In February 2026 the wiring feeding the wharf was cut and taken, and every boat on shore power at the dock lost it.
Where Whiskey Slough sits, and the other places we attend
around Pender Harbour. Every name on the map is a link.
The name changed from Whiskey Cove on one day in 1981
Whiskey Slough is an inlet on the Francis Peninsula side of Gerrans Bay, in Pender Harbour. BC Geographical Names adopted it as a slough on 15 September 1981, on map sheet 92F/9, at 49 degrees 36 minutes 56 seconds north and 124 degrees 02 minutes 53 seconds west. On the same date the earlier name for the same feature at the same coordinates, Whiskey Cove, was rescinded. The gazetteer records no alternative spelling without the second e.
The location is worth stating precisely, because it is often placed on the wrong side of the water. The Harbour Authority of Pender Harbour describes its facility here as located in Gerrans Bay on Francis Peninsula, and the reporting of a theft at the dock in February 2026 puts it on Warnock Road. Road access is Francis Peninsula Road, then Warnock Road. Routing on 12 September 2026 from the gazetted position measured about 5.5 kilometres and 8 minutes to the Madeira Park centre, and about 37.5 kilometres and 41 minutes to Sechelt Hospital.
A government dock that takes no transient moorage
The Harbour Authority runs four facilities: Madeira Park, Hospital Bay, Secret Cove and this one. Madeira Park and Hospital Bay provide transient moorage to visiting boats. Whiskey Slough does not. It is a permanent-moorage dock for local and working vessels, with 15 to 18 berths.
The difference is not administrative. At a transient dock there is traffic all year, boats arriving, someone paying at an office, strangers noticed because they are expected. At Whiskey Slough nobody is passing through. A boat left here through the winter sits among boats whose owners are also mostly away, at a dock with no attendant on duty for visitors.
On 17 February 2026 the power feed was cut
At the Whiskey Slough government dock on Warnock Road, the electrical box door was found open, the wire feed had been cut, and runs of wire carrying electricity to wharf infrastructure were missing. The dock has 15 to 18 berths.
Every boat drawing shore power at that dock lost it at the same moment: no battery charger, no bilge pump on maintained power, no dehumidifier, no block heater, until the wiring was replaced. For a hull left afloat and unattended over the winter, that is the failure that ends with water over the floorboards and, eventually, a boat on the bottom at its own berth. Nothing about it is visible from the road, and nothing about it announces itself until someone walks the dock and looks at the pedestal.
Eleven days before the wiring was taken, on 6 February 2026, a pickup fire on Francis Peninsula Road blocked access to the fire hall at 4990 Gonzales Road, which is three to four kilometres away by road. The community mailbox on Warnock Road was one of two forced open on this side of the harbour in October 2021.
Everything here is on the South Pender system
Whiskey Slough sits inside the Pender Harbour Fire Protection District, which is an independent district and not a regional district service; the regional district's own page describes Sechelt and Pender Harbour as two independent fire departments on the Sunshine Coast. The district was established on 15 May 1967 and runs up to fifty volunteer firefighters across two halls.
Water comes from the South Pender Harbour system, whose source is McNeill Lake with Harris Lake held in reserve. Since 2026 it has been billed by volume rather than at a flat rate, so a running toilet or a split line in an empty house now shows up as a charge as well as a loss. In July 2026 the regional district posted 600 letters to customers whose meters were reading continuous flow. The district has said it cannot work on private property, which means everything on the house side of the meter is the owner's to find.
What a check at Whiskey Slough covers
The shore power pedestal, its cover, breaker and cord, and whether power is actually present
Bilge, batteries, charger and any pump left running on the boat at its berth
Dock lines, springs, fenders, chafe gear and the cover or shrink wrap over the winter
The berth itself, the finger, cleats and the state of the decking underfoot
Doors, windows and outbuildings at the house, with each lock tried by hand
Heat on and holding at the house, or the plumbing drained and the valve confirmed closed
The water meter and service connection, with South Pender water billed by volume from 2026
Trees and limbs over the driveway off Warnock Road and over the service line
Photographs and a written note of each item, dated and sent the same day
Household policies on an unoccupied dwelling usually set a maximum interval between visits through the heating season, in many wordings four consecutive days, with the inspection made by a competent person unless the water has been shut off and the pipes drained. Insurers word it their own way. Check what is in your policy before you settle a schedule.
What it costs
A scheduled check at Whiskey Slough is
$55 a visit, plus
$10 travel. The travel charge is the same
everywhere between Gibsons and Egmont. There is no minimum term and no joining fee.
See the full price list.
Where these facts come from
Every figure, date and quotation on this page was taken from one of these. They are
listed so you can read them yourself.
