Boat graveyard a paradise for producers, horror for locals

MISSION, B.C. - Six derelict and decrepit vessels on the Fraser River in Mission, B.C., perform double duty as both a gritty movie set and an immovable eyesore along the banks of one of Canada's most-travelled waterways.

Enlarge Photo Postmedia News PhotoThe boat graveyard on the Fraser River in Mission, B.C., is a popular sport for television and movie producers, but Mike Younie, manager of environmental services for the District of Mission, says wants to get rid of the boats. Producers pay up to $2,500 a day to film here, for such projects as the Flash Gordon TV series and an action flick starring ex-wrestler Steve Austin.

For some, however, this place - about 70 kilometres east on the Fraser River from Vancouver - is more of a reality horror show.

"You want it?" asks Mike Younie, manager of environmental services for the District of Mission. "It's quite a scene, no kidding. We'd like to get rid of them, that's the bottom line."

The 102-metre Queen of Sidney - one of the first BC Ferries in 1960, retired in 2000 - is among the half-dozen commercial vessels at the site, along with a barge, a derelict fishboat and two tugs.

Also notable is the 70-metre steam ferry San Mateo, which had a storied career in Washington state between 1947 and 1969. It sits on its side, partly flooded, its wooden parts rotting.

The principal keepers of this graveyard are packrats Gerald Tapp, 73, and his brother, Bob, 71, ex-loggers from Aldergrove, B.C., who say they are the victims of government harassment.

"Mission told me to move this and I told them where to go," said the unrepentant Gerald Tapp. "The municipality doesn't have jurisdiction."

The graveyard is located just off the

Lougheed Highway

behind no-trespassing signs in the rural Silverdale neighbourhood - the same area where Billy Miner committed Canada's first railway robbery in 1904.

The Tapp brothers have gradually collected the vessels since buying the four-hectare property in 1996, taking possession of some after the owners walked away.

Looking at the crumpled remains of the San Mateo, Bob Tapp says: "It was down in Whonnock, (B.C.) and they wanted it moved, so I said, `Bring it up here.'

"A guy was going to restore it. He parked it here and gave up and left it here."

The last owner, Garry Bereska, had hoped to restore the San Mateo at a cost of $300,000, but his lofty dreams fell short. In 1992 the locomotive engineer from Surrey, B.C. told the Vancouver Sun: "We've thrown our whole heart and soul and everything we've got into it."

Of the classic ship, he said: "It's like going into a movie set in the 1920s. All this stuff is so authentic. It hasn't been tampered with or buggered up or modernized."

Today, a sadly different reality. "It's awfully rotten," confirms Bob Tapp. "It's not safe to walk around in there."

As for the Queen of Sidney, BC Ferries sold the ship for $100,000 in 2002 to Rainy River Cedar Ltd. of Roberts Creek, B.C. "We have had no responsibility for the ship since then," ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said.

Rainy River's Brad Boser said he bought the ferry with the intention of "stripping it down and selling the components," but instead sold it soon after for the same price to Art Klassen, who works at a cedar shake mill in Abbotsford, B.C.

Klassen describes ownership of the Queen of Sidney as a "great adventure, one hell of a project.

"I was going through a divorce at the time and it was a very good thing to sidetrack me from everything that was going on. I never regretted a moment doing it, but, I tell you, it was not a simple deal.

"Anything I got out of it, I worked hard for. That old girl, she doesn't give anything up easily, believe me."

He removed the copper wiring, benefiting from a sharp spike in market prices for copper, and auctioned off the generators.

He even sold some parts such as the scuppers, the drains on the car decks, back to BC Ferries. "I sold them trinkets here and there. Sometimes they would need an electrical part or something, but never a large amount of stuff."

Did he earn back his $100,000 investment?

"Yes and no. If I had to hire someone to do it, no. I was there on weekends, all my spare hours. I paid myself a good wage doing it, but that's all I did.

"I always thought I would hit a motherlode with it. I thought someone in Texas would pay me $300,000 for one of those ... engines, but I never did hit the motherlode."

Klassen said there were some wild rumours flying during his ownership of the Queen of Sidney.

