Archive for the ‘Egmont’ Category

Hugo and I left home at 10:05 this morning rushing toward the 11:20 ferry.  Traffic was heavy at times but we made the ferry with not even enough time for Hugo to do his business once we arrived at the terminal.  He was a good boy and held it though!  I gave Hugo a treat before we left home this morning and now I’m starting to think the new treats don’t agree with him as he upchucked a bunch of yellow foam during our drive - and NO - it wasn’t my driving….  We stopped in Madeira Park for beer and a few groceries and were in Egmont by 2:00 pm. 

I saw the ‘open’ sign for the museum so stopped for a quick visit with manager Tom.  He’s made a few changes to some displays and added items.  It’s looking good and much friendlier - so here’s hoping the visitors start pouring in as the weather warms.

As we neared Pop’s, Hugo could smell the salt water and perked up.  I told him Sylvester was waiting to see him.  They actually seemed glad to see each other - after Sylvester established who was boss! 

Pop hasn’t mowed the grass yet and the daisies are everywhere - looking very pretty. 

Hugo stopped running and chasing birds long enough to smell the daisies but he didn’t like the way they tickled his legs and ‘pussy footed’ through them!  Sylvester didn’t care - he’s so laid back all it takes is a bit of petting and he rolls over for more.

Pop had been shopping in Madeira today and was ready for a rest - so I obliged and Hugo and I went upstairs for a snooze.  Of course the phone rang and the door was knocked but I drowsed.  Pop got up to answer both.  You’d think after spending the winter with me he’d have learned to let it go and not answer… but no.  Kent was calling to say the wind was howling and he couldn’t get across the gulf.

Kent left Nico Wynd this morning for Point Roberts, Washington - where diesel was $1.34 cheaper than fueling in BC.  4 fill-ups during the year and it’s equivalent to a free tank.  Kent said he ‘poked his nose out’ and the seas were so rough he decided to hole up at the marina for a few hours.

His was the phone call which Pop answered at 5 pm and he was on his way across the Gulf of Georgia to clear customs in Nanaimo then planning to anchor for the night.  He’ll be here tomorrow before noon, no doubt.

Pop and I enjoyed our chicken dinner and Hugo had a ton of fun exploring, barking at the one and only customer who is camping here and chasing the robins. 
Now, the porch is white with hail, we’ve had a few drizzles of rain, but we can see blue sky to the west.  Good weather is coming!

These are New Year’s Eve photos taken of my family and friends at the Backeddy Pub in Egmont. As you will see - we thoroughly enjoyed our evening!

www.flickr.com heatherinbeautifulbritishcolumbia’s Backeddy Buddy’s photoset

I was in Grade 1 in 1958 and there were 2 other kids in my class at Christmas time. They were my cousins Raymond and Kathy.

We started the year with 4 students but one boy died in a tragic boating accident. It was a very traumatic event for 6 year olds to comprehend, especially when the whole community was in shock. No one saw the heavily loaded boat tip, saw it sink or saw the man and his son drown, but residents found the load of floating lumber they’d been carrying to build their new home, and they found the bodies.

Of course there was much speculation as to how the accident happened and I overheard the gossip, but my parents never actually talked about the accident in front of me or to me. We didn’t discuss it at school either, the teacher just removed his desk from our row and life went on. By December our class had settled into a routine with Kathy being the smart one, Raymond being the boy, and me, the shy little mouse.

As Christmas approached we made construction paper garlands and balls to hang in the classroom and beautiful bright white paper cutout snowflakes to decorate the tall windows beside our desks.

We also practiced for our Christmas Concert. Our school included Grade 1 to Grade 7 with about 30 kids and we were all in one classroom. The older kids had very elaborate skits and songs to practice and the teacher chose “Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer” as the song the Grade 1 class was to sing.

Kathy and Raymond perhaps practiced at home - or maybe they already knew the song. I’m afraid there wasn’t much music or singing in my parents house and I never learned to sing. I didn’t know the words and I was so painfully shy I certainly didn’t join in while they practiced at school, no matter how the teacher tried to encourage me.

