W
ork is continuing at French Creek Harbour to deal with wave action caused by both the alignment of the new breakwater and the width of the harbour mouth.
Last winter, boaters complained that the re-alignment of the breakwater, undertaken to expand the facility, had allowed winter winds into the harbour, causing damage as boats banged against the wharf. A line of floating logs was installed as a temporary measure to calm the waters, which reportedly helped a great deal.
• The Deep Bay Yacht Club is gearing up to hold its annual general meeting. The AGM will be held on Nov. 27 starting at 5 p.m. at the Bowser legion.
At the meeting, a new executive will be chosen for the coming year.
• The Schooner Cove Yacht Club will also hold their annual general meeting this month, on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at the Fairwinds Golf and Country Club. Following this, on Nov. 24, the club will hold its annual Commodore’s Ball in the Arbutus Room at the Fairwinds Golf and Country Club.
• She was built in Norway in 1958 and entered the shipping world as MS Rennesoy. Renamed MS Hilde, worked as a Norwegian ferry.
Central Island residents now know the 128-foot diesel ship as MV Frances Barkley — the working vessel plying the waters between Port Alberni and Bamfield on Vancouver Island’s west coast.
Upon her purchase in 1990 by Alberni Marine Transportation, the ship was renamed to honour the wife of captain William Charles Barkley, who sailed with Captain Cook and, along with Frances, sailed extensively on the B.C. coast. Besides ferrying people back and forth between Port Alberni and Bamfield, this week’s Shipping News boat of the week serves several tiny, isolated communities, delivering mail and other essentials.
• District 69 residents can still see the remnants of HMCS Charlottetown when they drive to Campbell River. Constructed in 1943, the River-class frigate served in the Canadian Navy during the Second World War, escorting merchant shipping through the U-boat-infested North Atlantic. Following this, she underwent a refit for tropical service as part of Operation Downfall in the Pacific. However, the war ended before the refit was completed. She was sold in 1947 and scuttled for use as a breakwater at Oyster Bay.