Dead Boats Begone The Story of the Dead Boats Disposal Society

Dead Boats Begone

The Story of the Dead Boats Disposal Society

The Dead Boats Disposal Society is a British Columbia not-for-profit society dedicated to the research, education, inventory, assessment, lawful removal, remediation, recycling and safe disposal of abandoned vessels and marine debris.

Our work reaches from southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands to the Fraser River, the Sunshine Coast, central and northern Vancouver Island, and coastal communities extending toward the Alaska border.

We do much more than tow away old boats.

An abandoned vessel may contain fuel, lubricating oil, batteries, sewage, contaminated bilge water, electrical equipment, propane cylinders, treated wood, lead-based coatings, fibreglass, plastics, foam, refrigerants, fire-suppression chemicals and decades of accumulated garbage.

When a boat grounds, sinks, burns or breaks apart, those materials can enter the water, shoreline and sediments. A vessel that appears to be only an eyesore can become a long-term source of contamination, physical habitat damage and marine debris.

That makes every abandoned vessel a source-control problem.

The safest, cleanest and least expensive vessel to deal with is the one responsibly managed before it sinks, disperses its contents or becomes part of the intertidal environment.

Where We Came From

The Dead Boats Disposal Society grew from the work of the Veins of Life Watershed Society, founded in 1995 by John and Wesley Roe, their family, friends and community volunteers.

That work began in the Gorge Waterway watershed, from the upper Colquitz and Craigflower Creek systems through Portage Inlet, the Gorge Waterway, Rock Bay, the Upper and Inner Harbours and Victoria Harbour to Ogden Point.

Volunteers removed shopping carts, bicycles, cars, tires, engines, machinery, construction debris, bottles, plastics, abandoned docks, vessels and almost every other type of human-made waste imaginable.

The work was never limited to picking up litter. Veins of Life investigated pollution sources, restored habitat, organized major shoreline and underwater cleanups, worked with First Nations and community groups, pursued government action and helped bring public attention to the long-term contamination of urban waterways.

Over time, it became clear that abandoned vessels required their own specialized organization.

A dead boat is not simply a large piece of garbage. Removing one properly may require:

• vessel identification and ownership research;

• environmental and safety assessments;

• legal notices and possession authority;

• coordination with First Nations and multiple levels of government;

• marine insurance and environmental controls;

• divers, pumps, booms, barges and cranes;

• hazardous-material handling;

• transportation, dismantling and approved disposal facilities;

• documentation showing what was removed and where it went.

The Dead Boats Disposal Society was formally established in 2017 during the Cadboro Bay abandoned-vessel campaign working with the Cadboro Bay Community Association President Eric Dahli.

Residents had struggled for years with vessels and debris accumulating along their shoreline. DBDS developed the legal, environmental and practical process needed to seize and dispose of 17 abandoned boats and substantial quantities of marine debris.

That campaign demonstrated that an organized community could move a vessel file from years of complaints to lawful removal.

The Society’s public mandate now includes research, education, inventory, removal, assessment, remediation and disposal of abandoned vessels and marine debris throughout British Columbia. (Dead Boats Disposal Society)

More Than 30 Years of Cleanup

The true scale of this work cannot be measured only by counting complete boats lifted from the water.

Abandoned vessels are found in every imaginable condition:

• floating but deteriorating;

• grounded on beaches;

• sunk at docks or anchorages;

• burned to the waterline;

• buried in mud;

• collapsed beneath docks;

• broken into hundreds of pieces;

• scattered through eelgrass beds and intertidal habitat;

• reduced to engines, tanks, wiring, foam, fibreglass and garbage.

The Dead Boats Disposal Society has participated in the removal, recovery or lawful disposal of approximately 230 dead and abandoned vessels through its own projects, government-funded work and partnerships with First Nations, contractors, communities and public agencies.

