overall ecological health controlled through the Cowichan Bay Estuary Management Plan. “For us in the bay, the marine environment’s always been highlighted but no one listened.”
Today there are plans in place to remove as many as 12 permanent anchoring moorages and to prohibit any anchoring in large sections of the traditional anchoring area. Next year, those plans may well be altered to include another piece of the traditional anchoring area and so forth until the only place one can moor will be at a private marina at a cost of several hundred dollars per month.
At a recent “Vessel Operation Restriction Regulation” meeting (November 30 2010) held at the local school, the suggestion was made that all current deep water moorages be removed and that a private entity install and run a grid of new moorages on behalf of the community, at a rate per day to be determined, of course. I see this as a horrific scenario.
Iannidinardo is using rational, reasonable arguments to drive through completely new locally aggregated rules and regulations aimed at the very group of people who have the most to lose and are the least able to defend against them.
Nobody, least of all those who live on the waters of Cowichan Bay, wants to see an ecological disaster happen should a vessel such as the Dominion One sink or be scuttled. None of us wants poor stewardship to damage the natural values this bay represents. These waters are our backyard! This is reason enough to support the general thrust of Iannidinardo’s ambitions, yet here lies our conundrum.
How in good conscience can we back new local rules and regulations that will destroy the very way of living we of the Tidal Zone seek so earnestly to protect?
We cannot give our support.
Not at the cost of our traditional anchoring and live-aboard rights. Not at the cost of having large areas of Cowichan Bay waters declared off limits to our valued traditional pastimes, traditions every bit as valuable a those held by other peoples with which we share this bay and estuary. That’s not going to wash with those of us who live in the tidal zone, no matter how strongly our Area Director feels she represents our interests.
She has already made it very plain that she doesn’t.
February 26 2011; False Hopes and Premature Assumptions.
The story of the Dominion I will continue to be written here in Cowichan Bay at least a while longer. The latest word on the the 167-foot factory fishing ship is that the owner plans to have it towed from the Bay. When that will happen is anyones guess. In fact we have heard this all before.
Readers will remember a report on this site in January where prospective buyer Steen Larsen spoke glowingly of the vessel and his plans for it. Larsen had made a deal with current owner Robert Hall of Oregon for an undisclosed sum. This was reported, both here and in the local press. “The deal is sealed. Unless something’s ridiculously out of whack with her, it will be removed,” Steen was quoted as having said.
A world war II vintage T-boat was seen tied up alongside the vessel as early as the morning of Friday January 21st. Lights were spotted on the bridge a day or so later. Everything looked promising up to that point. Said Larsen; “Dominion’s extremely well built.” If the ship’s engine can be made to run while here in the bay, he planned to sail it out under its own power. If more extensive work was required, his plan was to have had the vessel towed out of the bay, possibly to shipyards in Vancouver. Larsen had plans to restore the ship, fill her with freight and fuel and sail her through the Panama Canal to Europe. There she was to have become a cargo ship, serving small coastal communities.
Then as suddenly as it appeared, the T-boat and it’s crew left Cowichan Bay and as yet have not returned. Has Larsen abandoned his plans? Will the Dominion I be towed from Cowichan Bay to a new life, or will she be broken up for scrap? Your guess at this point, is as good as ours.
Cowichan Bay residents can take some heart in the fact that the ship, which has been an increasingly unwelcome guest in local waters since 2007, is not a navigational hazard nor is it in imminent danger of causing any sort of environmental problems. This report after the Canadian Coast Guard inspected the vessel, deeming it seaworthy, anchored outside the shipping channel and with it’s ground tackle, including anchors, chain and deck winches up to the job of keeping it out of trouble.
Dominion I At Dock
August 05 2011: Commentary: Here’s to you Robert Hall; Thanks a lot Buddy!
It appears that changes are coming to our anchoring rights here along the BC Coast. In large part we have the “Poster Boy for Negligent Boat Ownership” Robert Hall and his 46 meter tub “Dominion I” to thank for it all.
