Sooke Public Boat Launch

SIRA said:
The boating/fishing community is in fact not the main interest, and yes, it is about generating a return to the community regardless of where the funds come from.
Click to expand...

What?! A project to create a public boat launch, but the boating/fishing community is not the main interest?! Sorry but that doesn't sit right at all. I am sorry to read of the drama around this, but that explains a lot!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am absolute certain that Sooke's Mayor does not see it like that. She sees the value of sportfishing and boating to Sooke and would certainly lend her support for these activities any day of the week. A boat launch facility is built for boaters and should serve foremost their needs. Anything else is non sense.
 
chris73 said:
I am absolute certain that Sooke's Mayor does not see it like that. She sees the value of sportfishing and boating to Sooke and would certainly lend her support for these activities any day of the week. A boat launch facility is built for boaters and should serve foremost their needs. Anything else is non sense.
Click to expand...

Agreed well said Chris73...extremely disappointing comments Terrance truthfully...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If the focus of a boat ramp isn't about boats and fishermen then I would like to know what else is going to come up and down that ramp? Maybe the engineers got it backwards and the ramp should have been elevated upwards so that the skate boarders in Sooke could speed down the long driveway dodging hotel overflow vehicles midway down and then finish with a high speed jump off the ramp into the harbour. Charge $10 a day, parking problem solved!
 
Who said it wasn't built for boaters? That's retarded. It's also not the point.
 
I think you got it wrong when you said that boaters/fishermen are not the main interest. Without boaters/fishermen there is no opportunity for the town to generate revenues with the facilities already in place.
 
profisher said:
I think you got it wrong when you said that boaters/fishermen are not the main interest. Without boaters/fishermen there is no opportunity for the town to generate revenues with the facilities already in place.
Click to expand...

I agree I am from out town and just having that ramp there I usually fill up my boat in town, and buy lunch and things I need when I am down there...If you think in peak season I may to 3-4 trips a week June-Sept thats quite a bit of revenue...
 
The comments from SIRA aka Terrance are very frustrating to read. This whole launch scene is frustrating as well. Maybe the DoS would prefer people go to Port Renfrew or Metchosin to launch their boat and spend their money. That's what I think I will do from now on. Good work SIRA. Lost revenue!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This seems pointless. The fishing/boating community was given a boat launch. That should be enough validation of its importance. My entire point was that the facility should be leveraged to attract money from elsewhere, not to denigrate the importance of the users.
 
Sometimes a ramp is just a ramp
The contract will be up for the current operator sooner than we realize and if you are not happy you can always let the mayor or council member know your feelings
Maybe search and rescue can have another shot at being the operator now that it is up and running
Who knows maybe people would be more willing to pay the launch fees if they knew the money was going to search and rescue Just saying
 
For me it is a pretty simple equation. I'm not towing my rig out there if it is a 50/50 chance there won't be parking. Building a ramp with insufficient parking demonstrates poor planning and a total lack of understanding of user requirements.


Franko

MILF (Man, I Love Fishing)
 
SIRA said:
This seems pointless. The fishing/boating community was given a boat launch.
Click to expand...

You said it Terrance. The fishing/boating community was given a boat launch. And now the agenda seems to be to generate revenue from the same community to recoup costs. Speaking of costs........

"The estimated cost of the boat launch was $1.84-million with $605,000 coming from the federal government Western Economic Diversification grant, $200,000 from the Prestige Hotel, $500,000 "in-kind" donation from the hotel and $300,000 (plus another $335,000) from the District of Sooke."
 
Franko Manini said:
I'm not towing my rig out there if it is a 50/50 chance there won't be parking.
Click to expand...

I've been trying to get them to permit me to put cameras in, one of the functions of which would be to webcam parking status. There is almost always parking available on the road.
 
I don't believe any effort is made by the hotel to keep cars from parking in the lot.
If they put up some signs saying trailer parking only sun up to sundown there would be way less of a problem and it could still be used as overflow parking in the evenings.
 
Not sure how "almost always parking on the road" can be regarded as a solution. Parking on the road down by buffy's (or further) is not really boat launch parking and still has the issues with safety, pedestrians, etc. That is the same as "no facility parking".
 
What I don't like is I have a 23ft boat so can't park in the lot, so I must park on the road. I come in from fishing, dock the boat walk all the way up the hill, down the road, get the truck and all the while clogging up the dock because there is only one dock. So people need to wait or ferry their boat around. Also the 2 tier pay structure, locals VS out of towner's. The road down, the roundabout, ramp are all nice. But only one dock and no parking is a big fail.This whole ramp was a total waste of money. I can't believe that $1.8 million was spent to built that crap.
 
Know what? When I tow my 22' boat down Island to go fishing, I want a nice launch and a place near (i.e. where I can see my boat) the launch to park my truck and trailer. Guess the Sooke Public Boat Launch will not be getting my business.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top