yacht sinking near victoria bc

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The BC Coroners Service has confirmed there was a fourth person on a vessel that sank off of Victoria last Friday and sadly they have passed.

A dramatic rescue operation took place off the coast of Victoria over the weekend, as three individuals and their canine companion were saved from a sinking vessel.

While the story initially came out as good news, it was later learned a fourth person was on the vessel. Unfortunately, that person, a man, died as a result of the incident.

“I can confirm that the BC Coroners Service was notified and is investigating one death resulting from this incident,” Ryan Panton, spokesperson for the BC Coroners Service, said in an email statement to Victoria Buzz.

Panton said no other details could be released due to the early stages of the investigation.

The distress call came in at around 7 p.m., on Friday, June 30th, with the Canadian Coast Guard receiving the urgent message from the vessel.

The 40-foot boat had encountered a perilous situation, taking on water and eventually sinking. Rescue crews located two teenage girls, an adult woman, and a dog in a dinghy.

Fortunately, the US Coast Guard had a helicopter already airborne in the vicinity, allowing for a rapid deployment to the scene.

The aircrew from Port Angeles located a partially submerged dinghy with three individuals and a dog desperately clinging to it. The 13-year-old, 15-year-old, and adult were quickly rescued from the dinghy.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Coast Guard vessel recued the family dog.

While the trio were not dressed for the conditions, they were wearing life jackets, which played a crucial role in their survival.

Following the rescue, all three individuals were showing severe symptoms of hypothermia and were quickly transported to Victoria General Hospital.

The cause of the man’s death is currently unknown, as well, it’s unclear what caused the boat to sink.

#BREAKING (1/2) Last night around 7 pm, a #USCG aircrew from Port Angeles rescued 2 teenage females and 1 adult woman from a dinghy in the Salish Sea about 2 miles south of Victoria, B.C., The 40-foot vessel they were aboard took on water and quickly sank… pic.twitter.com/DWxWTDg5gj — USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) July 1, 2023

According to the coast guard, the group, from the US, had departed from Seattle but it was unclear where they were heading and what caused the vessel to sink—the vessel was registered in Kenmore, Washington.

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Man dead, woman and teens rescued after yacht sinks off Vancouver Island

One man is dead after a 12-metre yacht sank in the Strait of Juan de Fuca south of Victoria on Friday.

The British Columbia Coroners Service confirmed Wednesday it is investigating one death that resulted from the incident.

The United States Coast Guard rescued one woman and two teenage girls from a dinghy that was associated with the sinking vessel around 7 p.m.

A U.S. Coast Guard rescue helicopter from Port Angeles, Wash., was dispatched to the scene, approximately three kilometres south of Victoria.

The air crew found and hoisted the woman and teenagers into the aircraft and took them to Victoria General Hospital after they showed signs of hypothermia.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Clark says the sunken vessel was found nearby and identified as a 12-metre yacht named A Little Serenity.

The vessel is registered in Kenmore, Wash., northeast of Seattle, and all four people aboard were U.S. citizens, Clark said.

It is not known what caused the yacht to take on water and sink, nor what caused the death of the man on board.

The vessel had no prior contacts with the U.S. Coast Guard and was most recently certified by the agency on April 19, according to U.S. Coast Guard records.

"I can confirm that the B.C. Coroners Service was notified and is investigating one death resulting from this incident," Ryan Panton, spokesperson for the B.C. Coroners Service, said in a statement to CTV News.

"As we're very early in the process of trying to determine all of the facts, I have no additional information available at this time," the statement concluded.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it was first alerted to the vessel in distress by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria. The agency said the Canadian Coast Guard found the deceased male among the wreckage of the sunken boat and took him away on a Canadian rescue boat.

The Canadian Coast Guard declined to provide any details about the incident, instead referring questions to B.C. Emergency Health Services, which in turn referred questions to the B.C. Coroners Service.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the vessel went down in one-and-a-half-metre seas with winds reaching 37 km/h.

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Who Was on the Sunken Yacht? Tech Mogul Mike Lynch, His Family and Friends.

