BOB BRERETON AND CHERRY II

Cherry II

While paddling past Banfield Park in Vic West, the Gorge Waterway narrows. The homes on both sides of this area have their own private docks. There was a gentleman painting the deck on one particular boat that had caught my eye. I stopped and introduced myself to Bob Brereton, the owner of Cherry II, a 34 foot, BC Forest Service Blimp of boat, that was built in 1947. Bob and his wife Kathy have maintained and enjoyed this historical British Columbia boat since 2006. The Blimp Boats were used by the British Columbia Forest Service to police the logging industry and help fight forest fires along the BC Coast.

Find out more about the history of these boats and the people who sailed them, go to:
https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/bib106806.pdf

Photo and Story courtesy of Bob Nicoll, West Coast Editor, Canadian Yachting

Video Gallery

Neptunus 650F Review

Neptunus 650F 400

By Andy Adams

Over the years Canadian Yachting has had the pleasure of doing several boat review articles on new Neptunus models and we are familiar with the qualities that Neptunus is famous for. They have all been exceptional yachts, but this is the one I would most want to own myself. It’s a personal choice and a matter of taste as to whether you would prefer to have a sedan express model or a flybridge but in my opinion, the flybridge layout offers some wonderful attributes.

We met with Neptunus Managing Director Jan Willem De Jong this past fall to take the new Neptunus 650F out in Lake Ontario. 

Read More

Destinations

The Other Virgin Islands

Sunset off St John

By Mark Stevens

I was first seduced by the United States Virgin Islands during a ferry ride from St. Thomas to Tortola to begin one of our earliest British Virgin Islands charters nearly twenty years ago.

A perfect sunset off St. John with St. Thomas views for backdrop.

Clearing Pillsbury Sound, surrounded by voluptuous emerald mountains as the ferry sliced through royal blue waters, I was struck by the unspoiled ambiance of St. John, the island gliding past our starboard beam and the irresistible charm of a village called Cruz Bay visible from our quarter stern.

Read More

Lifestyle