Sue Me

OK this is a bit about me. Well more accurately about me and my work.
For the most part work is blah blah blah.  Nothing new. You most certainly don't want to read about it. So I think I'll just let the pictures do the talking.
I hope you enjoy them.

Location:  The traditional village and reserve of the Homalco First Nation, known as Church House, is at the mouth of Bute Inlet.
Latitude. 50.332946026°, Longitude. -125.06960221°

http://travelingluck.com/North%20America/Canada/British%20Columbia/_5922104_Church%20House.html#local_map

Job:  Removing the derelict docking facilities at Church House. Removing debris from deserted fish farm. Clear beach of debris and refuse. Clear area underwater around docking facility and bay of debris and refuse.Goal to return area to it's "original state".
You can figure out what that means for yourself.

The following three videos I have left unedited. You will see such things as me wiping the condensation off of the window. You will also see blurry blurry and camera moving too quickly.
What else you will see is our ride to and from work. I tell you it sure beats the bus.

The first one is us leaving Church House. 

The second is of us coming into Campbell River.

And the third...well this is us flying only a couple of feet, sometimes more sometimes less, off of the water. Skimming along so low that you could see into people's living rooms. We didn't do this because we are all thrilling seeking peeping Toms. No we had to hug the water because of the cloud cover. The ceiling that day would not allow us to go any higher.


Hmm I seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties.

Technical difficulties will be addressed. But first perhaps some photos to go along with this post.
Enjoy.




Our client. 

 Looking down our derrick.

     The demo is well under way.


 

The trestle and a dolphin.

                 The fish farm debris.

On the beach amongst the brambles you can still make out the old church.  

 Here you can see a few of the old houses. Up the hill over to the right was the school. We were not allowed to step a foot over the high water mark. Something to do with our heritage.

 Looking across the water towards the Hole In The Wall.

Klein Lake and the MarshMan

I wish to introduce you to the Curtis family of Madeira Park. There is Andy, Andrea, Marshall and Sydney. 
Now this one weekend I had some time off and decided to go find the Curtis family. It didn't take long. Small towns are good that way. Ask a few people and you are bound to get an answer. They were camping up at Klein Lake. 
Now you can find (this) Klein Lake in the Egmont area on the Sunshine Coast.  A beautiful little lake. Fish, hike, swim, explore what ever you want.
It was easy to find the Curtis'. I rode around the lake for no more than 5 minutes before I spotted their pickup truck. As I approached I notice everyone was around the picnic table and they were looking my way. PERFECT. This gave me the go ahead to come roaring into the campsite and slamming on the brakes to come to a sliding stop mere feet away from everyone. 
Looking at them from inside my helmet I could see the look of confusion. Who was this person sliding into their campsite? Then I noticed a completely different bunch of expressions as soon as my helmet came off. There was a new look. One that said "OH it's just Steve. We should have known."
I didn't stay long that day. Went for a swim. Ate some hot dogs and corn on the cob. Hmm...Perfect.

 This is Andy, Sydney, CJ the Dog and the boyz on their raft.
Check out that raft.
Coast Guard approved?
 HELL YES!

Also at the campsite are my friends Brad, Tanis and their gang. Actually Brad and Tanis are the care takers for the campsite. Great place for the family to spend their summer. No TV or X box just a camper , a tarp and the world. What more could one ask for?

 Here are the boys playing Huck Finn.
Not sure who is Huck and who is Afro-American Jim.

The Marsh Man

 

Need I say more.

I also have it on good advice that Sydney is riding. I'll have to get some photos of her riding this year. Teach 'em young and teach 'em right. 

Keep your right hand cranked.

 

it's been a while

Oh where to start? Winter is now upon us and I am sitting at home out of work for a bit.  I parked the bike late October but between then and the last time I posted a lot has happened. Lots of pictures and stories.

So the best place to start would be taking the bike to the Denman East and Hornby Island ferry terminals rebuild. I shipped the bike via a container that was loaded onto FRPD derrick #6. The video you are about to see is the bike being unloaded onto Denman Island. Yes the crane, Liebherr 883, is a bit overkill but it worked.

Ok so this is just a photo. I am having difficultly uploading the video right now so live with it. As you can clearly see though from the photo is that my bike is very cool. Also in the very cool range was that the day this picture was taken I found out that there was a 3rd position on the bikes ignition. Turns out if you turn the key just a little to the right while removing it from the bike the ignition switch is actually in the on position. Bad idea when you are storing your ride in a container for the next 10 days or so.  The battery was stone cold dead and no amount of charging could restore a charge to it. 

So now I am my bike on the land but the bike wouldn't start via the starter so after pushing the bike up the hill and rolling it back down I got the engine started and away I went hoping to make it to my motel room in Courtenay (@ 30km) before what ever charge the battery had was completely discharged.  

Nope didn't make it. Just off the Denman ferry and on my way when the battery went flat and the bike died on the side of the road.  THANK GOD FOR BCAA and cell phones.  Got the bike back and got a new battery the next day. Not had a problem since. Knock on wood. But let me say this about that ignition switch, it is very finicky and is something I always pay attention to when shutting the bike down.

So now to explore Vancouver Island a little bit at a time.

Starting out on Comox lake logging roads.

Geared up for fishing.

Some Comox Lake back country.

 

 

 

The roads were is really good condition. This is a private road system more or less. The logging companies ask that you stay out at certain time due to the big nasty "this is my road" logging trucks that are hauling out of this area. Not a bad idea really. Staying out that is. The trucking isn't done 24/7 so there are plenty of opportunities to use the roads. You just have to know when. Which can be a bitch because you have to drive to the beginning of the road to find out. A small inconvenience really.
Now the road is hard packed but don't get to comfortable because there is plenty of loose rolling rock to be found on top of the hard. It seems you just get some speed up and come around a corner and WHOA loose rock...or WHOA pick up truck.

Looking down Comox Lake.

But the WHOAs are worth it. Especially when you get these types of WHOAs. The next pictures show a bit of the road material. Note the size of the loose rocks. These play havoc with the front tire of a bike. Not to mention the vehicles that roar along thinking that they are the only ones on the road that day.

But I came out to go fishing and that's just what I'm going to do. I set myself up at the mouth of Cruikshank Creek. Beautiful area. Easily accessible. Not a soul.  What more could you ask for?  Now I'm not the best at fishing but I like it. This day I had a few strikes but didn't bring anything home for dinner. A couple of week later I went back again to try my luck. Saw another fellow pull in some nice sized rainbow trout.

Cruikshank Creek

Up the creek.

Looking out towards Comox Lake.

Great fishing spot. Good roads. Beautiful views. This place has got it all. All including mosquitoes so bring your bug spray and enjoy.