We’re feeling a bit like the wife whose husband owns a motorbike sitting in parts in a corner of the living room.
There’s no other place he can work on his dream ride and there it sits in pieces on a big grease-stained drop cloth with bolts here and nuts there along with various tools stored randomly around his workspace.
Since March, The Spudnik has been floating at the top of Howe Sound.
Before that it was tied up near Woodfibre and the owners of that water lot took legal action to force the owner, Steen Larsen, to move it.
Most agree it ruins an otherwise scenic waterfront view. Many feel it shouldn’t
be there.
Larsen is unapologetic about where The Spudnik, which was once owned by the US Navy, is currently located. He has a plan for the vessel. The plan includes moving The Spudnik and Larsen’s other vessels in the Mamquam Blind Channel within the next month or so. This was his claim in an interview on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
“We’re out of here,” he said.
The interview with Larsen was done at the end of the day. Larsen’s newest workboat was tied to The Spudnik and Howe Sound winds could be heard blowing around him as he explained his future plans.
“We’ve got a location where we’re setting up shop with another company out of the Howe Sound area, so that should make everyone happy,” said Larsen with a laugh, as a marine radio crackled in the background.
It’s like Larsen has given us 30 days notice.
This is good because Larsen apparently isn’t breaking any laws by parking his fleet of vessels where they’re currently moored. The first buoy Larsen tied The Spudnik to failed after a few weeks. The buoy currently being used is now underwater. No maintenance has been done on those buoys after International Forest Products stopped using them when the company closed its operations here.
The owner of the ship has heard resident complaints about his fleet of vessels. He said he’s just as frustrated as everybody else because he believes there’s a lack of opportunity for mariners to build a viable industrial waterfront business in Squamish.
“I saw an opportunity to build a business and benefit town, but there’s really no interest,” Larsen said.
So, he’s looking to take his marine business elsewhere.
Winter weather is going to start setting in towards the end of October, so the timing to get The Spudnik out of Howe Sound and into a new location is perfect. If it’s still there a month from now, community pressure might come in the form of something a little more aggressive than an Internet campaign aimed at getting the Coast Guard to inspect The Spudnik.
This date is marked on the calendar and the clock is ticking.
