Friends;
A few weeks ago I had the misfortune of reading a “letter to the editor” sent by one of our number to the Victoria Times Colonist. It was, if you will remember sent in reference to a story to do with a Saanich based “difficult neighbour” and went on to be fairly critical of the manner in which some of us choose to live our lives here, complaining about those of diminished means, those who perhaps drink a bit much and those who, as all of us do with varying degrees of success, are simply trying to get along in the world as best they can and with what they have.
I have to tell you frankly that after having read it, I felt a little saddened.
The village at Cowichan Bay has always been populated by a diverse bunch of characters. It’s about as close to living inside a real life version of “The Beachcombers” (something I’ve longed for since childhood and am thrilled to have more or less achieved as an adult) as is practically possible. We have our Nick Adonidas’, our Jesse’s, Constable constable and yes, even one or two Relics. This community has been this way as long as anyone can remember. It’s grown busier over the years, particularly in the last four or five but what you see is pretty much what you get. Late comers and new arrivals ought not be surprised, at least not those who have done more than 30 seconds worth of homework before towing over.
As residents on the water at Cowichan Bay, we have come to expect bitter attacks from those who live on land.
In years past, land-locked residents of Area D Cowichan Bay have complained about everything from the color we choose to paint our houses and boats, to the fact that some of us use wood stoves for winter heating, and have even gone so far as to chide us for “getting away with something” with regard to the local taxes they think we never pay, but which are collected by our marina owner land-lords via moorage fees. We’ve been declared vagabonds and derelicts, our homes berated as “eyesores”.
Even our own Area Director has in the past seen fit to castigate us, complaining in the press at various times about waste water issues, unsightly boats and anchoring rights, openly suggesting that our community be broken up if compliance on the waste water issue were not achieved within a single calendar month.
We are used to critical comments from time to time, our skins are thick enough to simply let such unfounded commentary dribble away. However even the thickest skin can be welted when the words come from within the community.
The fact of the matter, and the fact which a few of the more recent marina arrivals do not understand, is that to those who live on land, and “up hill” the only difference between say, myself with my marina based float home and someone who choses to live out at anchor, is that I pay a fee to the marina for my moorage and the one anchoring one does not.
To the Cowichan Bay condo owner, the only difference between a maintenance deferred float home, in need of paint and a bit of sprucing up and a vessel out at anchor in similar condition, is exactly nothing.
To suggest that the one in the marina is welcome and the one at anchor ought not be, simply because the first pays moorage and the other does not, is anti-humanist elitism. It’s a poison which destroys communities the world over. We see this most in countries where the gap between the wealthy and the poor is greatest. We ought not see this in our community.
What we should see instead, is the supportive community Cowichan Bay Village has traditionally aspired to be. The community where neighbor helps neighbor, where support is given in time of need, where differences are celebrated instead of condemned.
I don’t want to see our community become the floating equivalent of those gated developments on land, where one neighbor spies on the other to see what color the garage door is to be painted, or where the second bitterly complains about the long grass the first allows to grow. What happens in the end, is that everyone focusses on what are actually small problems and differences, but which are blown out of all proportion becoming divisive issues which ultimately ruin the community.
We live on Cowichan Bay. The last time I heard the Bay described, it was as Paradise on Earth. Let’s remember that and be contented by the thought.
@Sylvia
I agree with pretty much your whole comment except the thought that the article digs trenches of division.
The article acknowledges divisions that already exist while expressing the idea that we need to stick together. We can’t fill the trenches without first seeing them. If we don’t see them then we will forever get our feet muddy as we step in these trenches. Communication and mutual respect are the fill materials. I wish we all had a larger supply.
Yours is a great comment!
I love Cowichan Bay. I love the essence of Cowichan Bay, where we all are so diverse yet united by the sea (double-entendre intended), and we all have a story if you take the time to listen. A few events have disturbed me of late, like the stealing of the hanging baskets, and other events I really don’t want to bring up AGAIN! It is articles like yours, however, that dig the trenches. Please, please do not set up an us-and-them of residents of the water, and those that live on land.
We are all individuals and I honour that and the opinion of individuals. I do not agree with all I hear, but I very much value the wonderful diversity that we have in Cowichan Bay.
I would like to focus on how we can live and work together. However individuals choose to live, is not for me to judge. If how someone chooses to live is negatively affecting another then there needs to be both compassion on one side and tolerance on the other, and possibly compromise. If there are conflicts in the bay, let’s work together and hopefully find a compromise. It is when conflicts fester, where divisions in a community can arise.
But please don’t make the division of residents on the water and residents on land. That clear a division does not exist and it would be a shame to put such a negative twist on Cowichan Bay. The more it is spoken/written the more you will entrench such thinking. You will make it a reality, and that should be the least of our worries as a community. Accommodating so many individuals in a bay such as this, should be our focus. How can we sustain this Paradise on Earth that exists here? Is it ours to own or share?
Unfortunately, it is often, negative crap that gets the most air time. People who complain often have a louder voice than those who are content. When someone is complaining, listen to their plight, decide if their complaint is worthy of action to enhance OUR community, take action. If their complaining has no merit, maybe they need some educating (such as your letter has done, some people may not know or have considered the tax-paying issue), leave their ugly thoughts with them.
I know I sound a bit airy-fairy, but I am uber-sincere when I say….”Don’t take anything personally”, “Don’t make assumptions”, “Make your word impeccable”, and “Always do your best”. If we all worked on these things with the best for OUR community in mind, I think Cowichan Bay could be even better.
It makes me smile to think that Iron Mike has the best sunset in the Bay (in my opinion).
Let’s live together harmoniously in Cowichan Bay and honour our diverseness.
I think you live in a wonderful community with great scenery. It is unfortunate that people move in wanting to change things . It would also be great if people just lived their lives and let others do the same.
Let’s remember that Cowichan bays community is first and foremost for the people that live here. It’s not like other places where the property is most important. It’s about people not so much about house flipping, and screwing every penny you can get out of what you have. Without the people, all the people the place wouldn’t be worth visiting. Let’s have a place where everyone belongs and can be welcome.