Annapolis Sinking Update - January 2012

To all volunteers and supporters:

Annapolis Sinking Update

No report can start without first acknowledging and thanking everyone who has helped and continues to help on project Annapolis.

This truly is a community based project and we are appreciative for all the support that has been given.

Operations over the holidays have slowed down but we will resume our weekly volunteer call beginning January 2012.

For those who have not been on the ship for a while you may be delighted at the changes and they are considerable.

I could go into details but we hope to show you next time aboard.

Although we still have a little ways to go before the federal government can review our application to sink Annapolis, what remains to complete is generally much lighter duty work.

This is good news as it brings us ever closer to diving Annapolis.

At some point post sinking, the ARSBC, has plans to monitor, record and report on bio –recruitment changes that will occur on the new reef over the years and we will be working with professional academics on Project A.B.I.S. (Annapolis Biological Impact Study).

This too will be a community based volunteer effort for anyone interested in helping. Watch our website for more details and we’ll keep you posted as well.

Thanking you all again for your contributions to the project and lets rally to the finish line!!

On behalf of the ARSBC Executive, a happy and prosperous new year to all.

Sincerely,

Howie Robins

President

Annapolis Sinking Update - Press Release from the ARSBC

It is with great delight and excitement that I bring to you this latest Annapolis sinking update on the Annapolis Project.

After 3 years of struggle the ARSBC has been officially advised that the former HMCS Annapolis has been accepted as a gift to the province parks branch by the Honorable Murray Coell, Provincial Minister of Environment.

With this confirmation, the Annapolis now has a new mission to become a long term stable marine habitat in Halkett Bay Provincial Marine Park, Gambier Island and will provide the Bay with an opportunity for habitat restoration and needed bio-diversity.

We know that you join in celebrating the news and while no date for sinking can be made at this time, we will be providing up-dates on our permitting progress leading to an official date to announce the sinking.

The ARSBC wishes to express its sincere thanks to all those who volunteered their time to help make this project a success and we are deeply appreciative of everyone’s efforts.

Even with the bulk of the heavy work behind us, there is still a lot of work to complete so we will still need volunteers on weekends and mid week to put the final touches on recycling and environmental readiness.

In simple terms, the quicker we get this done the sooner we can sink the ship and enjoy a new dive experience.

Now that Annapolis will have an official home the excitement to the finish line is in sight.

Further announcements will follow for volunteer days and we hope you can come back and lend a helping hand again

See the ARSBC Annapolis webpage for more information about volunteering - come on out and be part of history!

I went out to help on March 26, 2011 and my Annapolis Sinking update trip report is here...

Previous press releases about the proposed Annapolis sinking update are below.

To our Valued Annapolis Volunteers,

You will see comments in the paper concerning the Annapolis project, and you will likely have heard rumors within the dive community that the project has run into objections from the provincial parks branch over a park act which is at best is questionable in its relevance to what we are doing.

Nevertheless the federal government will want to ensure that it is not making federal authority decisions in the absence of support from the Province.

It is important to understand that this happens in complex projects and the ARSBC has been down these roads many times in its history and still came out successful but, there are no guarantees.

We ask that you remain committed to supporting this important habitat creation and recreational tourism project as we work out the issues with Provincial authorities and Fisheries and Oceans.

There will likely be more commentary appearing in the media over the next few weeks, and some of it will be accurate and some of it will not.

But don't believe anyone that tells you that this project is at an end, or anywhere near an end!

Regardless of the arguments from protestors nobody has been able to marshal a case against what is patently good for the environment, the economy and the people of British Columbia.

Deirdre Forbes McCracken

Director, Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia

After years of hard work by members of the ARSBC and the many volunteers who have been carefully prepping her to be sunk, it seems pressure by some local residents of Halkett Bay have stopped the project.

While we haven't seen official confirmation yet, we're keeping our fingers crossed that any issues can be peacefully and successfully resolved.

Comments and links can be found on the Scubaboard forum site ...

Annapolis Sinking

Earlier Annapolis Sinking Update...

The following Annapolis Sinking Update was recently sent out by the dedicated group overseeing the preparation of the HMCS Annapolis for sinking in Howe Sound, near Vancouver British Columbia.

Message To Our Volunteers February 27, 2010

Operations Time Line

With the Olympics coming to a close this weekend, many of us will be back to our daily routines and hopefully that will include time for more to sign up for work details aboard the Annapolis. For those of you who watched the hockey game last night between the Canadians and Slovaks and felt the anxiety to finish with a win, you will understand the parity of being in a race to ready the Annapolis for inspection. It’s the same intense feeling.

In project terms, we are 5 minutes into the 3rd period and do not want to go overtime so all efforts now focus on the following spaces:

• Engine room 50% complete • Boiler room 60% complete • Steering room 70% complete

This does not include the vast amounts of materials that need to be collected, moved, sorted, and rendered down. At some point soon we will be heading into the mop-up phase where teams will be needed to wipe, vacuum, and sweep every corner of every room of every deck. If we are to have any chance of sinking the ship in 2010 all volunteers need to understand the time line we are facing.

End of April = target completion for ship inspection This gives us 8 weeks of intensified onboard activities. The productivity that comes from this is entirely dependant on consistent numbers of volunteers coming together every Saturday and Sunday and for those available during the week, we go out on Wednesdays.

End of May = final environmental report submitted and the government process carries forward for review leading to permitting.

Federal Process As in all previous projects, you must allow for the bureaucracy to work and that takes months. After the inspection report, the government needs to consult internally with departments, the public, first nations, and more. It is not a process we can control and keep in mind that when this happens, we are entering into summer when politicians may take their vacations. So, it is in our best interest to ensure the ship is ready in time for the inspection in order to give the government the processing time it needs to review the project. With a permit in hand, we can immediately set the sink date and broadcast it. This is when the big count down begins. We need your help to get there.

Weather conditions I think all of us can agree the more summer time we have to enjoy diving the ship the better, but we cannot go beyond October to sink Annapolis due to deteriorating weather. As a result it becomes more clear why we need to be ready for inspection. Going over this time line will have implications on several levels that are severe and will jeopardize the outcome. We need your help to avoid this.

The past several weekends have been extremely light on volunteers from a base of over 700+ names from dive stores, to clubs to meet-up groups and others we only get a handful. Today for example we had only one single volunteer and so we had to cancel a work day. I am hopeful that after the Olympics this will change.

I’ve heard comments that many won’t volunteer because they don’t have tools. If you are concerned that you don’t have tools, don’t let that stop you from volunteering. In fact if all you have is a multi screw diver even with pieces missing we’ll take you! If you come with two tools we will treat you better than the person with the one screw driver. If you come with 4 tools of your choice you will be carried up the plank to the main deck, (if you believe that). A full set of tools and you get to sit in Wes’s 1978 wardroom sofa with features including original Annapolis dust, worn cushions and designer fabric rips. Incentive enough? Oh yeah there is also the contest to win a draw to dive the ship before its open to the public if anyone is interested

Please contract Deirdre and help us make the sinking of the Annapolis in 2010 as our Olympic style achievement and above all, my thanks to all who have contributed their time and effort.

Sincerely,

Howard Robins President ARSBC

For more Annapolis Sinking Updates, and to be on our list for diving the Annapolis once she is available to the public, go to our Annapolis Sinking Update sign up page or fill in the Annapolis Sinking Update form below: