Coast Mountain News Thursday, August 13, 2015
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Nathan Cullen visits Bella Coola
Vol. 31 | No. 15 Thursday, August 13, 2015
Serving the Bella Coola Valley and the Chilcotin CoastMountainNews.com
Page 6
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The Pacific Grizzly, built by Boeing in 1936, has been an iconic boat on B.C.'s coast
Salvage underway on sunken Pacific Grizzly at Bella Coola Harbour BY CAITLIN THOMPSON The Pacific Grizzly is underwater and the cause of her demise is still being investigated. “At this time, the Harbour Authority is
considering this an unfortunate incident,” said Garrett Newkirk, President of the Bella Coola Harbour Authority. The vessel went down late last week, and it was apparently very quick. “I check the boat daily or every other day,” said
Leonard Ellis, owner. “That particular day I only viewed the boat from the parking lot, but there was no indication anything was wrong.” Ellis admits the boat needed repairs, but cited financial strain a major obstacle in keeping the
vessel up to date. The Pacific Grizzly is a historic vessel, with a 75-foot wooden plank hull. It was built in Vancouver by Boeing in 1936, and Ellis ran a guide-outfitting/hunting business with the Pacific Grizzly for many years,
which he said generated $500,000 per year at its height. “It’s a very large, old, wooden hull vessel that requires a large cash flow to maintain,” he said. “Business just hasn’t been good enough to generate that kind of
money.” Ellis said that he has been trying to deal with the boat for years, having sold it twice at auction only to have both deals fall through, calling the current scenario his “worst nightmare.” SEE DERELICT ON PAGE 3
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