Doug Collins THE WORLD falls apart, the centre cannot hold, ete. But what concerns me right now is whether the Canadian Lifeboat Institute will be able to go on operating from the West Van Yacht Club, it having been told to quit as of Nov. 30. You might think that the In- stitute is a nation-wide group manned by grizzled old salts who sean the oceans from under drip- ping sou'-westers, looking for ships in distress. In fact, it’s Phil Matty and friends, plus the good ship “Donzi, a 28-foot vessel that sticks its bow into the sea in any weather. But Phil fits the rest of the description, he being grizzled enough. Lifeboats and the rescue of those in peril on the sea are his avocation, so he thinks the WVYC is on the wrong course in telling him his free float and parking spaces are at an end. ‘Britain has 330 | lifeboats for 2,400 miles of coast, and France ‘:as six times the 1° Aer of rescue | vessels .nat Canada has.”’ In the 10 years that he and the “Donzi’’ have been fishing folk out of the sea, they have come to aid of 3,000 craft, many of them own- ed by club members. It could be that the board of directors has excellent reasons for i telling Phil and Donzi to find them- selves another berth, but I haven’t been able to discover what they are. Not officially, anyway, and the club’s letters on the subject sound as cold as a withered tit: ‘Dear Sir, you must be gone by Nov. 30...”’, } Verbally, he has been told that the club needs rent from the float so as to help pay for the black- topping and fencing of the area, But perhaps someone is forgetting that the club gets the float from f West Van Municipality for a dollar f a year. Which rakes this a public issue. The float was owned originally SHINY FASHION| JACQU FLEECE 180 cm wide reg. $12.98 now 1/4 PRICE | NOW 180 cm KNIT. reg. $7.98 get this straight © by the B.C. Department of Forests, The Corrections Braneh had it next. Then the provincial govern- ment handed it over fo) the Municipality of West Van. But it was understood, claims Phil, that space would be available for the CNIB, for boats that had broken down, for residents of Eagle Island, for the rival B.C. Lifeboat | Society — and for the Donzi. There was nothing in writing, but the commodore of the day told | him there would be no problems. Well, the others seem to have no problems, but Phil does. If the competing B.C. Lifeboat Society is there what’s the point of having Donzi around? The answer, according to Phil, is that the BCLS boat isn't an all-weather craft. Itis | a 16-foot Boston whaler that can’t put out in gales, even though it has done good work. The high winds of Monday night would have been a case in point. The West Coast lifeboat story is a stormy one, The coastguard peo- | ple have their search and rescue set- up, but it isn’t big enough. When the Dutch liner Prinsendam caught fire, for instance, the Yanks got to it first. [f they hadn’t, the Prinsen- dam saga might not have had such a happy ending. Phil has campaigned strongly for a volunteer lifeboat service like that 4. of the great Royal Lifeboat Socie- ty in the UK. With its large coastline, about 40 lifeboat stations are needed in B.C., he says. But there’s nothing doing. (Ottawa needs dough for the Status of | Women and the Lesbian News, y’know.) Britain has 330 lifeboats for 2,400 miles of coast, and France has six times the number of rescue vessels that Canada has. No one is asking for that here, but the rescue trade says we need many more than the 22 or so Search and Rescue craft that are available. (That figure includes six rubber boats for | summer use Only.) There may be another side to this ] story, but I don't know what it is. Club manager L.W. Kinley gave me the brush-off, and Commodore A.D. Clippingdale couldn't be reached. But the WVYC should take another look at this issue. One of these dark and stormy nights, some mariner may need the Doni. ws BUFFALO CORD 150 cm wide reg. $9.98 now ARD Ss wide 5999 9 - Friday, November 21, 1986 - North Shore N ews Church plans move ahead PLANS for a new Roman Catholic church and rectory at 595 Keith Road in West Vancouver have moved closer to fruition. Space for more packing has been set aside, in aoswet to the concerns OF focal residents and council members. Council responded at Monday's meeting by granting a development variance permit, allowing the future church and existing school to hold separate land titles, Ata pubtic bearing Nov. 3, sev. eral cesidents came out to voice concern over the proposed Gevelopment. Many predicted that the new edifices would add to current tral- fic congestion and parking pro- blems created by activities (in- cluding one church service) held at the school. Resident James McKnezine, who came to the earlier meeting sup- plied with photographs, said social and sporting events, plus the masses at the school often lead to overflow parking on the street. Neg { Is hee ac cr nee ee ut ra iy / Boston Ferns Wy MAUREEN CURTIS Comnbutine Reporter But the new development is ac- tually expected ta alleviate these problems, according to the ar- chitecr. “We're not intending to an- tagonize the neighborhood,’ ar- chitect Oberto Oberti bad explain- ed. “The church building should decrease the (parking) problems See Church Page 11 KR KK KKK RK KK, * > a > > * 6 for $25.00 e 2 private #2 group ® 1 social HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 10am - 10pm Saturday 10am - 6pm 984-7999 JJ 730 Marine Drive, N. Vancouver KOK Kk Kk kk ed 8” Hanging Basket reg. 9.95 Tropical Plants 4” pot reg. 1.49 Dieffenbachia 8” pot reg. 12.95 Assorted Tropical Plants 40”-12" pot sizes $4 Q99 reg. 24.95-26.95 iene for quality, selection and service Open 7 days a week 1821 Marine Dr., West Vancouver 922-4171 922-3968 - kK kok kook kk kkk & 99E. 973.