Citing a growing need for power upgrades and moorage space in the popular Gulf Islands region of coastal British Columbia, Canada’s Mill Bay Marine Group has recently completed improvements to their marinas in Sidney and on Pender Island.
In the first phase of improvements, Pender Island’s Port Browning Marina Resort has installed a series of concrete wave attenuators to ensure year-round protection within the marina and also replaced the main docks, including new, stable walking platforms for visitors. Other improvements at Port Browning include a new on-dock fire protection system, enhanced WiFi capability, and an upgrade to the power grid, providing each slip with a minimum of 30 amps and some with as much as 50 amps.
The second phase of the development plan will increase dock space and create additional moorage. Mill Bay also said there are future plans to build a fuel dock. In addition to the dock enhancements, space has been added to the Port Browning Marina Pub and Bridgemans Bistro to make room for the Kraken Theatre, offering weekly movies out of the bistro.
“We have been operating the bistro space as an à la carte bistro service as well as a private group booking space that caters to local groups, wedding guests, and large moorage groups,” said Duane Shaw, president of the Mill Bay Marine Group.
Meanwhile, at the Port Sidney Marina on Vancouver Island, Mill Bay has been making upgrades ever since the marina was purchased by the company in June 2016. “There were many things that were operating OK, but not to the standard we wanted,” Shaw said. “We have worked on most aspects of the infrastructure, including improvements to the water, power and WiFi systems.”
Some of the other improvements include replacement of most of the washers and dryers, the installation of new computer systems, barbeques, and safety lighting, and the addition of a golf cart to help transport guests, he added.
