After more than two decades, the 95 foot boat Black Eyes made a permanent departure from Mannion Bay last Sunday.
This was a long awaited event for waterfront property owner and founder of the “Friends of Mannion Bay,” Bruce Russell, who says he’s been watching the boat deteriorate for years.
“I don’t think people really understand the threat of it sinking,” says Russell. “And if it did sink under the Municipality’s watch, people would be asking why they weren’t more proactive about preventing that.”
He adds that based on his conversations with salvage and marine insurance companies, he estimates that if the boat had sunk in Mannion Bay, it would’ve cost close to $100,000 to salvage and clean up.
The municipality’s Manager of Parks and Environment, Bonny Brokenshire, says she cannot confirm that estimate, but from experience she knows that the cost of dealing with a boat once it has sunk is three to four times more expensive than dealing with it when it is still floating.
“That part of Mannion Bay, in particular is very deep,” says Brokenshire. “And I would think given the size and weight of the boat you would likely need a special crane to hoist it up from the sea-floor.”
Brokenshire adds that while the boat has been a mainstay in the Bay at least since the mid-1990s, reports about the boat dragging anchor and sitting increasingly lower in the water created a sense of urgency around preventing the boat from sinking.
“So often, marine law is reactive, so it can be challenging to make it work pro-actively,” says Brokenshire. “I spent a lot of time, over a period of weeks, on the phone with the Coast Guard and other federal and provincial government agencies trying to figure out who was legally responsible for Black Eyes.”
When Stan Cayer, the boat’s owner, died in October of 2016, his widow, Marion Pacquette, tried to sell it. She found a buyer who asked that the boat be brought up the Fraser River where it would be fixed, and asked the municipality for financial assistance. The Municipality offered $500 towards this end, and Bruce Russell advanced $1,500 on behalf of the Friends of Mannion Bay for the towing costs.
However, as Pacquette and the Municipality learned, the boat had in fact been escheated to the Crown in 2011, when Cayer’s holding company dissolved
“On April 20th, I received a call from Marion’s family stating that the province had given her the authority to move the boat, and asking if financial assistance for the tow was still available,” says Brokenshire. “I believe that the province gave Pacquette the authority to tow the vessel, but with the understanding that they expected the boat to be removed from Mannion Bay within a certain period of time.”
That period of time, according to Russell, was 48 hours.
“On Friday, coming home from work on the ferry I pulled out my binoculars to see if it was still there, as we had passed the 48 hour mark at this point,” says Russell. “I was disappointed to see Black Eyes still in the Bay, but I understand this is a complicated issue. I’d been waiting for this for years, so really what’s another day or two?”
In the end, Russell had to wait another two days to see the boat towed out of the Bay.
Brokenshire says that in the days after the boat was towed, the municipality hired Cormorant Marine to remove all the ropes, tackle and debris from the ocean floor underneath the area where the Black Eyes was moored.
“It was a snare of entrapment for a multitude of sea-creatures,” says Brokenshire. “Thousands of pounds of garbage were removed from the ocean floor.”
Brokenshire adds that there is some relief in knowing that threat of Black Eyes sinking is gone, and she is hoping that after all of this effort there is a positive outcome for Marion Pacquette.
