Fisherboy II Back at Dock
Update:
The fund-raiser in benefit of George Weeks will be held August 26th at the Pub. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the Pier-66 Store in Cowichan Bay Village.
The Fisherboy II which got stuck on a log and foundered last Friday morning in Cowichan Bay, is floating and back at it’s dock in the Village. George Weeks has his boat back. His home is floating, albeit on a bit of a tilt in the slip which he rents at Pier 67 Marina. That’s the good news and today, we are going to focus on the good news.
Today we are grateful. Fisherboy II was re floated with hull undamaged, quite a feat when you consider that the vessel is almost as old as it’s owner, and he turned 76 this year
Today we can be proud. Proud of how the village rallied behind one of it’s elder citizens in his time of need, and how it came together to solve the immediate problems associated with the re-floating of the vessel.
Local divers inspected the hull before the work began, ensuring it was intact and with no planks sprung. Then they assisted in placing the air lift bags, securing the many lines and above all, ensuring safety. Then the compressors whirred into action, and many hands guided the vessel back onto a more or less even keel. All the while, pumps were running on a small boat beside the Fisherboy, removing water from the hull as rapidly as possible, finally as the tide came in the entire effort succeeded, lifting the hull free from the bottom. The Fisherboy was then towed to dock.
Local boat owner Al Harper has made his beautifully converted seiner Huntress I available for George to stay on while Fisherboy is cleaned, and possibly made habitable again.
It was a true community effort and a victory for the community.
Tomorrow, the day after and for quite a few days to come, the bad news part of this story will have to be dealt with. There’s going to be a lot of heavy, wet and messy cleanup work to be done. Oil from the engine and transmission gear-case made it’s way out of the engine-room and onto and into just about every surface of the interior. This was more or less expected, and once the vessel’s list has been corrected (due to the contents of the hold and living space having shifted) the mucking out can begin.
George Weeks aboard his home, in 2011.
An entire inventory of personal possessions will have to be gone through, those items which can be salvaged will be and those which were lost to the seawater and oil will have to be discarded for new. The papers, letters photographs, books, diaries – all the documents of a lifetime on the water will unfortunately not all be salvageable. There’s a pile of it on the dock and that pile is growing. Only then can the damage to the vessel itself be properly assessed and a decision, possibly a very painful one will have to be made with regard to it’s ultimate fate. George may yet lose the Fisherboy II.
That’s the heartbreaking part of this story.
Meanwhile good wishes and offers for help have been coming in from all quarters. Clothing, materials, cleaning supplies and not an insignificant amount of cash has been scraped together to help things long. Each according to his or her own ability and deeply appreciated too.
Happy news as well concerning Orlando the cat. She was plucked from the vessel shortly after the drama began and according to reports only suffered the slightest wetting of the tip of her tail. She is doing well, staying on a sailboat nearby and has the freedom of the dock once more.
Finally, a fund raiser is being organized at the local pub for Aug. 26. Tickets for the event are $20 and are available now at the Pier-66 Store in Cowichan Bay Village. I’m sure the venue will be packed.
Anyone needing George’s contact information or wishing to help may contact him via this website. The email link is in the sidebar.
Many thanks to Village resident Audy Barr for the photographs of the work in progress.
A great story about a community coming together to very quickly and efficiently take care of an urgent and critical situation. This is what makes Cowichan Bay so beautiful: its people.