100 Boats in the Bay
In 2019 the Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue – Station 31 (through the Saanich Inlet Society) received a grant from us of $1,000. They used this money for their 100 Boats in the Bay project.
The Saanich Inlet Society described the importance of the project, and the impact the grant had this year:
“In 2019 SPCF provided a grant to Saanich Inlet Lifeboat Society to assist with our proactive, vessel inspection program. This inspection program, formally called the Pleasure Craft Safety Check (PCSC), is organized Province-wide by the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR). Safety checkers complete a 2-day training program before they are certified. Considering the size of our group – 15 – we have a very high number of certified checkers (40%) in Brentwood Bay. Normally we inspect 10-15 boats per year and the effort is not very coordinated. We decided to have a concerted effort to improve the effort in 2019 with the goal of inspecting 100 Boats in the Bay.
Our final count in 2019 was 42 vessels inspected. So while we fell short of our goal, we increased the program more than 300%. We dedicated 1-2 day efforts at each of the four commercial marinas in Brentwood Bay and one at Goldstream Marina in Langford. The two primary means of reaching boat owners was (a) through our sandwich boards (placed at the marine entrances prior to inspection days and (b) through the local Brentwood Bay Facebook site. The PCSC program allows us to not only check to see that pleasure craft meet minimum Transport Canada safety requirements but also allows our members to engage in conversations with owners about other on-the-water safety issues. Owners were provided with safety cards that included links to other safety-related resources. Individuals that passed the safety check receive inspection stickers.
We are super grateful for this grant – it really upped our totals and we hope to continue increasing this program. It allowed us considerable proactive, positive engagement with our boating community.”