Hi everyone! Now that I have worked at the museum for a few months, it would be fun to share what I do as a summer student. When I first got the job, I didn’t realize how many little jobs were a part of my position. It was fun to do something new almost every day, but for this blog post, I will show you what I do on average! Generic photo of me pointing One of my most important jobs is uploading things to the museum’s digital archive, Past Perfect. When an item is donated to the museum, it must first be approved by the Acquisition Committee; once approved and given an ID number, the item or item is given to a staff member (Me!) to be uploaded to Past Perfect. After being uploaded, the artifact is displayed or stored for safekeeping. Working hard on PastPerfect (totally not posing for a pic) Another big job is filling out research requests. When someone has a question about the history of the Coast, they can come in and fill out a research request form or email and call with their question. After that, we take the request, search the museum’s archives for information on the request, and send a report back to the person. Research requests can range from super specific questions like where the name of Davis Bay came from to more general requests about things like the Howe Sound Cannery. Look at that messy desk! One of the not-so-fun jobs at the museum is the end-of-the-day cleaning, specifically the bathrooms. However, it is an important job that has to be done (plus they are paying me to do it). The bathrooms are cleaned daily, and the whole museum is vacuumed, mopped, dusted, and swept at the end of the day on Sunday so it’s ready for guests on Tuesday. Im being held at artifact point off camera My most important job at the museum is greeting guests, which is also my favourite part of the job. It is so much fun to meet with and talk to people form around the world who are visiting the museum. I have also written a few blog post for the museum website. Here I am hard at work on this blog Gavin
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Former HMCS Annapolis moments before sinking, picture from the Coast reporter April 6, 2015 With the recent announcement of the 15 new River-class destroyers for the Royal Canadian Navy, I decided to look back on what happened to the Navy’s old ships. It turns out that a surprising amount have been turned into artificial reefs! An artificial reef is a manmade structure that may mimic some features of a natural reef. With two on the Coast and another 7 artificial reefs of varying ships and one plane spread out around BC. Artificial Reef Society Of BC website For this blog post I will be looking at the two artificial reefs on the Coast. The former HMCS Chaudière and HMCS Annapolis. These two ships were sunk by the Artificial Reef Society of BC (ARSBC). The ARSBC started in 1989 is a non-profit society and charity, with the goal of creating artificial reefs in BC and around the world by using decommissioned ships.The ships are stripped of all potentially harmful components and sunk. The sunken hulls of the ship create a habitat for marine life and an economic boost through tourism and diving. Since 1991 the ARSBC has sunk 8 ships and one Boeing 737. HMCS Chaudière The first destroyer escort sunk by the society was the former HMCS Chaudière, a Restigouche-class destroyer escort commissioned into the Navy in 1959. The Chaudière was the second ship of its class, and would be assigned to the fifth Canadian escort squadron. She would be part of training with the US Navy off Nova Scotia and was then sent to be part of operation magic lantern, a NATO naval exercise off Gibraltar. After that, the Chaudière was sent to Esquimalt in 1967 where she was passed on for the Improved Restigouche Escorts (IRE), an upgrade to the vessel. Due to financial constraints, the Chaudière was used as a training ship until 1974 when she was decommissioned and used for parts for the other ships in her class. That’s the reason the front of her bow is missing, as it was used to repair HMCS Kootenay in 1989. In 1991 she was sold for $1 to the ARSBC and sunk in the Sechelt Inlet in 1992. Photo of the Chaudière sinking from the Coast News January 4, 1993 issue The other ship on the Coast is the former HMCS Annapolis, an Annapolis-class destroyer. The two Annapolis-class ships were originally going to be ships 5 and 6 of the Makenzie-class, but were converted to the helicopter destroyer specifications like the refitted Saint Laurent-class. The Annapolis was commissioned into the Navy in 1964 and would serve in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets throughout her career. In 1970, she would participate in celebrations for Manitoba’s Centennial Anniversary. Later on, she would become flagship of Standing Naval Forces Atlantic and for the next ten years, participating in NATO exercises in the Caribbean and European waters. The ship would then under go the DELEX refit in 1985 and would return in 1987 where she would provide escort for the Royal Yacht Her Majesty Yacht (HMY) Britannia. In 1994, she would participate in Operation Forward Action, a United Nations operation off of Haiti. The Annapolis would be put into reserve in Esquimalt until she was sold in 1998 to the ARSBC and was sunk off Gambier island in 2015. HMCS Annapolis underway with sea king helicopter Former HMCS Annapolis sinking, picture from the Coast Reporter April 6, 2015 Although both sinkings were successful, they weren’t without controversy. There was a large debate about the environmental impact of sinking a 111.6m warship in the Sechelt inlet and off of Gambier island, as there was concern about toxic materials in ships leaking out. Even with the controversy about there sinking both would be approved by Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, and other governmental bodies.
After the Annapolis was sunk, a study was launched to study the fish and other marine life in the area. The Annapolis Biodiversity Index Study (ABIS) ran from 2015 to 2021 and used a team of divers to consistently check on the local marine life that had made the Annapolis their home. The study found that around 179 different species lived on the sunken ship. You can read the report here and more information on the ARSBC website here. Gavin There have been multiple different celebrations/festivals and events over the years like the Gibsons Regatta which, we have a blog post on already! The Gibsons Regatta also known as the Howe Sound Regatta started in 1929 and would rotate between Hopkins Landing, Gibsons Landing and Granthams Landing, continuing until just after the end of World War II. The Regatta would last a couple days as people came together to enjoy summer games, including canoe tilting, balloon race, costume parade, and my personal favorite: the canoe pillow fight. There were also many more fun games, activities, and a spirit of friendly community competition. The next long-lasting event was the Sea Cavalcade which started in 1969 and would continue without pause until 2018, its fiftieth anniversary. Sea Cavalcade would happen over the course of three days And include many different events, as observed below, such as... The most spectacular part of Sea Cavalcade was the Boat Blow-up where a boat was blown up in the Gibsons harbour, although it did not always go smoothly. The 1979 Boat explosio created a shockwave that destroyed windows in multiple homes and injured one resident. Despite this accident, Sea Cavalcade and the Boat Blow-up tradition continued on for years to come. For many, many years, Sea Cav was run by a dedicated group of community volunteers led by Gibsons' beloved Conchita Harding. With Sea Cavalcade ending in 2018, new ideas surfaced on what to replace it with. In 2019 there was the Lantern Festival; but plans were put on hold by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that the pandemic is behind us, there have been talks of starting something new with Oceans Fest, which is planned for the summer of 2025. We will have to wait and see how that goes as we look to the future of Gibsons summer celebrations! In the meantime, you can venture further up the Coast to celebrate Creek Daze in Roberts Creek, syiyaya Days in Sechelt, the Halfmoon Bay Fair, April Tools in Pender Harbour, and if you're feeling adventurous you could head out to the Powell River logger sports. Gavin
Hi there! My name is Gavin Croteau. I am the new Museum Assistant for the summer! This is my first time working in a museum, and I am incredibly excited to be working here and learning more about the rich history of the Sunshine Coast. I was born and raised on the Sunshine Coast, a beautiful place to call home, with miles of beaches and forests to explore. I went to Chatelech Secondary School and am currently studying history at the University of Victoria. I have always been passionate about history, and I am thrilled to spend my summer immersed in the Coast’s past while discovering a potential career in museum studies. |
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