The evening of the concert arrived. We were all dressed up in our best Christmas outfits and so excited to be attending a party with all the older kids and our parents. Santa was to arrive with a gunny sack of gifts after the concert. Of course the evening began with our National Anthem, “O Canada”.

The teacher called Kathy, Raymond and me to come to the front of the room and she played the music on the piano. Kathy and Raymond sang “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and I stood there, not knowing the words, not singing, just standing with my head down, absolutely mortified.

The audience laughed and laughed during the entire song. I was sure they were laughing at me - and until tonight when I talked to Skittles about not singing, I didn’t understand why they were laughing at me and hurting my feelings just because I didn’t know the words and couldn’t sing.

Now, I know!

The audience was laughing because the song is very, very cute and so are 6 year olds - they are darned cute, whether they are singing or not.

I attended many concerts where my children, and their classmates performed. There always was a child in the group who did not participate, made a minor slip, whose hat fell off, who walked the wrong direction, who missed a step and caused everyone else to miss a step, sang the lines of the song wrong, forgot his lines…. and the audience (including me) laughed.

Little kids are adorable, actually, especially when they make mistakes. The mistakes quite often make the most memorable events.

AND, I guess now, 48 years later I can finally understand (thanks to discussing it with Skittles) - the audience was not trying to hurt my feelings, they weren’t laughing AT me, they didn’t think I was inadequate or dumb or couldn’t sing.

They thought I was ADORABLE, as were Kathy and Raymond!!! We were 6 year olds.

I’ve never been able to sing since that concert, other than quietly joining in to “Happy Birthday” or lip syncing “O Canada”, BUT I might just start singing to my Granddaughter - she won’t notice or care if I don’t know all the words, don’t know how to stay in tune, don’t know how to clap to the beat - it’s the participation in life that matters - and I’m glad Skittles helped me learn that.

Today as I was unwrapping a new roll of toilet paper, I remembered I planned to write about the Jervis King, Jervis Chief and the Jervis Mist.

We were cod fishing, aboard the Jervis Mist, in the Skookumchuck Narrows when we first saw the two “muscle” tugs, the Jervis King and the Jervis Chief, with their large log boom under tow. They appeared to be waiting on the inside of the Narrows for slack tide. Slack tide that day lasted only about 5 minutes, so the skippers were likely timing their window of opportunity to the second, to tow the log boom through this turbulant area.

The boom looked to be made up of about 38 sections with upwards of 9 bundles per section. Each bundle may have contained 20 - 25 logs. The hemlock logs are bundled together with fir and cedar in order to keep the hemlock logs from sinking.

The Skookumchuck Narrows is a dangerous stretch of water to traverse in any size boat and wary boaters use caution and have a great deal of respect for the “Chuck”. The current can run upwards of 16 1/2 knots on a big run in and 16 knots on a run out. Huge whirlpools form, large drop-offs occur and the raging water is always unpredictable. Tourists come from all over the world to walk the Skookumchuck Trail to view the impressive force of a large amount of ocean water being pushed through a narrow, rocky area.

As the rising tide lessened toward slack, we watched the two tugs begin to tow their boom against the current and as the chuck went slack they herded the boom through the narrowest, difficult section, winding between the kelp beds, islands and various boats. The Jervis King was towing the boom and the Jervis Chief was steering it and pushing it sideways to keep it all together.

We were well out of their way as the tide began to turn and wash them outwards toward Egmont. Perhaps a boom chain broke or pulled through it’s hole in a boomstick but as we watched the boomsticks holding the bundles parted and four large bundles of logs were left behind in the centre of the chuck. The tugs moved the main boom into centre channel and quickly started rounding up the wayward bundles. The skippers used the big tugs like dozer boats, parting the boom and pushing one bundle at a time into the centre.

An agile crew member leapt onto the boom with his pike pole and started pushing, pulling and securing the bundles back into place as the tugs worked them closer.

