On a deck overlooking Snug Cove, Norma Dallas leans on the bannister. She winces as some girls in flip flops climb along the shore below, picking their way over the rock faces sloped toward the water.听
鈥淭hose rocks are blue clay,鈥� says Norma. 鈥淚f they fall, they鈥檒l get barnacled.鈥�
From her sprawling home, wedged between Cardena Drive and the ocean bank, a cement and stone path winds down to the pier. A line of wooden buildings, the kayak shop and a collection of other stores are some of the first structures one sees from the ferry. The buildings are perched above the six docks that make up the Bowen Island Marina.
For 33 years Norma has watched over the marina鈥檚 waters. She鈥檚 warned parents of babies fallen in the water and warned owners of tiny dogs stuck under the dock. She鈥檚 fixed dock planks and weathered storms, built businesses and nurtured newcomers.
But beginning next month, Norma will be watching no longer.
It will be the end of an era since the local businesswoman has a long history with Bowen Island.
鈥淚鈥檝e come here all my life, over 75 years,鈥� says Norma. Raised in Kitsilano, Norma鈥檚 parents were boaters and would frequently come over to the island, back in the Union Steamship days.
As fate would have it, when Norma married Denis Dallas in听 1961, he owned property up at Queen Charlotte Heights.
Though they settled in Kerrisdale, having three children together, Bowen was never far from their minds.
鈥淲e came up every weekend with the kids,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd then marina came for sale in 1985.鈥�
The Dallas children were graduating from school and Norma, a 47-year-old career housewife, was ready for a change.
鈥淚t just seemed wonderful that I鈥檇 have the chance to be on the water and own a marina,鈥� says Norma. 鈥淪o my husband very kindly said, 鈥極kay, we鈥檒l buy the marina,鈥� and then he commuted to work every day.鈥�
Dennis was a lawyer in Vancouver, and though he helped out, the marina was Norma鈥檚 endeavour.
鈥淲hen we bought the marina, it was in pretty poor shape,鈥� says Norma. 鈥淲e basically built a new marina.
鈥淚 started from scratch knowing nothing about business. Not a thing. But innocently I was enthusiastic and I wanted to learn.鈥�
They were in the midst of marina building when the Dallas鈥檚 son Darran died in an accident on the island.
鈥淚 just kind of lost interest [in the marina],鈥� says Norma. 鈥淒arran was supposed to be with me. It didn鈥檛 work out that way.鈥�
鈥淔inally I had to get myself going again because the dredges were coming in,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e needed a plan. Everything had to go forward again.鈥�
By 1992 the new marina was ready.
鈥淚 had a vision of what I wanted to do here. I wanted to make it a people place,鈥� says Norma.
鈥淚 wanted our marina to be unique. I have all Bowen Islanders. We all worked together. Everybody knows one another and it鈥檚 like a family down here. That鈥檚 the way I wanted it.鈥�
But the decades of marina tending has weighed on Norma. 鈥淎ll those boaters are my responsibility,鈥� she says.
Dennis has been in care since 2011 and last year Norma decided it was time to sell.
The new owners of the Bowen Island Marina, who take possession this summer, are six boaters from the North Shore. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been coming to Bowen Island for years and they鈥檝e always wanted to own a marina,鈥� says Norma.
鈥淭hey want the community to know that they鈥檙e community minded and [the marina] will be the same for at least a year,鈥� she says.
The house is part of the marina deal, and Norma will be returning to Kitsilano, where she鈥檒l be living near her children (and a floor below her grandson!)
While Norma says that she鈥檚 leaving the island disappointed that elder care wasn鈥檛 in place in time for her to be able to stay, she鈥檚 ready to pass on the torch.
鈥淏owen has changed a lot. And it鈥檚 time to let it go and let the younger people take over now,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 hope that when I leave that the new people that come are gentle with this island.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been good to us.鈥�
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There will a goodbye party for Norma on Saturday July 21 at the Pier, between 1 and 4 p.m. Organizers invite people to bring an appetizer and your singing voice.
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