Dylan's Canoe trip on the north coast

Early august shop manager Dylan Smith took a well needed break and paddled for eight days on BC's north coast. Leaving from Prince Rupert and paddling south around Poarcher Island past the small community of Kitkatla. Arriving near Kiktkatla after 3 days Dylan and his paddling partner Aaron Trowbridge were greated by some friendly porpoises.

While on the trip both Aaron and Dylan were "testing" out some new gear from Aquabatics. One piece of gear that really impressed them both was the Wind Paddle, a sail designed for taking advantage of a tail wind. The sail worked amazingly to say the least and at one point they were cruising along at 4.5 knots!

Another piece of amazing gear was the compulsion from Werner paddles. The Compulsion is marketed as an outrigger paddle but is also an amazing bent shaft canoe paddle.

Also used for the trip were Kokatats gore tex meridian dry suits, as well as Astral Bouyancy's green jacket.

Well we are truly blessed to have so much paddling up here come on up and explore the north west.

Our Friend Caleb

Check out this amazing vid of Caleb Brusseau styling east boulder creek near Smithers

Video shot by Benjamin Hjort.

http://www.hjortmedia.com/Paddling/British-Columbia-2010/13081246_XA7QF#961639077_BGMn5

First Touring Course of the Season May 9th

Although the water was still quite chilly, a keen bunch of paddlers from Kitimat, Terrace, and Smithers, joined us for a day of skills pratice on Lake Kathlyn. They braved the chilly waters and practiced rescue skills and rolling!
This lucky bunch managed to see a Kermode Bear en route as an added treat to their day.
Below, instructor Brian Fuhr demonstrates.

The Reno Crew

Northern Sun Developments has been our contractor for the development of the cafe. Alf, Scott, Pat and Sorel have done a wonderful job transforming our dingy and dated space into something fresh and pleasant. They guys have lots of excellent and cost effective ideas, are super productive and are a pleasure to work with.

Pat is the guy on the roof and Scott and Alf are on the ground.

The Visitor - April 2010

When I got home from work the other day, I had a visitor. This photo is taken from about 25 feet away. The moose was chomping away on the bushes and wasn't bothered by my vehicle, wasn't bothered by me getting out of it and wasn't bothered by me going into and out of the back door to get my camera.

Building a False Front on the Exterior - April 2010

The original exterior - rather bleak!

Once the old tin was removed it was already starting to look a whole lot better!

Framing up the facades.

It's now ready for the final finishing treatment - a combination of slate, stucco and cedar.

Detail of Post & Beam in Cafe

The colour of the wood here is due to Pine Beetles damage, which results in a bluish gray staining of the wood. There is an unbelievable amount of dead standing trees throughout BC as a result of huge spikes in the Pine Beetle population, which is in itself directly linked to climate change.