One suggested there was enough fuel left on board to more than cover the cost of purchasing the ferry. "If they'd had a fuel gauge, it would read empty," he said.

In response to another rumour that he planned to convert the ferry into a marijuana-growing operation, he drove to the RCMP station in Mission to tell them they could drop by any time to see he wasn't involved in criminal activity.

"Anytime you guys want a tour, give me a call," he recalls telling police. "There's nothing going on."

At various times, Klassen thought about putting a small mill on the ferry or using it as a floating work camp. "It's too big, too expensive to move it or do anything with it. That's why it stayed right there."

Klassen said he figures the ferry should be scrapped for steel, although he warned: "If I had a dollar for every time the Chinese were gonna buy that ferry off me and take it to China and scrap it I wouldn't be out here working tonight."

The Queen of Sidney arrived at Silverdale in 2002 and the brothers took possession in 2006. They'd prefer not to say what they paid, but it's in the range of a decent used car.

The ferry last sailed on the Comox-to-Powell River route, crossing the Georgia Strait about halfway up the east coast of Vancouver Island. The 2000 summer sailing schedule is still posted on the wall. A nearby sign reads: "Caution. Surface may be slippery when wet."

The original lifeboats, with a limit of 53 persons, are still hoisted and ready for service, although there is no rescuing the ferry itself. At low water, it sits on the river bottom at an angle.

The car decks are jammed with old cars, trucks, campers, lawn mowers, chainsaws - you name it - much of it other people's stuff that the brothers have allowed to be stored here.

There are small plastic pellets on the ground, evidence of a sport called "airsoft," which is similar to paintball and took place on the ferry until a year ago. "It makes a mess," Bob Tapp says.

He complains that "river rats" are forever pilfering stuff from the ferry, "Leave a pump out and it goes. It's sad really."

Of the vessel, he says: "We'll probably end up scrapping it."

Mission wrote a letter on Dec. 17, 2009, seeking help from various government agencies: federally, Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada, and Transport Canada; provincially, WorkSafeBC, Ministry of Environment, and Integrated Land Management Bureau.

The district raised concerns such as damage to the riverbank, the potential for the vessels to float away in a flood, the "probable release of untreated sewage to the river," the use of electrical and gas pumps, and occupational health and safety issues related to movie filming.

Younie said only WorkSafeBC responded in "any material way" and visited the site and said it would try to show up when films are being shot.

He said bylaw officers visit the site regularly and have achieved some success with cleaning up scrap metal on the land portion, but lack authority over the water.

"There's not a lot we can do," he said.

Younie added there are "no obvious environmental issues going on. It's not like there is oil leaking all over the place." The Vancouver Sun spotted a small oily sheen on the water during a recent visit.

Transport Canada spokeswoman Jillian Glover said the derelict vessels "do not pose a threat to navigation or the environment, but we will continue to monitor the situation. ... Transport Canada has no legal grounds to take action against a vessel based solely on esthetics."

Colin Grewar, spokesman for B.C.'s Ministry of Environment, said there is no provincial foreshore tenure on the site and the "owner currently continues to have a certificate of title, even over the portions covered by water."

He said that waste discharges from vessels and damage to river habitat are federally regulated under the Canada Shipping Act and Federal Fisheries Act. The province is working with Ottawa to "seek solutions to deal with the derelict vessel issue around the province," he said.

In the meantime, some are trying to turn a profit off the collection of forlorn vessels.

Tourism BC's official website for Mission states: "Another way to experience the Fraser River is on a boat tour ... watching out for everything from bald eagles and bears to old quarries and derelict ferries."

Rob Chadwick of Fraser River Safari in Mission takes hundreds of guests every year past the vessels on sightseeing jet-boat tours, largely for bald eagles at this time of year.

"There are so many rules on the river, how do they get away with that?" he asked, speculating no one wants to assume liability for the site. "The problem is everyone is passing the buck."

Chadwick describes the site to guests as an "old ship graveyard" and observes that the image of the derelict ferries against a mountainous backdrop makes for interesting photographs.

"It's quite picturesque," he concluded. "And bizarre."

Source: By LARRY PYNN. Brunswick News. Friday December 31st, 2010

http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/gleaner/article/1366497