Letter - Another unexpected loss to Salt Spring

It’s been a sad beginning to 2012 with the deaths of a few Salt Springers, one of whom was our good friend John Christian who died unexpectedly just before the new year.

We met John and his then partner Lorraine on his Corbin 39, “Touch the Clouds” in Ganges Harbour in the summer of 1995 while we were canoeing by. We noticed the boat was from Montreal and so struck up a conversation, which turned into a friendship. He moved his boat from the main harbour to Madrona Bay in front of our house at our suggestion where it was better protected from the winds and other carelessly anchored boats.

John was a quiet, unassuming man, a psychologist, who had practised at a large hospital in Montreal and had built his beloved sailboat in his spare time in Lake Champlain. He and Lorraine sailed down the coast to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, across to the Marquesas in the South Pacific and up to B.C., a three-year journey. They settled on Salt Spring, where John established his practice in Ganges. He volunteered his time supervising staff at the transition house in its infancy.

For many years John lived on his boat rowing to town every weekday morning at 7 sharp and returning in the evening, a ritual he carried out even in storms and winter darkness. In 2007 he began construction on a building on Park Drive which served as his office and modest living space as he transitioned from living on his boat to living in town.

Although we hadn’t seen as much of John in the past couple of years as we all made changes in our lives, we stayed in contact and are saddened by the loss of him. We send our condolences to his family, loved ones and friends.

BETSY JOHNSTON & DEREK HILL,

Salt Spring