BOB BRERETON AND 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