Mr. Lynch, the former chief executive of the software firm Autonomy, who was acquitted on fraud charges in June, was with friends and family when the yacht went down in a severe storm.

• Share full article

By Michael J. de la Merced

Michael de la Merced reported on Mike Lynch’s career and legal battles over the course of 13 years across two continents.

A cruise on the Mediterranean Sea aboard a superyacht was supposed to be a celebratory event for the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch , who was acquitted in June of fraud charges tied to the sale of his company, Autonomy, to the tech giant Hewlett-Packard.

Instead, it turned into a disaster after the yacht, a 180-foot boat called the Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily in a violent storm. Of the 22 people aboard, 15 were rescued and seven others died . Search operations ended on Friday after the final body was recovered from the site of the sunken yacht .

Here’s what we know about the passengers.

Mike Lynch and his family

Mr. Lynch, 59, is a British software entrepreneur who had once been described as his country’s Bill Gates. He founded the software firm Autonomy, which analyzed clients’ unorganized data, and turned it into one of the most prominent British technology companies of its time. He became a widely known corporate leader, who advised David Cameron, the British prime minister at the time, and joined the board of the BBC.

In 2011, Mr. Lynch sold Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion, which was far above its market value, earning him hundreds of millions. But HP investors almost immediately soured on the transaction, and the American tech giant quickly fired its chief executive — and then Mr. Lynch.

HP later accused Mr. Lynch of misleading it about the state of Autonomy’s business, setting off a decade-long legal ordeal for the British executive, who denied the accusations. U.S. prosecutors charged him and other executives with fraud, and Autonomy’s chief financial officer was convicted in 2018.

Despite appeals to the British government, Mr. Lynch was extradited to the United States last year and was confined to a townhouse in San Francisco ahead of his criminal trial, which began in March. Facing the possibility of decades in prison if convicted, Mr. Lynch and another colleague were instead acquitted of all charges.

An official in Palermo, Sicily’s capital, said on Thursday that Mr. Lynch’s body had been recovered. His wife, Angela Bacares, 57, accompanied him on the yacht, and she was rescued on Monday when it sank. She was a consistent presence at his trial in the United States. Records show that she controlled Revtom, the company listed as the owner of the Bayesian.

The body of Hannah Lynch , Mr. Lynch and Ms. Bacares’s 18-year-old daughter, was thought to be recovered on Friday.

The other guests

Jonathan Bloomer, 70, chair of Morgan Stanley’s international arm and the chairman of Hiscox, an insurance provider that trades on the London Stock Exchange, was on the yacht when it sank, along with his wife, Judy Bloomer, 71. Their bodies are thought to be among those recovered, but Italian authorities have not identified them.

Christopher J. Morvillo, 59, a New York-based partner at the international law firm Clifford Chance, was also on the yacht. A former federal prosecutor who comes from a family of prominent lawyers, Mr. Morvillo represented Mr. Lynch during his criminal trial in San Francisco. His wife, Neda, 57, was with him on the yacht. Their bodies are also assumed to be among those recovered.

“We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident,” a representative of Clifford Chance said in a statement.

Surviving passengers rescued from the yacht include Charlotte Golunski, a partner at Mr. Lynch’s venture firm, Invoke Capital; Ms. Golunski’s husband, James Emslie; and their one-year-old daughter Sophie. Also rescued were Ayla Ronald, a lawyer at Clifford Chance, and her partner, Matthew Fletcher.

The yacht had a crew of 10, and nine were rescued. The body of the chef, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered from the water, the Sicilian Civil Protection Department said.

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting, and Kitty Bennett and Susan Campbell Beachy contributed research.

Michael J. de la Merced has covered global business and finance news for The Times since 2006. More about Michael J. de la Merced

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Six missing and 15 rescued after British yacht sinks off Sicily in storm

Four britons including tycoon mike lynch among missing after vessel hit whirlwind and rough seas near island’s capital palermo, article bookmarked.

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One man is dead and six people are missing after a luxury British yacht sank in a “tornado” and rough seas off the coast of Sicily .

The 50-metre boat, named Bayesian, had 22 people on board when it sank in the early hours of Monday off the coast of the Sicilian capital Palermo , with four Britons among the six missing.

