News Release
For Immediate Release
March 3, 2026
It’s a major week for the Maritime Museum of BC’s “Float the Boat” fundraiser. As they near the halfway point towards their $30,000 goal, a familiar face is signing on as a matching donor to put the wind in the local non-profit museum’s sails.
“John MacFarlane already donated Nauticapedia, his landmark virtual encyclopedia of nautical history, to the permanent collection of the Maritime Museum of BC last autumn,” said Executive Director Brittany Vis, “and this week he challenges everyone who loves marine heritage in BC and wants to see it preserved and interpreted, to match his $3,000 gift. He’ll double your donation, and your impact.”
With an overall goal of $30,000 to focus on building core operations during an upcoming transition period, funds support collections care and digitization capacity, building resilient and sustainable exhibit processes, and developing core programming for school visits.
“These are what make a museum, a museum in 2026,” said Vis.
Recent match challenge weekends from supporters Nicole Conan and Bill Hanna and an outpouring of community support have filled the milestone tracker tank to $15,000—but there are still two weeks to go and tank to fill!
As the Maritime Museum of BC, Songhees Nation, and Esquimalt Nation jointly negotiate a lease agreement with the province for their CPR Steamship Terminal building and adjacent water lot proposal, Vis acknowledges that the public eagerly anticipates a capital campaign: “but, by investing in the Maritime Museum of BC right now, you’re building capacity to meet this opportunity. Regardless of where we are located, we will always exist as a non-profit society, and continue our mission in BC.”
A Fundraiser for Operations
MacFarlane’s contribution to the Maritime Museum of BC’s digital collection is part of his ongoing legacy in the marine heritage field. His match challenge supports core operations like caring for digital collections.
“Nauticapedia is a really useful research tool that the MMBC has recently acquired. Access to the online is free to you but it costs money to maintain and operate this digital collection of 100,000 ship histories and 60,000 mariner biographies,” said MacFarlane, founder of Nauticapedia and Curator Emeritus of the Maritime Museum of BC: “A small donation – say the equivalent of a cup of premium coffee – would help keep this digital collection thriving. In the meantime the records grow larger everyday – often accompanied by a photograph.”
MacFarlane is clear that digital collections offer access to marine heritage that can’t be found anywhere else: “If you have ever used the Nauticapedia, you will know that if it disappeared offline that it would leave a gap in the quality of information you currently enjoy.”
Stories include adventuresome lighthouse keeper memories, circumnavigators, early navigational aids, and life aboard ships like HMCS Rainbow. Digital tools like the MMBC’s online collections database, which is freely searchable, and Nauticapedia provide open access to collections and archives for researchers around the globe.
A database infrastructure upgrade and redesign project is underway specifically for Nauticapedia, supported by sponsors Philbrook’s Boat Yard Ltd. and Robert Allan Ltd., but ongoing operations of all digital collections are in the same boat as exhibits, collections care and programs. Community support makes up a third of the non-profit museum’s operating funds.
How Float the Boat Works
What could be more maritime than a miniature sailboat in a tank? Each milestone on the way to $30,000 will be marked with a live video filling the tank with more water. The milestone tank is at the $15,000 mark—halfway to the goal.
Donating to Float the Boat supports the everyday operations that impact every project, program, and opening day at the Maritime Museum. Help float the boat here:
What’s Ahead in Operations
Float the Boat supports core operations at the 70-year-strong non-profit MMBC: exhibits, programs, and the commitment to preserve and interpret an incredible collection of 35,000+ objects and 554 linear feet of archives on behalf of all Canadians:
- Cataloguing, safely storing objects and archives, making digital collections (search 12,000 archival images!)—including Nauticapedia—accessible to researchers and history enthusiasts around the globe
- Taking a great salty idea and turning it into exhibits bridging historical and contemporary maritime topics, then sending them around the province
- Nurturing the maritime spirit of the next generation with updated, curriculum-focused school programs
- Opening Tuesdays – Saturdays from 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM for visitors from near and far
For Vis, a transition year is the perfect opportunity to focus and build.
“It’s about maximizing the impact of activities we already do really well,” said Vis, “community support built up our current capacity for exhibits, programs, and collections care over many years. What we want to do now is get those core activities ready for future operations in a bigger space with greater impact.”
When it comes to impact, Vis is clear that everyone can make a difference when working together: “matching John’s challenge this week joins your legacy in the marine community with his. This is your coastal story at the Maritime Museum of BC; your support means we can meet every opportunity ahead.”
Information for the Public
Float the Boat Runs: 16 February – 16 March, 2026
Come Visit: The Maritime Museum of BC, 744 Douglas Street, Victoria
Opening Hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Website: https://mmbc.bc.ca/
Nauticapedia: https://nauticapedia.ca/
Donation Link: https://mmbc.kindful.com/?campaign=1399345
Free Monthly Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/c9d133251be4/join-the-mmbcs-free-monthly-newsletter
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For further information and media interviews, please contact:
Anya Zanko, Development Manager
Maritime Museum of BC
250-900-9148
