Little room left for Liveaboards on Cortes Island docks

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - On Monday, Dec 12, Gorge Harbour Marina Resort announced that its
seasonal liveaboard program will come to an end next Spring.
Jason Johnson, General Manager of QXMC as well as the resort, wrote, “GHMR has never, to the best of my knowledge, offered year-round live aboard opportunities but has run a small seasonal program in previous years where under ten vessels were hosted. In 2022, the program has seven vessels, under short term live aboard contract ending the end of April 2023. In all cases, the stays were contingent on contracts being signed, liability insurance coverage for each vessel and one vessel per person. While these changes were difficult for guests, it allowed the 2022 program to continue.”
The Harbour Authority of Cortes Island also manages a dock in the Gorge, so Cortes Currents asked Harbourmaster Jenny Hartwick if they accept liveaboards.

“No, At this point in time, the Gorge dock is at capacity for commercial aquaculture vessels. We do have some dinghy use for boat-access-only individuals, and that would fall under recreational moorage, but we do not take long-term moorage requests for recreational vessels at the Gorge dock,” she replied.

Hartwick explained that the Harbour Authority leases the Gorge dock from Small Craft Harbours.

“The mandate of Small Craft Harbors is to support the commercial fishing industry. That includes the broader aquaculture, commercial vessels in general, as well as First Nation ceremonial and food fish uses. We are required by our lease agreement with Small Craft Harbours to meet that mandate. At the Gorge Dock in particular, that facility is at capacity with commercial users and we don't have room for any additional recreational moorage.”

Cortes Currents asked, “Is there room at any of the other docks that the Harbour Authority manages?”

“We do currently have some designated liveaboard positions at the docks. We have one liveaboard position at Manson's landing, one liveaboard space at Cortes Bay, and three designated liveaboard spaces at Squirrel Cove. All of those positions are currently filled with designated users. At this point in time, we have a wait list for liveaboard requests at the dock. If anyone is interested in obtaining liveaboard status at one of our facilities, they would need to reach out to the Harbor Authority and I'm happy to put them on the wait list, but we don't have any available spaces at this point in time.”

Prior to the Marina releasing its announcement, one of the guests at their dock posted the following comment on Facebook:

“I was very happy to be back on Cortes, having spent much of my childhood there. Guess it is not the Cortes I knew anymore. The disrespect toward those who chose to live on the water has been a shock, to say the least. I understand there are issues with some irresponsible boat owners, but I certainly am not one of them. Though I had moorage options elsewhere, I chose Gorge Harbour because of the connection I had to the island and its people. I have literally spent thousands of dollars in the community so far…”

Johnson explained the resort’s position:

“With the full understanding that there is a housing crisis in BC and Cortes is certainly no different, we need to ensure that guests have access to the amenities needed for their short term stay as minimum expectations. The marina does not have pump out or sewer access. While the expectation is that vessels will leave and seek facilities accordingly, our marina is not equipped to offer this service. Water lines are not insulated and subject to freezing so we have a scheduled program whereby water is shut off daily and then restarted to avoid damage. This month we experienced a power outage whereby back up power was also affected and two live aboard gusts dependent on electric heat found themselves without heat. We mitigated this by hosting them up in other accommodation on site at our expense.”