Staff 

Daphne Hachey - Programming Coordinator

Daphne has been working with the Maritime Centre since 2019 Coordinating the Child and Youth Programs. Daphne is proud of the growth we have seen in our children's programs over the past years! Daphne loves to support children in finding and exploring there passions and curiosities. She particularly loves rowing and crabbing with the kids and feels very honored to have offered dozens of children their first boating experiences.

Daphne is a VIU graduate with education related to supporting people with diverse needs, she has used this education to work in schools, childcare programs.When she is not at the Maritime Centre Daphne works an as a restorative justice practioner in the local middle school and doing casework with Cowichan Restorative Justice.

An ocean lover since birth Daphne spends any free moment at the beach, playing and working on her sailboat, paddleboarding and will find any excuse to spend hours on the ocean.

Get in touch with Daphne with inquiries any general inquiries about the CWBS, Childrens activities, events, facility bookings and volunteering! cwbs@classicboats.org

Tony Owen - Ways Operator/ Outboard Motor Wizard

Tony and his wife Alma live on their converted fish boat, Lasqueti Fisher, in Cowichan Bay. Tony could not be called an "old salt," but he loves the sea and he loves wooden boats. Tony has gained the reputation as the man with magic fingers. He has engineered a renaissance in The British Seagull by expertly and diligently turning non-running motors into reliable outboards. If you hear a Seagull in Cowichan Bay be assured Tony's magic finger's have worked on it.

Of course Tony doesn't confine his expertise only to Seagulls. He has worked his magic on a variety of small outboards, either as repairs or renovations. The donations he's earned for the Centre result from his work on outboards.

Tony says: "I always had a fascination for boats and the water but that had to wait till retirement from 30 odd years behind a camera shooting commercial photography. Now I find the time to play boats with my dear wife Alma. Any good weather will find us slipped from the moorings and in the Gulf Islands.

Once I became a member of CBMC I wanted to find a volunteer niche. A pile of old non-running outboard motors in the basement of the Maritime Centre could not be ignored. One of my diversions in life had been to help my brother in his auto garage prepare race car engines. Applying my knowledge of race engines to fixing up old 7hp outboards was a good fit and has made money for the Maritime Centre."

For information on Tony's small engine repairs at the Maritime Centre click here.

Tony was awarded the ‘Volunteer of The Year’ award at the Cowichan 2023 Black Tie awards for his incredible volunteer work at the Maritime Centre and in the Cowichan Bay Community

Woody - Shop Cat

Woody is a sailor at heart having lived aboard a boat moored in Cowichan Bay for most of his life. After the passing of his owner Woody took up residence in the basement of the Maritime Centre and adopted us as his family.

You will find Woody outside the shop working with Tony, supervising haul outs on the Ways and providing emotional support to campers, staff and volunteers in need of a smile.

Directors

George Karras - President / Boat Acquisitions

As professional seafarer and Master Mariner, I have a lifetime of experience with boats and ships.  I owned and operated commercial fishing vessels, skippered tugs on the BC coast and was captain of deep sea cargo ships around the world.  In the last 15 years I was fortunate to cap my seagoing career by working for Transport Canada Marine Safety. It was my opportunity to give back to the marine industry that I love by helping mariners advance in their careers and boat builders to comply with the regulations, and by promoting good seamanship, safety and protection of our waters. 

 The one constant in my life has been my love for vessels of all types, their design and seaworthiness, no matter what type or size. I have been an amateur shipwright and have owned my present pleasure boat, the MV Falcon Rock, for 23 years during which I have kept her in good shape.  It is with this passion and knowledge that I hope to help the Cowichan Wooden Boat Society as a Director.

Jamie Orr - Treasurer

I am a Chartered Accountant (now 100% retired).  I trained and worked with Coopers & Lybrand in Calgary for six years, then with the Auditor General of BC, in Victoria, for another twenty-two.

I’ve been messing around in boats all my life, from canoes to power to sail.  It’s all Dad’s fault, many years ago he taught me to sail in a Blue Jay he built with a friend.  After university, my work took me away from the ocean, so my wife and I took up canoeing.  Since returning to the coast, I’ve accumulated several small wooden boats which keep me very busy.

I’ve been a member of the Society for a number of years now, and welcome the opportunity to help it achieve its current goals and prepare for a successful future.

Gary Powe - Director / Pier Committee

Born (1950) and raised in Ontario. 1970's to mid 1980's Television News Cameraman for CBC affiliate then cinematographer for small production company shooting documentaries and commercials. In the mid 1980's to 1999 I was based in Montreal. Contract hardware design of data communication interfaces for CDN, US and UK companies. From 1999 to 2014 mechanical and electrical design engineer based in Sunnyvale, California. 2014. I retired and moved to BC. Studied Physics and Electronics at UWO in London Ontario and Film Production Arts at UCLA, California. Hobbies through the early years were mostly motor-sport, Molyslip Canadian National endurance road circuit racing, Canadian Rally Series and a few early WRC events. I also took part in sailboat racing in Lake Huron.

