Houseboat owners can cross-off the Westbank Yacht Club as a possible moorage site.

Shelter Bay Marina is evicting about 40 houseboats effective October 31 and owners are scrambling for spaces to moor their boats.

Westbank Yacht Club Commodore, Yvonne Crawford, confirms she has spoken with Westside Mayor Rosalind Neis about spaces for sailboats during the off-season.

While they could house some sailboats, Crawford says they can't accommodate houseboats.

"What was proposed was that in our low season or down time, that we could, out of compassion, help out some of the sailboats. But the houseboats, no, we are not built and cannot handle houseboats," says Crawford.

"What was addressed was the sailboats. The way our moorage is built and our breakwaters are done, we can't handle houseboats."

Crawford says the yacht club may have room for about 25 sailboats.

She adds she can't make any decisions until after a directors meeting the second week of September.

Officials at Shelter Bay have indicated only houseboats are being evicted. Sailboats and motorboats will remain.

Marina manager, Clay Bowerman, says the decision is not tied to a land based development proposed by Vancouver developer Concord Pacific, but rather because of the reputation of many houseboat owners and operators.

"They're partying and bringing friends that we don't know and causing a lot of problems in the marina," says Bowerman.

He says the company will re-vamp the docks over the winter in an effort to replace the houseboats with other pleasure craft.

Link: Houseboats have to go