Re: “Maritime Museum remains homeless as deadline looms,” March 21.
After a lifetime in the marine industry and 15 years as a volunteer at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, I read the article on our Maritime Museum with interest and regret. I very reluctantly have come to the conclusion that Victoria is not ready to support such a wonderful institution.
Sadly, this is happening all over the world.
The Maritime Museum in Honolulu has been closed for some time due to lack of funding. They have a beautiful tall ship alongside, The Falls of Clyde, which is rusting away from lack of maintenance.
Maritime museums that are flourishing, such as the Halifax institution, the museum in Yokohama, Japan, and the Greenwich Naval Museum in London, are in regions that have a deep appreciation of their maritime history and culture.
MMBC had a core of dedicated and hard-working volunteers, but their efforts were not enough.
A symptom of this lack of interest in British Columbia is the cancellation of at least two Tall Ships Festivals.
Despite the efforts of dedicated, hard-working and knowledgeable volunteers, the Tall Ships Society was unable to raise sufficient finds to mount future efforts. The society did not achieve the necessary financial support to mount festivals in 2011 and 2014.
I say this not in a spirit of criticism but sadness that wonderful opportunities to entertain and teach all generations about our rich maritime history and its influence on the history of British Columbia are being lost.
W.H. Martin
Saanich