Remember, this was just outside the Skookumchuck Rapids, which can be a frightening enough place, without standing on a log with caulk boots on your feet and a 15 foot long pole in hand. We could see this “boomman” wore a life vest, but still if he’d slipped and fallen in between the logs he would have to rely solely on his own strength and determination to get back out of the water before the logs crushed him or the current swept him under the boom.

The tugs worked back and forth at full power, with the exhaust pouring out as they reversed and forwarded as quickly as possible, pushing huge amounts of water and bundled logs through the rapidly increasing current, which was sweeping them along at 3 knots.

They managed to contain the bundles and took the boom under tow once more. Two hours and two miles down the channel they let the boom go adrift again to do more repair work to be sure it was seaworthy. As the Jervis King took the boom in tow, heading South down Agamemnon Channel, the Jervis Chief headed off toward Saltery Bay.

Meanwhile the Jervis Mist skipper and crew had a great day. Kent, Sean, Kaia, Crystal, Jim and I caught 3 nice big Ling Cod and 4 Rock Cod in the Skookumchuck. We ate the freshest fried ling cod for lunch, then spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun and sea on the boat.

Eight hours later we heard the Jervis King call Comox Traffic on VHF channel 71. He reported he was entering the Traffic Management Zone at Pearson Island, just outside the entrance to Pender Harbour. It took him all day to traverse a very short distance, towing that huge boom, working against Mother Nature, in order to supply you and I with a load of wood-be (pun intended) plywood, lumber, newspaper, pulp and paper.

I now have much more appreciation for my roll of toilet paper after watching just one segment of the logging industry on which our beautiful Province of British Columbia was founded.

10 canoes of First Nations People, Police and other participants, together with their support group arrived in Egmont on June 28 to a huge welcome at the Government wharf. The Egmont Community Club volunteers prepared a potlatch dinner of salmon, fry bread, bannock and assorted salads.

See “Pulling Together” for details and information on this group and their paddling journey.

Kent, Pop, friend Gus and I went out on the “Jervis Mist” around noon to greet the paddlers and photograph the canoes. They left Saltery Bay at 8:30 am and we found them on a beach on Nelson Island resting and eating lunch. When they launched again about 1 pm, we followed along with them for an hour or so, then decided to head back to Pop’s to rush up to the Government wharf where Pop was to be part of the welcoming committee. We arrived at the wharf just after 2 pm - in plenty of time - we didn’t want to miss any part of it.

Hah, guess where the paddlers stopped for a rest and bathroom break. Yup - right at Pop’s floats and beach - and we weren’t there to welcome them. Luckily a friend, Charlie, was kayaking along with them and snapped a few shots and sent them to us.

First Nations Elder Barbara Higgins greeted the paddlers and welcomed them ashore to rest, eat and share music and stories. Longtime residents John West and Billy Griffith were also part of the welcoming committee together with organizer Beverly Saunders and many local families and friends.

When the paddlers left Egmont at 5 am June 29 to traverse the Skookumchuck Rapids at slack tide, heading toward Porpoise Bay, Kent and I joined in on the Jervis Mist to help escort them. The volunteers who supplied breakfast at 4 am were on the Government wharf so we asked them if they’d like to ride along with us. Karen, Caroll, Paula and Peter were happy to get on board to see the send off. It was an amazing sight to watch them paddle through the Chuck - even at slack tide. A bald eagle co-operated with a nice flyover while they were passing Roland Point. Kent shut down the engines and we drifted for a bit, watching and photographing the canoes. Each group saluted the chefs with their paddles in the air and many thank you’s. We listened to the beautiful cadence of their chanting and the echoes of their voices in Sechelt Inlet. It was a nostalgic, moving moment - beautifully serene with the sun just brightening the water and the canoes moving swiftly but quietly along with the tide.

Seeing the canoes in Egmont reminded me of a photo my Mom took in 1959. It was one of the Sechelt Band’s canoes - an original one - no fibreglass back then! The photo is poor quality and dark - but it depicts an interesting part of the coast history.