British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among the six people missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, The Independent understands.

The 59-year-old is known for founding Invoke Capital and co-founding Autonomy Corporation and has been in the headlines recently over a high-profile fraud case.

For latest updates follow our live blog by clicking here

The man who was found dead was discovered by a diver this morning and is believed to be the vessel’s chef. His nationality has not yet been confirmed, the Italian coast guard said.

Photos show emergency services carrying a body bag from the water to the shore where ambulances are waiting.

Fifteen people including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued, according to local media. As well as a one-year-old English girl whose mother lifted her to safety.

Have you been affected by this story? Email [email protected]

Charlotte, 35, told Italian media: “For two seconds I lost my baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amid the fury of the waves.’

“I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning,’ she added. ‘It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”

The girl was taken to the local children’s hospital with her mother “who was given chest stitches for a slight graze”, the newspaper reported. Domenico Cipolla, the head of the emergency room, said the family is in good condition.

Most of the passengers were British, but the boat was also carrying two Anglo-French citizens, an Irish national, a New Zealander and a Sri Lankan, news agency Adnkronos has reported.

The rescue divers saw “corpses through the portholes” of the superyacht, Salvo Cocina, the head of the Civil Protection of Sicily, told Corriere Della Sera.

The BAIA Santa Nicolicchia restaurant in Porticello wrote on its Facebook page that the yacht sank at around 4am. In a post, the restaurant owner said it is an “unbelievable tragedy” and that they were “lost for words”.

One anonymous witness told Rai News: “That boat was all lit up. At about 4.30 in the morning, it was gone. A beautiful boat where there had been a party. A normal holiday spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy.

“The boat was not far from the port. It took very little to raise the anchor and head for the port. Evidently they were surprised by the storm that suddenly hit and they were unable to avoid sinking.”

The vessel is described by The Superyacht Times as one of the largest superyachts in the world. It was built in 2008 by Italian yacht builder Perini Navi.

Divers from the region’s fire department are continuing searches around the yacht, situated around half a mile off the coast.

The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement: “We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Sicily, and are in contact with the local authorities.”

The ship is managed by Camper and Nicholsons International, who confirmed to The Independent that the Bayesian sailing yacht “encountered severe weather and subsequently sank.”

A statement continued: “There were a total of 12 guests and 10 crew onboard. The Italian Coast Guard is leading search and rescue operations, and has safely recovered 15 individuals. Efforts to locate the seven missing persons continue. Our priority is assisting with the ongoing search and providing all necessary support to the rescued passengers and crew. More information will be provided as it becomes available.”

Sicily is under a weather warning for wind, with reports of strong gusts hitting the coastline this morning.

More follows on this breaking news story...

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What Is Known About the Sinking of a Luxury Yacht off the Coast of Sicily and Those Aboard

Specialist cave divers working in 12-minute underwater shifts are searching for six missing passengers and crew, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, believed to be in the submerged wreck of a luxury yacht that was slammed by a powerful storm and swiftly sank off Sicily

Salvatore Cavalli

Emergency services at the scene of the search for a missing boat, in Porticello, southern Italy, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. Rescue teams and divers returned to the site of a storm-sunken superyacht Tuesday to search for six people, including British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who are believed to be still trapped in the hull 50 meters (164-feet) underwater. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

PORTICELLO, Sicily (AP) — Specialist cave divers working in 12-minute underwater shifts were searching Tuesday for six missing passengers and crew, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, believed to be in the submerged wreck of a luxury yacht that was slammed by a powerful storm and swiftly sank off Sicily.

The sleek yacht, named the Bayesian, was carrying a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers when it suddenly sank near the Mediterranean island that is part of Italy at about 4 a.m. on Monday. One body has been recovered and 15 people survived.

Fire rescue officials have said the six believed to remain in the sailboat's hull will be considered missing until they are located in the wreckage.

Here's what we know so far about the sinking and those who were on board.

What happened?

Italian civil protection officials believe a sudden and fierce storm that battered the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday whipped up a waterspout in the exact spot where the 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged Bayesian was moored.

