A new ownership group has arrived at the 11th hour and the water taxi service between here and Granville Island, in danger of being scuttled, looks to have been saved.

In a telephone talk earlier this week, Andy Cardiff of Malaspina Water Taxi of Pender Harbour, one of the two new owners, said they were “hoping to take over the operation on Thursday (Oct. 29).”

Cardiff said the second owner is Mike Shannon of a company called Old School Marine.

As reported last week in The Undercurrent, Kelli Turner, who started the service between Granville Island and Bowen last year, put up a note on his Granville Island Water Taxi Services website saying the company would be shutting down.

With the arrival of Cardiff and Shannon – Turner said they “purchased the assets” of his company – the loss of service to the island appears to have been averted.

Turner said on Monday that he has lost money, primarily, he said, because of issues with the boats he used and their need for frequent and costly repairs.

The new company, to be called English Bay Launch, will honour tickets previously purchased, Cardiff said. While initially they reported that would occur until mid-November, Cardiff said those with tickets after that date can call English Bay – they’ll be using the number previously used by G.I. Water Taxi Services – and something would be “worked out”.

“We don’t want to leave anyone out of pocket,” Cardiff said.

English Bay Launch will begin working with the same schedule and Cardiff said they were going to try to “keep everything exactly the same.”

He feels that the business can be a viable one and added that he and his partner are excited about operating the service.

The company, which has a number of boat types available, will initially be using a 27-foot Eagle Craft vessel.

The one they’ll be using is named ‘The Eagle 14’ and they would “see how that works.”

He said the future might see them make a purchase specifically for this route of a boat which “fits into that role once we figure out what’s required.”

For his part, Turner, who is a paramedic in B.C., said that he was “absolutely” going to miss running the water taxi service and that he “loved the people and the community.”

Turner said he would help “smooth the transition” to the new company.

Richard Armer-Petrie, part of a group of Islanders who use the service, said earlier this week that his group was pleased with the arrival of English Bay Launch and that they intended to talk with Cardiff sometime next week about what, if anything, “we can do as a community to ensure the longterm sustainability of the water taxi.”

Current driver Simon Fawkes, who said last week he was prepared to create a management company and work with Armer-Petrie’s group to keep the service going should that become necessary, told The Undercurrent on Tuesday that he would not be driving for the new service.