When the earlier work of the Veins of Life Watershed Society is included, our combined lifetime record is approximately 500 boats, hulks, wrecks and substantial vessel remains.

These figures include complete boats as well as major wrecks that had already broken apart before the work began.

A vessel does not stop being a pollution problem when it stops looking like a boat. In many cases, the scattered remains are more difficult, hazardous and expensive to recover than the intact vessel would have been.

Over more than three decades, Veins of Life and DBDS estimate that their combined work has removed, recovered or helped cause the removal of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of garbage, dumped material, vessel wreckage and marine debris.

This is our cumulative operational estimate rather than an independently audited tonnage. It reflects decades of direct cleanups, partnered removals, underwater work, vessel projects, shoreline restoration and large volumes of material removed piece by piece.

The material has included:

• complete and partial vessels;

• submerged wreckage;

• engines and heavy machinery;

• abandoned docks and floats;

• barges and float homes;

• ghost fishing gear;

• batteries and fuel tanks;

• tires and appliances;

• construction and industrial waste;

• cars, shopping carts and bicycles;

• plastics, foam and fibreglass;

• garbage recovered from inside abandoned boats;

• debris removed from creeks, rivers, harbours and shorelines.

Not every tonne was physically lifted by DBDS volunteers.

Some projects were completed by marine contractors, First Nations, municipalities or government agencies after DBDS or Veins of Life investigated the problem, prepared inventories, documented the environmental risks, worked through the regulatory process, helped secure funding or kept public pressure on the responsible authorities.

That is an important part of our work: we do not have to own the crane to make the cleanup happen.

What We Do

Research and investigation

We investigate abandoned vessels and marine debris before attempting removal.

This includes determining:

• whether the vessel is abandoned;

• its ownership and registration history;

• whether it is floating, grounded, submerged or breaking apart;

• its construction and structural condition;

• the likely presence of fuel, machinery, batteries or hazardous materials;

• risks to navigation, workers and the public;

• surrounding fish, wildlife and intertidal habitat;

• shoreline and marine access;

• what equipment and permissions would be required;

• where the vessel and debris can legally be taken.

Inventory and documentation

We document abandoned vessels using:

• GPS coordinates;

• photographs of the bow, stern and both sides;

• vessel names and registration markings;

• hull material and approximate dimensions;

• condition and apparent length of abandonment;

• evidence of fuel, sewage, batteries and garbage;

• nearby docks, debris and navigation hazards;

• shoreline access;

• surrounding eelgrass, salmon, shellfish and bird habitat.

Public reporting is essential.

Boaters, paddlers, fishermen, shoreline residents, First Nations, streamkeepers, harbour users and community organizations often know about a deteriorating vessel years before it appears in a government inventory.

Legal and regulatory work

An apparently abandoned boat cannot simply be taken away.

Before removal, questions of ownership, possession, jurisdiction and legal authority must be resolved.

Depending on the vessel and its location, the process may involve:

• Transport Canada;

• the Navigation Protection Program;

• the Receiver of Wreck;

• the Canadian Coast Guard;

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada;

• provincial land and environmental agencies;

• First Nations;

• municipalities and regional districts;

• harbour authorities;

• property owners and leaseholders.

DBDS helps assemble the vessel history, photographs, correspondence, notices, assessments, permissions and supporting evidence required to move a vessel from an unresolved complaint to a lawful removal project.

Environmental and safety assessment

Before disturbing a vessel, we consider:

• fuel and lubricating oil;

• contaminated bilge water;

• lead-acid batteries;

• propane and compressed-gas cylinders;

• sewage and biological hazards;

• electrical and refrigeration equipment;

• asbestos, lead paint and other hazardous substances;

• unstable hulls, machinery, masts and rigging;

• fibreglass, foam and plastic fragmentation;

• submerged debris;

• risks to eelgrass, shellfish, salmon habitat, birds and marine mammals;

• the possibility of releasing contamination during lifting or refloating.

The removal method must fit the vessel and the site.