Karsten Borner, the captain of another yacht moored nearby, said he saw the Bayesian during the storm but when the wild weather passed it was gone and he saw only a red flare lighting the night sky, the Italian news agency ANSA and the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported.

Borner and one of his crew boarded their tender and found a lifeboat carrying 15 people, some of them injured. They took them aboard their yacht and alerted the coast guard.

Rescue authorities said the wreck was resting at a depth of 50 meters (163 feet) about a half mile offshore of the picturesque fishing village of Porticello.

Who was on board?

Among the missing is 59-year-old tech tycoon Mike Lynch , sometimes described as the British Bill Gates. Lynch was acquitted in June of all charges in a U.S. fraud trial linked to the $11 billion sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Lynch still faced a potentially huge bill stemming from a civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven’t been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

A Cambridge-educated mathematician, Lynch made his name running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly.

Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was reportedly among the missing. His wife, Angela Bacares, and 14 other people survived.

Among others still missing Tuesday, according to the civil protection agency, were one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, Christopher Morvillo of Clifford Chance, and Morvillo’s wife, Neda. Morvillo was regarded as an elite defense lawyer and was also a federal prosecutor in New York after 9/11.

Also missing was Jonathan Bloomer, the non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy. He is the former head of the Autonomy audit committee and testified for the defense at Lynch’s trial.

Bloomer was also chair of the Hiscox Group, an insurer that does business on the Lloyd’s of London market.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event,” Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain said in a statement.

Among the survivors was Charlotte Golunski, who said she momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but then managed to grab her and hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, ANSA reported. The father, identified by ANSA as James Emslie, also survived.

The Dutch foreign ministry said a Dutch man survived. The ministry, citing privacy, did not release his identity.

One body was recovered on Monday, identified as the on-board chef.

What is the Bayesian?

The Bayesian was a luxury yacht built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Nav. It was known for its single 75-meter (246-feet) aluminum mast — one of the world’s tallest. Online charter sites listed it for rent for up to 195,000 euros (about $215,000) a week.

Its registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd., based on the Isle of Man, according to online maritime database Equasis. Lynch’s wife is listed as Revtom’s sole owner, according to corporate registration documents from the Isle of Man.

The yacht's name is an apparent reference to “Bayesian inference,” one of the two main approaches to statistical machine learning and the one that was used by Autonomy.

What is a waterspout?

Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water and can happen when a storm moves across warm water.

According to the U.S. National Ocean Service, there are two types of waterspouts — fair-weather and tornadic.

Tornadic waterspouts “have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning,” the service says on its website.

While scientists haven’t attributed the specific event to climate change, average monthly surface temperatures have been at record highs for months . Hotter air can hold more moisture, making heavier storms more likely.

Sicily has been baking under intense heat this summer , and the United Nations’ panel of climate change experts notes the Mediterranean Sea is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with warming rates roughly 20% higher than the global average.

How rare is it for a huge sailboat like this to capsize?

Experts say it is extraordinarily rare for a luxury sailboat of this size to capsize due to weather events.

“This just doesn’t happen. You know, boats sink because things like keels fall off, or they run aground and breach the hull ... whereas just from a weather angle, a boat that big being pushed over on its side is absolutely extraordinary,” said Skip Novak, a lifelong sailor who has taken part in multiple round the world yacht races and written books about sailing.

Novak said he believed that strong gusts likely pushed the yacht over 90 degrees to its side, and the vessel did not recover because of the weight of the huge mast and because it was anchored. He suggested that internal doors were likely not closed, and water quickly poured in to sink the vessel.

“When you’re at anchor, even if it’s blowing with a storm in the Mediterranean, you rarely shut the whole boat down because nobody expects something like this to happen," Novak told The Associated Press. “So if the boat wasn’t completely watertight at the deck, you’d have flooding going in. It would take a couple minutes and that would be it."

What happens next?

As the search for the missing continues, authorities already have begun trying to piece together exactly what happened.

Prosecutors from the Sicilian town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation, as is normal in such events even when no suspects are identified. To date, they have not commented publicly.

