Boeing, Boeing, bon ... voyage!

Yesterday Michael and I drove up to Chemainus to watch the FIRST-EVER airplane to become an 'artificial reef' in the world. It'll be a huge boon to Chemainus because of the divers who will come to visit it.

I've seen the HMCS MacKenzie sunk (almost ten years ago now, I covered it for Pacific Yachting Magazine) off Rum Island near Sidney, and then about 4 years ago, we took the Wind Walker out to Snake Island to watch the sinking of the HMCS Cape Breton -- both of these were dynamited and then sunk however they went down. But the 737 was actually lowered into the water by a crane, and there were apparently already divers in the water to line it up against some concrete blocks, so that it will never move.



There were about a hundred boats milling around for the event. We were with my sister in her van, and found a dead-end side street with a perfect view! The weather was a bit overcast, but calm and warm -- and 'lift-off' (off the barge, that is) was just before noon. It was fun to be present for it!



Apparently Discovery Channel has been following the whole story very closely and will air the sinking at some point, and you can read lots more about this event here at www.artificialreef.bc.ca .