Some boats can be lifted from accessible beaches. Others require divers, pumps, containment booms, barges, cranes, towing vessels and carefully controlled dismantling areas.

Removal and remediation

A removal project may include:

• stabilizing or refloating a vessel;

• pumping and containing liquids;

• installing pollution-control equipment;

• using divers to inspect or rig a submerged hull;

• lifting wrecks with cranes or excavators;

• transporting vessels by barge;

• removing abandoned docks, floats and pilings;

• cleaning the surrounding intertidal area;

• separating batteries, engines, metals and reusable equipment;

• testing suspect materials;

• transporting waste to authorized facilities;

• recording the condition of the site before, during and after removal.

The work is not finished when the main hull disappears.

Cables, foam, batteries, broken fibreglass, fuel containers and accumulated garbage must not be left behind.

CleanBC and Clean Coast, Clean Waters

DBDS participated in contracts delivered through British Columbia’s Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative, part of the Province’s wider CleanBC approach to marine debris, plastic pollution and circular waste management. (BC Gov News)

Through the Indigenous-led Salish Sea Marine Stewardship Project, DBDS worked alongside Songhees Development Corporation and Salish Sea Industrial Services.

The project was funded to target approximately 100 abandoned and sunken vessels around southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. It combined vessel removal with Indigenous leadership, training, employment and marine-industry experience. (BC Gov News)

Salish Sea Industrial Services brought experienced marine crews, barges, cranes, transportation and controlled dismantling capacity. DBDS contributed vessel inventories, community contacts, field experience, regulatory knowledge and years of practical work locating and developing abandoned-vessel files.

The vessels were brought to controlled work areas where engines, batteries, windows, metals, plastics, wood and hydrocarbons could be separated before the remaining material was transported for disposal.

This demonstrated what becomes possible when Indigenous leadership, community knowledge, marine equipment, environmental planning and public funding are brought together.

The Alouette River Management Society Partnership

Our work with the **Alouette River Management Society—ARMS—**is an important part of the DBDS story.

ARMS brought decades of knowledge about the Alouette watershed, salmon habitat, water quality and community stewardship. DBDS brought abandoned-vessel investigation, documentation, regulatory experience and removal planning.

Together, the organizations pursued the cleanup of the lower Alouette River near its confluence with the Pitt River.

The area contained abandoned and submerged vessels, docks, floats, boathouse material and other large debris. All five species of Pacific salmon use the Alouette system and must pass through the lower river to reach upstream habitat. (Global News)

When a provincial funding application was rejected in 2023, DBDS and ARMS continued to document the problem, contact governments and speak publicly about the environmental risks.

Transport Canada ultimately funded the removal work. Operations began in February 2024 between Silver Bridge and the Pitt Meadows Marina and continued later that year when weather and ground conditions allowed. (City of Pitt Meadows)

The project removed submerged boats, large docks and floats, a submerged boathouse and other debris from the lower river.

DBDS and ARMS did not operate the heavy equipment themselves. Their contribution was helping identify the problem, build the case, maintain public pressure and bring the responsible authorities to the site.

ARMS later invited John Roe to speak about the Dead Boats Disposal Society at its 2024 annual general meeting. (Alouette River Management Society)

This is how effective environmental work often happens: a local watershed organization knows the river, a specialized organization knows the vessel process, and together they prevent the problem from being forgotten.

Katzie and the Wider Fraser River

DBDS and Veins of Life have also conducted surveys and developed project work along the Fraser River.

The work has included discussions and project planning with Katzie First Nation, with Katzie determining its own stewardship priorities.

Our Fraser River work has involved:

• abandoned-vessel and marine-debris surveys;

• photographs and GPS inventories;

• documentation of abandoned docks and float structures;

• investigation of submerged and partly submerged wrecks;

• investigation of a sunken barge and an abandoned float house;

• identification of ghost gear and entanglement hazards;

• discussions concerning priority waterfront sites;

• contact with Transport Canada and the Receiver of Wreck;

• equipment, staging, transportation and disposal planning;

• investigation of stormwater outfalls and other pollution sources encountered during field surveys.