 Scott Sutherland - Director

A journalist for 30 years focused primarily, but not exclusively, on politics, Scott Sutherland was living aboard his ketch-rigged motor sailor in Port Credit, Ontario when he was transferred to BC in 1990. The ketch came too, but was replaced by a larger sailboat when was sent to the Island in ‘94. He served as President of the Legislature’s Press Gallery for eight of the nearly 15 years he covered the capital for The Canadian Press/Broadcast News. He then moved into a (non-political) senior communications post with the BC government before retiring in 2015. 

He’s a lifelong addict of everything having to do with boats- especially wooden boats. A graduate of the competitive RCYC Junior sailing program, he later traded racing for cruising. He has tens of thousands of miles “under his keel,” including several delivery trips on the East Coast and one back from the Vic-Maui; extensive Great Lakes and BC coastal cruising, including Haida Gwaii; and a trio of self-drive European canal trips. He’s had nine boats, including a 48’ cutter he and his wife, Marcie, had built overseas and lived on for three years. The last sailboat was a Gilmer topsail gaff cutter built by a Maryland master shipwright - which after 10 years in their care is now in Port Townsend  owned by the daughter of the original New York owner  - full circle!  They now own a 40’ trawler originally owned by his parents. Aboard Scotia Blue with his Dad, he cruised all five Great Lakes, the southern Newfoundland coast to Cape Breton, and New England, including the Vineyard, Newport and Mystic Seaport.  A graduate of the coast guard’s Bamfield RHIOT School, Scott commanded rescue RIBS off the Victoria waterfront for a decade and was SAR Operations Director on the board of the Coast Guard Auxiliary-Pacific for three years. More recently he served two terms with the BC Maritime Museum. A longtime resident of View Royal with grandkids in Cobble Hill and on Saltspring, he completed our dinghy course (2011), been a CWBS volunteer for many years and says he’s been delighted to do the ‘play-by-play’ for for the Seagull races and perform the  MC duties for our annual Wooden Boat Show awards dinner. According to our new director: “Four knots or 40, i’m a happy boater.”

Chris Lee - Director

Chris Lee - Chris is a retired art teacher, born and raised in Saskatchewan. Being from Saskatchewan, the lake was frozen for six months of the year. Chris is an avid boater so being on Vancouver Island has been a treat with the ability to boat year round. With a long time passion for woodwork, the Cowichan Wooden Boat Society has made for the perfect fit.

Bill Turner

As a lifelong resident of South Cowichan, Bill's first introduction to all things maritime was at the age of 3. A toy boat with a toy compass kept him entertained for many hours. He was later to learn that his great great uncles were master mariner's from New Brunswick. With an introduction to the sea cadet program Bill learned to sail and later command various wooden hulled vessels of Her Majesty's Canadian Navy.

A course in diesel engine repair led him to work on high speed engines in marine and heavy equipment applications. About this time, he began an equipment rental operation and later a heavy construction contracting company. Aging parents drew Bill to seek employment closer to home where spent several years working at the BC Forest Museum.

Bill has served on the BC Forest Museum safety committee, CVRD Parks Commision Area C, past president of the Malahat Lions, Mill Bay Fire/Rescue trustee and past vice president of the Cobble Hill Farmers

Mike Webb

I have a lifelong interest in wooden boats, boatbuilding, and sailing.  I retired in 2021 after 30 years at UVic, where I studied and taught world politics and politics of the global economy. For five of those years, I served as associate dean of Social Sciences.   Early boating experiences included sailing and racing dinghies and Hobie Cats in the 1980s, when I was on the boards of directors of the UBC Sailing Club and the Jericho Sailing Centre in Vancouver.  In the 1990s I restored a wooden Lightning sailboat, which my then-young family enjoyed sailing in the Gulf Islands and Saanich Inlet.  In the 2000s I attended courses at the WoodenBoat School in Maine, developing the skills and confidence needed to build three boats between 2009 and 2020.  The most recent is a 17’ lapstrake runabout designed for me by Paul Gartside, and modeled after classic runabouts from the 1950s and 60s.I joined the Cowichan Wooden Boat Society in March 2023, and have volunteered extensively at the Centre, working mainly on the pier rehabilitation.  The Centre is a unique facility and I am excited to contribute to its continuing development.  With the pier work nearly complete I am excited to be more involved in boat restoration, boat building, and historical interpretation.  In addition to the Centre, I volunteer with the Maritime Museum of BC, currently focusing on scanning its extensive collection of ship plans to make them more accessible to members and the public