No more diving at Willis Point?

[MarkH]

I've been asked to spread this around. I didn't know how to attatch the file so I copied and pasted it.



Attention:
All Divers, Club Members, Dive masters, Instructors and Store Owners
Help and urgent attention is needed to prevent the closing one of our unique local dive sites:
************************************ Willis Point
My name is Mike Kalina,
I have in my hand a letter from the Fire Chief of the Willis Point Fire Department. Their community is concerned about diving around the Fire Lane of Mark Lane, commonly known as the Willis Point dive site.* This site is unique for its depth and is an ideal place for learning how to "deep dive". On the corner of Willis Point Road and Mark Lane is a clearly posted parking regulation This is their biggest concern.
He clearly explains what has to be done to improve relation between divers and the residents of Willis Point.
I dive at Willis Point quite regularly and it has changed. There are new fences along Mark Lane and I'm sorry to say that – they are for – keeping divers out of their properties.
Divers,* please respect local residents and help preserve Willis Point for future generation of divers.
Dive masters, doing "guided dive"* please remember that you are in charge of your divers, so please have RESPECT for the location and the proximity to the neighbors.
Instructors, please keep road clear of any dive gear and CAR-POOL if possible.
Everybody enjoys the unique features of Willis Point. We should all work to ensure that good relations are maintained between Willis Point and the diving community so that this site can continue to be enjoyed by all.
Many thanks!
Mike Kalina
(250) 384-6331
mike@underwater-photography.ca

 

[MarkH]

Here's a letter from the fire chief to Mike Kalina (again, copied and pasted):


Hi Mike.

The sentiment about the divers is quite mixed.* When they behave themselves and act like they are guests in our community their is no problem.* But, not everyone is that way.* I still regularly get calls from neighbors who want me to enforce the no parking rules around the Quiet Lane access.* If we want to get technical, parking is prohibited with ANY part of a vehicle on the paved surface of the road.* As well, parking in Quiet lane is prohibited as it is a fire access road.* If we needed to begin enforcing the rules it would be nearly impossible to park anywhere.* But, so far, I have declined to push the issue as I understand what a great dive site it is.

Here are some things that the divers can do to help keep the peace.

* Please respect our neighborhood and understand that we live here because we like the beauty, the tranquility, and the peace.* Please help us keep it that way.

* Please do not litter.* We find food wrappers, glow-stick packaging, and other garbage at the site.

* Keep the noise down, especially for night dives.** Night time chatter after a great dive wakes up the neighbors.

* Park properly.* Often, I really mean very often, cars are parked with two wheels on Mark lane.* Sure, a car can squeeze by but what about full-size emergency vehicles like fire trucks?* Fire trucks are extremely wide and many times I have been concerned about the reckless parking.* Just because our area is rural it does not change the parking rules.* You will notice that once you turn onto Mark Lane the no-parking rules are clearly posted.* This is the biggest issue and one that could singlehandedly wreck the diving options at Willis Point.* Instead of trying to park as close as possible to Quiet Lane, dump the gear and park on Steamer, well off the road, where the road is wider

* Keep your gear off the road.* If I was a diver I too would want to put my gear on the nice clean road.* But, even though the road is relatively quite, this is a public road and must be kept clear at all times.* Would you put your gear in a driving lane on Blanshard?* Mark Lane needs to be treated with the same respect.

* Wave to us!* As we drive by say hi, wave, and let's try to be friends. Too often now I notice glaring looks from divers as we try to inch by their pile of gear on the road.*

James, I believe that if the divers work to address the concerns of the residents that we can avoid problems in the future.* Speaking from my point of view as the Fire Chief, I will try to work with the divers as long as they work to respect the wishes of the community.* Please feel free to pass this information on as necessary.

Mark Roozendaal
Fire Chief, WPFD

 

[Hyper-limits]

I've always try to keep the noise down, park off the road and pick up my garbage whenever I dive at Willis PT or anywhere else for that matter. One of the problem with the parking is that some of the residents are now parking their cars, boats in the few available space. They have the right to park there after all they're the one who own the one million dollar house in the area. About a month ago I did a dive early in the morning there was already 3 cars including mine park of the road, when I came out of the water there was about 12 cars park all over the road including gear.
I hope this will be a wake up call for some diver, I have been diving at Willis PT for 20 years and I love the place, perfect for deep diving or those long RB dives. It would be a shame if we lose assess to one of the great shore dive around Victoria.

Cheers

Al

 

[wedivebc]

This is typical of so many dive sites. Inconsiderate divers not respecting the residents of a community will eventually lose any turf wars so let's smarten up folks. Willis Point is a very valuable resource to the diving community. REPECT THE PRIVILEDGE!

 

[MarkH]

The trail is part of the public water access guaranteed by the land title act. They can't stop people from accessing the water from that trail. What they can do is ban parking by the road (from the above letter this seems to be already the case, but not enforced). As Hyperlimits said, when a large group of divers shows up in a convoy of vehicles, many of them have to park where they're not supposed to and the situation is bound to annoy the locals. I've seen the same thing happen once in awhile at Ten Mile with a group of around 15 cars trying to park in a lot designed for around 6 cars. They end up blocking driveways. From what I've seen many of these dive groups are clubs and classes from out-of-area so they may not care about local access in the future. Probably the best thing we can do to keep the locals happy is to encourage large groups of divers to split up into smaller groups or go somewhere where there is enough parking for them all.

 

[Darnold9999]

There is a great site just up the Sea to Sky highway which has pretty much been closed to diving by locals getting the parking regs changed. Used to be a site where classes were done - a bit of a park lots of parking etc. However now it is local parking only except for two spots. Otherwise drop your gear and walk a very very long way. Too many divers not taking others into consideration caused the spot to be closed. THey can't stop you from diving, but they can make it very inconvenient.

 

[r2t]

Darnold9999 are the two spots marked? I always park on the sea to sky. but with the all the work going on it's very hard.

I think this thread should apply to every dive site we have....respect

 

[Darnold9999]

No they are not marked - and I always take a picture of my car before heading to the water in case I need to fight the ticket, but you can park two cars on the other side of the lot where there are no no parking signs. Have been diving there a few times with no problems. However I drive a car that looks more like a visitor's car than a diver's car so I might get a bit of the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Hyper-limits]

Same thing happen with Henderson PT(Saanich Inlet), about 15 years ago we could park 10 cars there. Now there is enough parking spaces for 4 cars. Because I like to get up early, that not too much of a problem for me. I usually get out of the water before anyone shows up.

Cheers

Al

 

[Hawkwood]

We were at Willis Point on Sunday Feb 17th. We came in four vehicles. We could put two in the parking lot (other vehicles were already parked - no other divers), and two had to park on the side of the road against the steel fence. We were able to stay off the road.

While gearing up some of the residents who were out walking their dog came stopped to chat. They lived in the first house to the north of the laneway. We had a nice chat - they were amazed that we came "all the way" from Alberta to dive their area.

For the weekend we got our tanks and weights from the Ogden Point Dive Centre. They made a point of reminding us regarding "etiquette" at Willis Point. Not everyone are "jerks" about the site. The fellow that orgainzed our trip to the coast has being going to Willis Point for six years now and plans to be able to continue to do so.

On a side note, this was my first time to the coast to dive - it was fantastic. We did the Mackenzie, the Church and Arbutus Island.