The British Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four of its inspectors were being deployed to Palermo.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 The  Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Four bodies retrieved from inside yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily

Rescue boats operate during a search for passengers missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Porticello, near the Sicilian city of Palermo, Italy, on Aug. 21. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

Four bodies were found on Wednesday aboard the sunken wreck of a yacht belonging to the wife of British tech magnate Mike Lynch , sources close to the rescue operation said.

The identities of the victims were not immediately given by the authorities. Three of the bodies were brought ashore and taken to nearby hospitals for formal identification. The fourth corpse was being taken to land as evening set in.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported that two of the dead were Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter. Local authorities in Sicily declined to comment on the report.

The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) superyacht was carrying 22 people and anchored off the port of Porticello when it was hit by a fierce, pre-dawn storm on Monday .

Lynch, 59, was one of the U.K.’s best-known tech entrepreneurs and had invited friends to join him on the yacht to celebrate his recent acquittal in a U.S. fraud trial.

Besides Lynch and his daughter, the other people unaccounted for after the disaster were Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International; and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo.

Specialist rescuers have been searching inside the hull of the sunken yacht for the past two days. The victims were believed to have been trapped in cabins, which have proved extremely hard to get to, with divers only able to stay in the vessel for 8-10 minutes before having to resurface.

Fifteen people managed to escape the yacht before it capsized in the pre-dawn tempest, while the body of the onboard chef, Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, was found near the wreck hours after the disaster.

The Bayesian is lying on its side at a depth of around 50 metres, apparently largely intact.

Besides the diving team, the coast guard has deployed a remotely operated vehicle to scan the seabed and take underwater pictures and videos that it said may provide “useful and timely elements” for prosecutors looking into the disaster.

What we know so far about the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily and those aboard

The coast guard has been questioning survivors, including the captain of the Bayesian, and passengers on the yacht that was moored next to it who witnessed the ship going down, judicial sources said.

No one is under investigation at the moment, sources added.

Experts have been at a loss to explain how a large luxury vessel, presumed to have top-class fittings and safety features, could have sunk within minutes, as recounted by witnesses. The yacht anchored next to it was unharmed by the storm.

The Bayesian, which was owned by Lynch’s wife, was built by Italian shipbuilder Perini in 2008 and last refitted in 2020. It had the world’s tallest aluminium mast, measuring 72 metres, according to its makers.

Lynch has been referred to as Britain’s Bill Gates. He built the UK’s largest software firm, Autonomy, which was sold to HP for US$11-billion in 2011, after which the deal spectacularly unravelled with the U.S. tech giant accusing him of fraud, resulting in a lengthy trial.

He was acquitted on all charges by a jury in San Francisco in June. Morvillo had represented him at the trial, while Bloomer was a character witness on his behalf.

Bayesian’s captain James Cutfield, a 51-year-old New Zealander who survived the shipwreck, was a “very good sailor” and “very well respected” in the Mediterranean, his brother Mark told The New Zealand Herald.

Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, a U.K.-based non-profit organization that trains sea rescuers, said the Bayesian was the victim of a “high impact” weather-related incident.

“If it was a water spout, which it appears to be, it’s what I would class as like a black swan event,” he told Reuters, meaning a rare and unpredictable phenomenon.

Survivors of the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily were discharged from Palermo's pediatric hospital on Aug. 20 as search and rescue efforts to find six missing people continued.

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WHERE TO LAUNCH YOUR BOAT IN VICTORIA, BC

Boat Ramps Around Victoria

If you are going fishing, or just want to get your boat out on the water for some sight seeing around Victoria and Southern Vancouver Island, BC, here is a listing of the boat ramps and boat launches in the area.  Included are a brief description of the facilities, fees charged and links to their websites.  The Victoria area map at the bottom of the post will show you the locations of each of the boat ramps.

Cattle Point on Beach Drive – 2 ramps at different locations on the point. Once faces approximately south the other north east giving a launch choice depending on weather conditions. Access to Haro Strait and Juan de Fuca Strait. Lots of good parking. No charge.

