By Stacey MarpleHaida Gwaii ObserverThe High Noon a fishing vessel that has sat at the bottom of the Queen Charlotte Harbour for a year has now been removed. The vessel sunk slowly off the dock in Queen Charlotte in 2014, forcing others in the shallow, tight space of the harbour to skirt around a buoy that marked the hazzard. A Coast Guard radio warning has been repeating ever since, until now.The delay in the recovery process was due in part to the Queen Charlotte Harbour Authority being in the middle of a contentious handover in management. Now resolved, the DFO hired Highlander Marine Service along with Fraser Burrard Diving to remove the vessel. The team worked tirelessly on July 13 to bring the boat to the surface, as large airbags were tied to the boat by the divers, then filled slowly with air. “It was a real challenge to get it out but we got it done,” Danny Robertson from Highlander Marine Service said . The operation went smoothly overall, except for a little hiccup as they towed the boat out of the water to the boat launch. Confusion over the emergency brake and the heavy load of the water-logged vessel, weighing down the boat trailer, caused the four-wheel-drive truck’s rear end to lift off the ground. The identity of High Noon’s owner is unknown to the Harbour Authority, leaving all costs of the recovery with taxpayers. It is though the boat had travelled across the Hecate Strait during a storm, which frightened the owner into abandoning the boat rather than risk a return trip. The High Noon has now been transported to Port Clements landfill for demolition and disposal.