Our role is not to tell a First Nation what its priorities should be. Our role is to provide practical field support, documentation, regulatory experience and vessel-removal knowledge when requested.

The McBarge: Unfinished Business

The capsized McBarge has become one of Canada’s most visible examples of what happens when a large end-of-life marine structure is repeatedly transferred, neglected and allowed to deteriorate without a funded disposal plan.

The structure was originally known as the Friendship 500, a floating McDonald’s restaurant built for Expo 86. Later renamed Seaborne II, it was eventually moved to the Fraser River near Maple Ridge.

After years of unsuccessful redevelopment proposals and continued deterioration, the McBarge capsized and partially sank.

DBDS’s work on the McBarge remains active.

We continue to:

• research its ownership and regulatory history;

• communicate with the City of Maple Ridge;

• seek information from Transport Canada and other authorities;

• determine the lawful possession and removal process;

• speak with journalists and the public;

• document the environmental and navigation concerns;

• investigate engineering, salvage and disposal requirements;

• identify potential contractors and partners;

• search for a realistic funding pathway.

DBDS has not claimed ownership of the McBarge and has not represented that funding for its removal is secured.

We have stated that we are prepared to help develop or participate in a lawful recovery project if the necessary authority, engineering support, equipment and funding can be assembled.

As John Roe explained publicly, anyone taking on the structure would effectively have to establish lawful possession and then find the money to deal with it—and it will not be a cheap undertaking. (Global News)

The McBarge is more than a strange Expo-era landmark.

It is a warning about delayed source control.

Every year of deterioration increases structural uncertainty, recovery difficulty, environmental risk and eventual cost.

Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast

DBDS has worked on vessel and marine-debris projects throughout Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast.

Completed and documented project areas include:

• Cadboro Bay;

• the Gorge Waterway;

• Victoria and Esquimalt harbours;

• Sooke Harbour and Basin;

• Tsehum Harbour;

• Tsawout;

• Brentwood Bay and Patricia Bay;

• Cowichan Bay;

• Ganges, Long Harbour, Burgoyne Bay and Fulford Harbour;

• Port Browning and Bedwell Harbour;

• Pender, Saturna, Prevost, Thetis, Penelakut and Jedediah islands;

• Montague Harbour;

• K’ómoks Harbour;

• Sechelt and Porpoise Bay.

The Society’s public project record confirms this substantial geographic reach. (Dead Boats Disposal Society)

At K’ómoks Harbour and Comox, DBDS participated in surveys and the removal of abandoned vessels with K’ómoks First Nation and local partners.

We have continued to receive and investigate reports from Fanny Bay, Baynes Sound, qathet Regional District, Nelson Island, Vanguard Bay, Desolation Sound and surrounding coastal communities.

These files range from completed removals to surveys, active investigations and developing projects. We distinguish carefully between them.

A meeting or survey is not represented as a completed cleanup.

Northern Work and Project Development

DBDS records include northern outreach and project development involving Gingolx—formerly Kincolith—in Nisg̱a’a Territory.

Our files contain project introductions, contacts, meetings and planning concerning vessel removal in the community.

Other areas identified for inventories, relationship-building or future work include:

• Jervis Inlet;

• Howe Sound;

• Lasqueti Island;

• the Broughton Archipelago;

• Mamalilikulla First Nation;

• northern and remote coastal communities where disposal infrastructure is limited.

Our objective is not to arrive in a community, remove one boat and disappear.

Where possible, we want to help establish:

• reliable local inventories;

• trained community crews;

• knowledge of the federal vessel process;

• access to marine equipment;

• safe dismantling and disposal routes;

• employment and training opportunities;

• long-term prevention and source control.

