As waves lapped around her feet, Chelsey Reist stood on Kitsilano Beach, surveying a sailboat that had washed up there overnight.
"When I woke up this morning and looked out, there are typically six or seven boats in this harbour," Ms. Reist said on Thursday, adding that she owns the beached sailboat with her boyfriend. "And there was one left. So we knew something was wrong."
The couple's boat ─ a 26-footer named "Breakfast Included" ─ was one of four boats that wound up on or near Kitsilano Beach. Another sank nearby.
The stranded boats were among the most visible signs of the second wind storm in a week to hit the Lower Mainland, downing trees and cutting off electricity to thousands of homes. The battered craft also served as a reminder of the sometimes rough waters between boaters and the city. In a CBC report, one boat owner said on Thursday he'd been evicted from protected False Creek despite the coming storm. Until recently, Ms. Reist and her boyfriend had also moored their boat at False Creek, but had to move on after their permit expired.
The city on occasion evicts boaters from False Creek if they do not have valid permits, but did not do so in the face of looming bad weather, a city spokesman said.
"They weren't moved in to the storm, if that was the impression," City of Vancouver spokesman Jerry Dobrovolny said, adding that False Creek moorage regulations are well known to boaters. "Some of them have been there several times and are well aware of the rules."
After years of complaints about maritime "squatters," the city in 2006 introduced regulations that require boaters to obtain permits to anchor in the waterway. The free permits allow boaters to stay up to 14 days during the summer and for up to 21 days during the winter. Boats without permits are subject to tickets and a fine.
The city typically issues between 10 and 20 False Creek anchorage permits a month during the winter and as many as 70 a month during the summer.
The Vancouver Police Department, which enforces the rules with support from city staff, said on Thursday it last issued a ticket to a boat owner in False Creek on March 20, before this month's storms.
With moorage costing several hundred dollars a month, some boat owners moved on to other free berths, including English Bay - which is not overseen by the city. The area is known for rough water, said Port Metro Vancouver spokesman Mark Erdman. It is "prone to a lot of weather - it's not a safe place to anchor," he said.
Boats tied up in unsanctioned, and free-of-charge, waterways tend to be those that are battered and lost in storms, Mr. Erdman said. "It's an issue all along the coast, not just limited to B.C. or Vancouver," he said.
Ms. Reist said she hoped her boat could be towed safely out to sea once the waves subsided.
"At least ours is still partly in the water," she said.