Divers buy armed forces destroyer HMCS Chaudiere to be stripped; sunk for use as an artificial reef LOCAL DIVING enthusiasts bought a Canadian Armed Forces destroyer for a doliar (plus 6¢ PST and 7¢ GST) a few months ago. And now they are doing their best to sink it. Jay Straith, a North Vancouver lawyer and president of the Ar- tificial Reef Society of B.C., was aboard the retired HMCS Chaudiere as the ship was towed from CFB Esquimalt to 2 dock in Vancouver on Jan. 11. Straith credits action on the part of associate defence minister and Capilano-Howe Sound MP Mary Collins for making the pur- chase possible. ‘*She has really gone the extra mile. Mary did a lot of arm- twisting to sink a ship,’’ he said. During the next two months, 44 For the majority of people, diving a good wreck is the ultimate diving experience. ¥9 - Gary Bridges, artificial reef specialist the ship will be stripped of its brass, copper, zinc and lead. Lubricants and salvageable fix- tures will also be removed. Items, including signal lamps and firing equipment, will go to the Vancouver Maritime Museum children’s maritime discovery cen- tre. Straith sees acquisition of the destroyer as a master stroke on a number of leveis. Once below sea level, the ar- tificial reef will have served as a major recycling project, a new home for sea creatures, a galvanizing force in political terms, a regional economic boost- er and a world-class sport diving destination. Although well established elsewhere, the development of ar- tificial reefs is just catching on in B.C. But the Chaudiere (in French the word means a large metallic vessel used for warming, cooking, boiling) is not the first ship to be deep-sixed by Siraith’s group. About six months ago the socie- - ty sunk the G.B. Church, a 175- foot coastal freighter, off Portland Island near Sidney B.C. ‘‘What’s happened is that it’s been rapidly colonized by oc- topuses. It has been heavily colo- nized by tube snouts (small fish). Because these younger fish are there, larger fish come in and you build up an entire ecosystem. What you look for is an area that did not have any significant marine life in it before,’’ Straith said. It is estimated that the G.B. Church has pumped approximate- ly $150,000 into the Sidney-Vic- toria area in the six months that it has served as an artificial reef. “What they particularly notice is the American tourism coming up to see it,”’ he said. Several years ago a provincial -undertaken, By Michael Becker News Reporter government study, looking at ar- tificial reefs estimated that an ar- tificial reef could bring between $! million and $5 million annually into a community. Straith said that in Florida half of the reefs advertised as destina- tions by sport diving guides are artificial. But he said, ‘‘We’ve got a lot more going for us in B.C. waters than they do in South Florida. We have far more abundant marine life and a lot better soft coral growth. “We don’t have to cluster our reefs like they do in Florida. We have to plan an artificial reef smorgasbord. People will come up and will do a tour around and get different types of ships in dif- ferent areas.’’ The society has been working with B.C. Parks at Porteau Cove in Howe Sound. In November the group sunk an old [00-foot fish packer, the Centennial 3 near Porteau Cove. The society has just acquired another vessel for the Porteau Cove area, the G.N. Transporter, a 120-foot fish packer. The group is also looking for the “right boat for the right loca- tion’’ to establish an artificial reef in Indian Arm. But the Chaudiere project will be the largest naval vessel pur- posely sunk as an artificial reef. Because of war and mishap there are other sunken naval vessels to explore. Straith refers to such wrecks as SPARs (spontaneously placed artificial reefs). By virtue of its placement and diving safety preparation work the 366-foot-long Chaudiere will be accessible to novice and experienced divers. The destroyer will go down some time in March or April just south of Gabriola Pass, near Ladys:.:ith on Vancouver Island. The ship’s manual 80-valve flooding system will be used to sink the ship. It will be sunk one level at a time over a period of two hours. Eight-inch holes will be cut into watertight bulkheads at an upper level. ‘When those (holes) hit the water it will sink like a rock,’’ Straith said. The ship’s keel should come to a rest in between 105 to 115 feet of water. The main deck will sit between 70 and 80 feet below the surface. The sinking will be accom- panied by a ceremony. Six months ago when the Church went down, the ceremony doubled as symbolic political omen. Said Straitk, ‘“‘When we sank the Church we couldn’t believe alli the Social Credit cabinet ministers who showed up for something as ominous as the sinking of a ship. *We’ve got to watch it this time because some guy the night before wrote S.S. Vander Zalm on the side of that ship,"’ he said. The Chaudiere came into service as an anti-submarine warship in 1959. The ship was retired in 1974, Litt ea, Way NEWS photo Mike Wakefield zt JAY STRAITH, a North Vancouver lawyer and president of the Artificial Reef Society of B.C. will be working to sink a Canadian Armed Forces destroyer in the next few months. Siraith and fellow divers bought the ship for $1 plus tax from the federal government. The destroyer will go down near Ladysmith on Vancouver Isiand. Group calls fer interchange start Future of Westview project concerns residents A NORTH Vancouver homeowners’ group has written to the provincial government urging it to begin construction of the $20-million Upper Levels Highway interchange pro- ject at Westview Drive. Rosemary Roberts, spokesman for Homeowners’ Against’ the Loop Overpass (HALO), which was formed to lobby the provin- cial government to adopt a dia- mond design as opposed to a loop design for the interchange, wrote letters to Premier Mike Harcourt, Transportation and Highways Minister Art Charbonneau, North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA David Schreck and North Vancouver Ci- ty Mayor Jack Loucks after a Jan. 15 News story cited concerns from the Opposition Liberal party that the multi-million-dollar pro- ject might be cancelled in light of rumored cuts to the highways ministry budget. Last week Liberal leader Gor- don Wilson and West Van- couver-Capilano Libera! MLA Jeremy Dalton said they were concerned over reports that the provincial government is consider- ing cutting about $200 million from the highways ministry budget due to a projected $3 billion provincial deficit. Both Wilson and Dalton called on the provincial government to proceed with the interchange pro- ject. But highways ministry project manager Leagh Martell said the ministry will spend about three months conducting earthquake- By Surj Rattan News Reporter proofing tests on the interchange project. That, said Martell, could result in a change to the project’s diamond design. ‘*We’re just getting the terms of reference together to review the Mosquito Creek structure. That may affect the design,’ said Martell. In a letter to Charbonneau, Roberts said the new NDP gov- ernment should still use a dia- mond design for the interchange project, which was the original decision made by the former Social Credit government. She added thac 232 Westview Drive-area_ residents and 29 Westview shopping centre mer- chants have all signed petitions in support of the diamond design. She added that area residents and merchants ‘‘find themselves still awaiting the final announce- ment, from our new government, - that the diamond design Westview interchange project will commence and that it will be completed by 1994. “HALO’s members are looking to you and our newly-elected gevernment to follow through on the City of North Vancouver's Nov. 13, 1989 endorsement of the diamond design and the previous government’s Dec. 3, 1990 deci- sion to implement the diamond design,’’ wrote Roberts. Schreck said he was confident the projeci would go ahead, but declined to estimate when. index @ Budget Beaters & Business @ Frugal Gourmet i Lifestyles @ North Shore Now & Dr. Ruth @ TV Listings 8% What's Going On Weather Thursday, Friday, periods of rain. Highs 8°C, Lows 2°C. Second Class Registration Number 3885