The time has rolled around again for the 2014 fishing season for Port Renfrew Marina to begin very soon. With beautiful weather coming this early in spring it makes all of us want to get out there and enjoy fishing on the ocean and all the beauty around it. The marina officially opens on May 1st but we will be out there getting things in order April 25th. We are all hoping for a great fishing year and if the fisheries are accurate it would seem that this year may be a record one for salmon. They have predicted over 73 million Sockeye alone for this year. Those numbers are the largest ever. So far in the coming months we have crabbing and halibut fishing to look forward to. In this year there will be a few changes for our customers. The big thing is that unfortunately Port Renfrew marina will no longer be able to sell fishing licenses. This has just come to our attention as each year fisheries sends out information of setting up licenses on line but we have always informed them that wasn't possible for us but this year we were recently told that they no longer will be doing hard copy paper licenses. The marina has no service to provide customers with online access. We do not have a strong enough signal to run the phones and ATM and as many of you know we often have them go down on us. We have looked into it but it is just not feasible for us to do this so we are hoping we can get the word out to everyone to PLEASE purchase your licenses elsewhere. This can be done anywhere there is public use of a computer with Internet and a printer, including anyone with that in their home. There should be access to use in Port Renfrew the town but NOT at the marina. All home and businesses on the town side of the bridge have wireless internet but we do not. We are extremely sorry and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our customers.
The other news is that there will be no Davey Derby this year. Audie Williams has stepped down from the huge job of organizing this derby. We all want to thank Audie for his years of working so hard on this derby, only someone who has been deeply involved in this kind of work can truly understand the commitment and time it takes to put on a fundraiser that size. It will be missed as it was a great derby and lots of fun and did so much good for many communities.
For the new season at Port Renfrew Marina we are asking for all our seasonals who have not already contacted us to please do so asap to confirm their sites for the coming year. We have new customers asking for sites and we need to know which ones may be available. You can reach us by email or phone. The office phone is 250 483-1878 and will be working on April 26th.You can also contact our caretaker, Desi Hatchard at 250 483-1486. Anyone planning to come out before opening to check on their units in storage must speak to Desi first to be assured that the gate is not locked.
At this time we at Port Renfrew Marina want to welcome back all our old customers and look forward to meeting new ones arriving. We hope you all had a good safe and healthy winter and look forward to seeing all those friendly faces soon.
Bud & Rex