Marina Mirror Profile Interview

The westcoastsail.com editorial team bring you an exclusive interview with Sheila Potter of The Marina Mirror, a Victoria-area print publication catering to local mariners. Read on...

westcoastsail:

How long has The Marina Mirror been in operation?

Marina Mirror:

Kate Daniels started the magazine in July 2000, because she had just moved here from the Phillips Arm and couldn't believe there wasn't a local publication that could give her the lowdown on where to get repairs, buy supplies and tell her who's who in the community. The first issue was launched with a dock party. Almost all of the writing came from Kate's neighbours at Anglers Marina. Amongst the adventure and how-to stories were news stories describing the relatively new Harbour Authority in Sidney and changes at the Brentwood Bay government dock. Two years later, the writing is coming from all over.

westcoastsail:

What are your long-term goals for The Marina Mirror?

Marina Mirror:

I would love for The Marina Mirror to be the acknowledged source of Victoria-area news about boating, boating culture and about anything relating to the water, like the ecology and environment. We don't think we'll expand much geographically, except to the Western communities and Sooke. But we would like to have more pages and be glossier.

westcoastsail:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of competing against larger Pacific Northwest publications such as Pacific Yachting and 48 North?

Marina Mirror:

We don't seem to have any trouble competing for stories. There is all kinds of interesting news that the larger publications ignore because it's too local in scope, or because they don't have all their staff living on boats around Victoria, picking up local vibes. But by covering more areas, Pacific Yachting and 48 North have a larger circulation, (although we are catching up to Pacific Yachting pretty fast!). With a smaller circulation, it's hard for us to compete for large glossy ads. Luckily, the local boating industry has been very supportive.

westcoastsail:

What can we look forward to in The Marina Mirror in coming months?

Marina Mirror:

The May issue has a special feature about the new Harbour Authority for the Victoria Harbour. I never thought this was going to happen. When it finally did it was really exciting - I've never seen so many optimistic boaters! We're working on features for the next few months on everything from the culture of alcohol and boating, to the recent changes to the Gorge and proposed Marine Conservation Areas. You can also expect to see some news on diminishing rockfish stocks. That story is heating up with recreational fishing restrictions coming out this spring.

westcoastsail:

Where can people pick up your publication, or get subscriptions to The Marina Mirror?

Marina Mirror:

They are at every marina and yacht club from Esquimalt to Deep Cove, often outside in a box on the wall. They are also at most of the boat stores downtown and in Sidney. Increasingly, people can find them in their favorite dock café or marine pub. For a subscription, just contact Kate Daniels or myself at (250) 652-6391.

westcoastsail:

As boaters yourselves, The Marina Mirror is a reflection of your thoughts on the local boating scene. Do you feel that general boating information is readily available to the local maritime community?

Marina Mirror:

This is something that I love and hate about the boating community; everyone is an expert. If you are working on a boat somewhere, everyone will stop and give you some "information" of varying worth. With The Marina Mirror, I want to incorporate some of that spirit because it is fun to swap tips, opinions and bullshit. I love boat project stories, the stranger the better. But for the most part I want to go deeper. Some information is quite hard to come by, like regulations and safety concerns. You should have seen the ordeal I had to go through to find out what boaters could expect crossing the American border after September 11. Every port I called said something different and first-hand experiences from boaters were varied. In another example, it took me about a year to understand the issues surrounding Victoria and Esquimalt Harbours port divestiture and how these affect the boater. I get a real sense of accomplishment if I can sort something like this out for the reader.