New Mooring Buoys at D’Arcy Island
Two new mooring buoys have been installed in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve in the vicinity of D’Arcy Island which lies between Sidney and Victoria in Haro Strait.Read more…
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Stern Tie or Anchor?
If ever you needed a reason to stern tie instead of anchoring, Larry O’Keefe’s article referencing “anchor-dragging carnage when the winds came up” in Prideaux Haven will give you pause for thought. Over a dozen new stern ties were installed in Prideaux in 2018 – secure to one of them and sleep soundly!
How to Stern Tie
If you’ve ever been challenged trying to stern tie, as I have, here’s a great little article about using a messenger line to make it easier, courtesy of Jennifer and James Hamilton. Note that the image in the article shows stern-tying to a tree, which is not allowed within the Gulf Islands National Parks and can be harmful to our trees elsewhere – whenever possible, please check the list of stern tie locations on this site and use a sturdy Marine Parks Forever stern tie instead of a tree. Enjoy!
How You Can Help
Canadian and American boaters can help to make boater’s life better and protect the environment by supporting the work of the Marine Parks Forever Society
The B.C. Marine Parks Forever Society is committed to making improvements that enhance the boating experience. The society is a Canadian non-profit organization welcoming donations from Canada as well as the United States. Donations coming from the U.S., with a requested tax donation receipt, can be sent to American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts.
The Economic Effect of Recreational Boating
Did you know that recreational boating is not only about having fun but also a very powerful economic factor in BC?
A National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) Canada study found that recreational boating injected $1.3 billion into B.C.’s economy in 2016 on revenues of $2.2 billion, and employed nearly 17,000 British Columbians.
The New Waggoner Cruising Guide
lots of great information and an update on the Marine Parks Forever Society’s activities
We wait eagerly every year for the new Waggoner Cruising Guide: Lots of important information for boaters, annually updated and interesting articles. This year’s edition includes a chapter on the Marine Parks Forever Society’s activities for the BC Marine Parks, including locations for the 186 stern-tie pins. And you can also find how you can contribute to the work of MPFS!
Want To Go Camping By Boat?
From the southern Gulf Islands to the Great Bear Rainforests, BC Marine Parks offer protected anchorage, convenient stern-tie pins in some, a place to go ashore, interesting hikes and much more – for marine “campers” with small and large boats.
What Do You Know About the Marine Parks Forever Society?
Since 1990, the Marine Parks Forever Society helps the Province of British Columbia to create new marine parks and enhance existing parks. The funding comes from donations of members of the Council of BC Yacht Clubs, foundations and special bequests.
The two most recent projects are the purchase of one of the Harmony Islands in Jervis Inlet and the well-know stern tie program. The foundation has contributed more than 2 mio $ to the acquisition and betterment of over a dozen BC marine parks, and 186 stern-tie pins in 10 locations make anchoring so much easier – and protect the environment. And the work is going on!
British Columbia’s Marine Parks Make Boat-Camping Easy
The first time I heard the expression “marine park” I pictured some shallow water area with lots of starfish. A marine park was a chunk of water, right? Fancifully, I imagined under-water interpretive signs, that one could read, I suppose, if they could hold their breath long enough.
Wrong. BC’s marine parks and protected areas reflect the biodiversity of the coast’s terrestrial and marine ecosystems. From the southern Gulf Islands to the archipelagos and deep fjords of the Great Bear Rainforest, marine parks occupy the most stunning locations in a sea of stunning. Just as our terrestrial parks enshrine the uber-remarkable, so do our marine parks. And like conventional parks, they enable us to camp in nature’s finest.
Marine Parks Forever Society
In 1989 the British Columbia Parks Department approached the Council of BC Yacht Clubs to set up a charitable organization to assist in protecting recreational boating interests and to raise funds for the purchase of BC Marine Parks. In 1990 B.C. Marine Parks Forever Society was formed. They are all un-paid volunteers without an office. They are also Council of BC Yacht Club members and they represent the recreational boaters in British Columbia.