If a private member’s bill introduced by local Federal MP Jean Crowder and tabled by parliament June 16th is passed, the Canadian Coast Guard will become responsible for dealing with “derelict” vessels in and around coastal communities such as Cowichan Bay. This could mean removal, impounding and/or scrapping of any vessel deemed “derelict” by authorities.
Says MP Crowder in a recent press release; “This bill ensures that these vessels are properly disposed of and our harbors and waterways are protected from contamination and debris.”
Unfortunately those in charge seem somewhat unsure what the definition of “derelict” means in terms of ships, boats and the oceans they sail on.
“Derelict”, as defined in almost any standard dictionary, and by Lloyds of London, a group of Insurance brokers who should know, refers to any vessel abandoned by it’s owners where the owners have either no intention, nor any hope of being able to return. In other words, if you abandon your sailboat in a storm in the middle of the ocean and seek safety on another vessel or aircraft, and have no intention of returning to that vessel, your vessel is “derelict” under this definition.
This exact scenario happened recently to Canadian sailor Paul Lim, who was rescued off the Australian coast when he encountered severe weather. Forced to abandon is beloved vessel, he had the foresight to open sea-cocks just before his rescue, ensuring his derelict craft would not later present a maritime hazard to others. It’s now on the bottom and Lim is safe thanks to the automatic distress beacon he activated once he knew he’d have to abandon his boat.
Meanwhile, the Dominion I has been riding at anchor since 2007 in Cowichan Bay. The infamous Robert Hall of Oregon is known to be it’s current owner. He did not abandon his vessel and he has returned to it on several occasions. Further, he has employed a local representative to check on it from time to time. He has the vessel up for sale but has been unable to get a decent price for it, in spite of some interest expressed earlier this year. Aside from having been tampered with by vandals who opened valves, stole equipment, fuel and destroyed gauges and controls, and the dragging of an anchor during a storm two years ago, the Dominion I has been remarkably successful at floating at its moorings without causing the least environmental or shipping hazard in all that time.
None the less, the former deep sea trawler has become the symbol local eco-alarmists always point to when the subject of anchoring rights and under maintained or neglected boats comes up. Never do they mention the several boats which have sunk, pumped oil, caught fire, lost fuel or become unsightly eyesores while tied up in the local marinas. It’s always the Dominion that’s to blame.
Area Director Lori Iannidinardo, for whom the Dominion I and thereby this issue in general has long been a major campaign talking point and eco-battlecry, is quoted in a recent Times Colonist article as saying “It’s important that this and other abandoned vessels are dealt with appropriately.” “We do not want this vessel to simply be moved to another location where it would continue to be a hazard.”
This stance seems quite reasonable until one remembers that this is the same Area Director who in the past has called for prison time for anyone associated with what in her mind she deems a “derelict” vessel, and who suggested hefty yearly boat ownership fees in order to fund a proposed program which would police our bays and waterfronts.
What this new bill means to you or I who who live on the water is as yet unclear. Since nobody seems to be able to correctly define “derelict” as it applies to the maritime environment, it’s likely that many vessels currently anchored out, suffering from deferred maintenance or poor paint jobs could possibly be stripped from their owners, towed and scrapped by your friendly neighborhood Coast Guard. Being the owner of an unfortunately styled or interestingly painted older vessel might well become impossible. Liveaboards with laundry flying from the yard-arm might well find themselves under investigation.
Before long, time limits may well be imposed and enforced against those who choose to keep their vessels in Cowichan Bay, but outside the pay-by-the-month marinas, and a way of life that’s been traditional on our Coast for more than a hundred years will slip into oblivion. It should be remembered that many (certainly not all) of those who live “out on the hook” do so because they live on shoestring budgets.
It’s so easy to stomp all over the most marginalized elements of our society, especially when they happen to “spoil” the view from your $400,000 condo.
So many thanks Robert Hall. Your irresponsible boat ownership has given the eco-alarmists and post card view advocates all the ammunition they could ask for. Were it not for your vessel anchored and neglected since 2007 here in Cowichan bay, and for a few other vessels, (these owned by a different set of negligent twerps) at the Gorge near Victoria, the concept of “derelict” boats would never have been such an issue here.
