10 WESTERNMARINER.COM AUGUST 2019 CANADA’S COMMERCIAL MARINE MAGAZINE
Helping a construction crew load and move building
supplies for a floathome renovation at Victoria’s
Fisherman’s Wharf is operations manager George
Milne. “The homes are in behind the retail area, so
this avoids carrying all the materials through a busy
public space,” Milne explains. Visible behind the
Harbour Authority skiff and barge in the photo above
is the University of Victoria research vessel John
Strickland (1975, Shore Boat Builders, Richmond).
Named for a pioneering British Columbian marine
biologist, the John Strickland was custom built to
support UVic Science research and teaching. The
vessel offers an array of deck and laboratory oper-
ations, including hydrocasts, CTD casts, mid-water
and seabed trawls, plankton tows and sediment
sampling by cores and dredges. The accommodations space houses an aft wet lab and a small dry lab/mess area. In addition to
being used for university research fieldwork and course fieldwork, the vessel can also be booked by off-campus groups.
Floathome Reno