Community collaboration gives second chance to beloved dinghy in Comox

In early August, when Emily Yewchuk heard that the Comox Bay Sailing Association was retiring one of its youth sailing dinghies, she got an idea.

The Comox-based wildflower grower and owner of Wildflower Mercantile had always wanted to participate in Canadian Flowers Week, a contest to create an immersive floral installation in communities across the nation.

But when she saw that the flower celebration began just the following week, she was unsure she’d have time to refit the small vessel to accommodate hundreds of flowers — that she had yet to source — and get approval from the Town of Comox to set up the installation at the municipal marina.

“The timing was so compressed,” Yewchuk said. And the clock started that day.

What followed was a demonstration of what is possible with community collaboration and support.

With help from Project Inclusion — a local program that supports young adults with disabilities — and the quick action of the Comox Bay Sailing Association and Town of Comox, Yewchuk not only submitted an eye-catching installation to the competition, but managed to place as a finalist as well.

“It’s kind of a feel-good story all around,” Yewchuk said.

The Optimist brings joy to youth

The first piece Yewchuk needed to secure was the dinghy.

When sailing enthusiast, volunteer and coach Robert Douglas and his wife moved from Vancouver to Comox and joined the Comox Bay Sailing Association in 2009, they brought a “trailer full” of dinghies with them. 

Optimist sailing dinghies, or “Optis,” are a type of popular youth sailboats and this particular vessel, dubbed Opti Number Five, “has been in service for the last 16 years and had hundreds to thousands of kids through it,” Douglas said.

Yewchuk’s son and daughter joined the sailing club within the last two years, which Yewchuk said has been “hugely transformative for them as individuals and to their confidence and sense of self.” 

Douglas said he sees first-hand the positive impact sailing has on youth, noting that Opti Number Five “has been used for joy throughout its life.”

But that fun can be hard on fiberglass. 

“It got to the point where it had one too many collisions,” Douglas said, adding that the repairs to its hull meant it was no longer competitive and had to be retired.

With the clock ticking, Yewchuk picked up the boat and brought it home.

She had no expectation to win the flower week competition, but the floral component had to pop — it would be featured in a nation-wide competition after all — and she knew just where to get the perfect dazzling flowers for this newly-retired vessel.

Flowers grown with love

For the last five years, Yewchuk has been on the board of the Comox Valley Child Development Association.

The association is a non-profit that has been serving children, youth and adults with diverse abilities since 1974 and “is really near and dear to my heart,” Yewchuk said. 

“And also, I love gardening and teaching gardening.”

Yewchuk saw an opportunity to connect her business, Wildflower Mercantile, with the association in an impactful way and reached out to Wendy Hawksworth, program lead at Project Inclusion.

Run through the Child Development Association, Project Inclusion guides and supports young adults with disabilities to reach their potential and achieve their goals.

Hawksworth said the garden component of the program started in 2020 and has since become a cooperative, with program participants selling the flowers and food they grow.

This year, they teamed up with Yewchuk. 

“She asked if we could grow some flowers for wedding bouquets,” Hawksworth said.

But no one in the program could successfully grow the finicky flowers. 

“So, Emily came to the garden and showed us how to grow zinnias, dahlias and cosmos. It’s a nice partnership,” Hawksworth said.

Yewchuk agreed. 

“It’s really cool for them to see the flowers that they grew with their own hands being used in these beautiful high-end designs and used in weddings and being carried down the aisle by a bride.”

“These flowers are some of the most important flowers you’ll have in your life for your bridal bouquet.” Yewchuk said. “It really is a very beautiful thing.”

In early August, when Yewchuk needed flowers for the Canadian Flowers Week competition, she knew the garden at Project Inclusion would be bursting with colour.

Grown by Project Inclusion participants Mackenzie, Amy, Kerri, Noella, Chris, Benny and Breanna, the flowers were indeed perfect.

What Yewchuk needed now was to navigate the bureaucracy of her local municipality and a potentially long approval process, all with a one-week deadline. But she quickly learned she needn’t have worried.

Opti Number Five becomes “Opti in Bloom”

“A massive shout out to the Town of Comox,” Yewchuk said, adding that she’s grateful the town approved her application quickly.

With all the pieces together, Yewchuk could finally begin building the installation. 

“I really didn’t figure out how I was going to do it until that morning,” she said.

Yewchuk looked online for inspiration but couldn’t find examples. She said was left to figure out the design and logistics on her own.

She used chicken wire and zip ties to place water vessels throughout the boat, including up the mast which is more than two meters.

Next, she placed the flowers throughout. Stepping back, she said she was surprised that “it actually worked on the first try.” She named it “Opti in Bloom.”

After snapping some pictures and submitting them to the competition, she waited for the results.

In the meantime, visitors to the Comox Marina were treated to bright, fragrant and fresh flowers that Yewchuk updated whenever dropping her kids off to sail.

The participants at Project Inclusion “were so proud and honoured that they were able to put a tiny seed in the ground and then see it on display,” Hawksworth said.

A flower’s beauty is fleeting — it’s part of their appeal — and after six days, the installation came down on August 23. Two days later, the results were in.

Opti in Bloom received enough votes to become a finalist, ending up in fourth place.

Yewchuk said the experience was “really organic and kind of serendipitous timing with everything,” and that “it was just fun to be featured.”

As for future plans, Yewchuk said to keep an eye out in November during the Christmas tree light-up in Comox. 

“We may have a holiday Opti.”