We Remove More Than Boats

Although dead boats are in our name, our work includes almost every form of human-made marine debris:

• abandoned docks and floats;

• barges and float homes;

• ghost nets, lines, ropes and traps;

• tires and batteries;

• engines and machinery;

• fuel and chemical containers;

• construction waste;

• expanded foam;

• fibreglass fragments;

• plastics and household garbage;

• vehicles, shopping carts and appliances;

• almost anything else humans have abandoned in aquatic habitat.

Our rule is simple:

If it is human-made, abandoned and damaging a waterway or shoreline, it should not be left there indefinitely.

Why This Work Matters

Abandoned vessels are not merely unsightly.

They can:

• leak fuel and lubricating oil;

• discharge contaminated bilge water;

• release batteries, sewage and hazardous substances;

• shed fibreglass, foam and microplastics;

• scour eelgrass and intertidal habitat;

• crush shellfish areas;

• damage spawning and juvenile-rearing habitat;

• obstruct navigation and industrial access;

• create entanglement and public-safety hazards;

• contaminate shoreline sediments;

• break into hundreds of pieces that are far more expensive to recover.

The ecological consequences extend far beyond the vessel.

Healthy rivers, estuaries and intertidal habitats support forage fish and juvenile salmon. Salmon feed wildlife throughout the watershed. Chinook salmon are also essential prey for Southern Resident killer whales.

Protecting the shoreline protects the food web:

intertidal habitat supports forage fish; forage fish support salmon; salmon support the Southern Resident orcas.

Building a Permanent Solution

British Columbia and Canada still lack a complete, affordable end-of-life management system for recreational and commercial vessels.

Short-term grants help, but temporary programs cannot solve a problem measured in thousands of boats.

DBDS advocates for:

• accurate and enforceable vessel ownership records;

• meaningful owner responsibility;

• early intervention before vessels sink;

• permanent vessel-removal funding;

• affordable vessel-surrender programs;

• regional dismantling and recycling facilities;

• mobile processing equipment for remote communities;

• practical fibreglass recovery and reuse;

• trained Indigenous and local workforces;

• transparent public vessel inventories;

• better federal, provincial and municipal coordination;

• environmental monitoring after removal;

• protection and restoration of affected intertidal habitat.

We support the development of mobile vessel-processing systems that could travel to coastal and inland communities, dismantle vessels closer to where they are found, recover reusable material and reduce transportation and landfill costs.

The long-term goal must be a circular system in which an unwanted vessel has an affordable and lawful end-of-life pathway before it becomes an abandoned wreck.

Our Commitment

The Dead Boats Disposal Society is field-based, evidence-led and determined to finish the job properly.

We investigate the report.

We locate and document the vessel.

We establish its ownership and regulatory status.

We assess the environmental risks.

We obtain or help secure the necessary authority.

We prepare the removal and disposal plan.

We coordinate equipment, contractors and partners.

We remove—or help cause the removal of—the vessel and surrounding debris.

We document what was recovered and where it went.

We keep working when the first application is rejected.

We advocate for a system that prevents the next abandonment.

Every cleanup should leave behind more than an empty patch of water.

It should leave a safer shoreline, stronger community partnerships, better information, restored habitat and a system less likely to allow the same damage to happen again.

Dead Boats Begone

Dead Boats Disposal Society
British Columbia, Canada

Website: https://deadboatsdisposalsociety.ca/

Email: thedeadboatsociety@gmail.com

Telephone: 250-383-2086

Report an abandoned vessel or marine debris:
https://deadboatsdisposalsociety.ca/report-an-issue/

Before submitting a dead-boat report, contact the Canadian Coast Guard’s Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels line at 1-800-889-8852 and obtain a file number. Include that number, the vessel’s location, photographs and any visible identification when submitting the report. (Dead Boats Disposal Society)

Abandoned Dreams 

Drone Film of Salish Sea Industries in Fulford