Cattle Pt South Boat Ramp

Cattle Point NE boat ramp,

 Operated by Greater Victoria Harbour Authority – 75 Dallas Rd.  1 ramp – close to the Dallas Road Breakwater on Dallas Road. Access to Victoria Harbour and Juan de Fuca Strait. Limited Parking. Fee Charged

James Bay boat ramp

Esquimalt Anglers Assoc. Fleming Beach Boat Ramp 1101 Munro St.Dr. Drive down Lampson St, south towards the water, right on Munro. Access to Juan de Fuca Strait, Victoria Harbour, Esquimalt Harbour. Docks and good parking. Fee Charged.  Website: Esquimalt Anglers

Esquimalt Anglers Boat Ramp at Macaulay Point Park

Tulista Boat Ramp in Tulista Park on Lochside Dr, Sidney, next to the Washington State Ferry Dock. 2 wide ramps with dock (additional docks are added during the summer months).  Access to Haro Strait.  Good parking. Fee Charged at pay station.  Website: Tulista Boat Ramp

Tulista Boat Ramp has 3 docks open during the summer months

Tulista Boat Ramp – there is only 1 dock available during the winter months

Saanich Inlet

Brentwood Bay On the Tarstlip Indian Reserve – #1 Boat Ramp Rd, Brentwood Bay off West Saanich Road, left on Verdier, right on Peden, left on Boat Ramp Rd. Access to Saanich Inlet. Single ramp and dock.  Good parking. Fee charged.

Goldstream Boathouse – 3540 Trans Canada Hwy (Highway 1), just north of Goldstream Park. Access to Saanich Inlet. Docks. Fee charged.  Website: Goldstream Boathouse

Central Saanich

Island View Beach – Take the Pat Bay Highway to Island View Rd in Central Saanich.  Follow the road right down to the beach.  This is a rough, poorly maintained boat ramp and may be covered in debris at times.  It is also very exposed to south easterly winds.  There is good parking but it can be very busy on nice days.  Access to Haro Strait.  No Charge.

Island View Beach Boat Ramp

Pedder Bay Marina 925 Pedder Bay Road Off Rocky Point Road in Metchosin. Access to the fishing grounds in Juan de Fuca Strait running from Race Rocks to Sooke. Docks. Fee charged.  Website:  Pedder Bay Marina

Cheanuh Marina at Beecher Bay: 4901 East Sooke, Rd – First Nations Operation – access to the fishing grounds in Juan de Fuca Strait running from Race Rocks to Sooke .  Docks. Fee charged.  Website: Cheanuh Marina

Sooke Community Boat Ramp at 6933 W Coast Rd in Sooke.  Access to Sooke Harbour and Juan de Fuca Strait.  Large double wide ramp and docks. Fee Charged at pay station.  Website:  Sooke Community Boat Launch

Brookleigh Boat Launch – At the north end of Elk Lake off Brookleigh Rd, turn left at Sayward Rd off the Pat Bay Hwy to access. No Charge.  Note: there are restrictions for motor size and towing on Elk and Beaver Lakes.  For a list of the regulations, click this link: Elk Lake Boating Regulations

Mill Bay Boat Launch – The Mill Bay boat launch is located at the end of Handy Road adjacent to the marina.  This ramp is not recommended for use at Low Tides. Turn right off the Trans-Canada Highway onto Deloume Road, right onto Mill Bay Road, left onto Handy Road.  Good parking. No Fees.

Mill Bay Boat Ramp

Shawnigan Lake

Shawnigan Lake Boat Launch – Located in Shawnigan Wharf Park in Shawnigan Lake.  Turn left off the Trans-Canada Highway onto Shawnigan Lake/Mill Bay Road. Go straight through the intersection then left onto Heald Road and right onto Thrush Road. Single ramp, dock, limited parking. No Fees.

Cowichan Bay

Cowichan Bay Boat Launch – The launch is located beside Hecate Park in Cowichan Bay. Turn right off  the Trans-Canada Highway onto Koksilah Road. Left onto Cowichan Bay Road through the seaside village of Cowichan Bay. On the right hand side, across from Wessex Road.  Good parking. No Fees.

Cowichan Bay Boat Ramp

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One Comment

Don’t forget Sunny Shores in Sooke Basin (fee) and Jock’s Dock in Sooke (fee).

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