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.

Cafe - Tear Out and Rebuild March 2010 - 3

A whole lot of progress!

The exterior walls now have a second set of framing to allow for insulation upgrades, the ceiling is reinsulated, and the post and beam structure is in place.

Cafe - Tear Out and Rebuild March 2010 - 2

More of the stripping out.

Cafe - Tear Out and Rebuild March 2010

The first part of the cafe reno entailed gutting much of what was already there - replacing most of one structural wall with post and beam supports strippping out some interior walls and scraping off the flooring.

Second Phase of the Reno - Cafe and Gallery

photo from: espressotec.com - a great source for all things coffee.

I guess I needed a spring project. We had 1500 square feet of undeveloped space in the new paddling shop just sitting there.
Over the past year we tossed a few ideas around and decided to turn the space into a cafe/gallery. The gallery aspect will feature quality work by local artists and the cafe... well it's going to be a cafe. As simple as a cafe might sound, it take a lot of elements done very well to put together something that will be a success.

I have learned over the years that there is a simple rule of 3's when it come to any project: it takes three times longer than you think it will, it costs three times as much as you expect, and everthing ends up having a complication factor to the power of 3.

In this posting I'll just focus on coffee. I've learned a lot about coffee over the last few months and figuring out all the factors that go into producing a really good cup, has been an ongoing education. Here is a bit of what I have gleaned.

1. The types of factors that go into producing good beans are the same types of factors that go into producing good wine. In the case of coffee these include (but are not limited to!) the varietal, the soil, country of origin, the elevation and climate, how the plants are grown (organic, shade grown, etc...), freshness, how the beans are processed to remove the flesh, and how the beans are packed when still green, then how they transported and stored.


2. Roasting is the next critical area. The choice of fuels used to roast, (such as whether gas or electric are used) can have an effect on the flavour. As well the ramping profile of the roasting has a big effect on the final flavour - the rate of temperature rise to acheive the target heat and the degree of roast desired. How quickly the beans are cooled is also important! Roasted coffee beans are best consumed within a week or two of roasting, so being able to get beans that are properly roasted and delivered in a short period of time is also critical to good coffee.


3. The grind - it sounds simple! Not so. The texture of the grind and how fresh the grind is are only part of the equation. Again more elements involved than you might expect; the temperatures generated by grinding burrs can have an adverse affect if they grind too hot.

I haven't even gotten into the area of brewing here. I'll leave that for another day...

Fall 2009 - Skeena River Rocks

Photo: Dylan Smith

Summer 2009 - Black Bears

It's not uncommon to see black bears in Smithers. It is unusual however to see a mother with four cubs!

Photo: Dylan Smith

Summer 2009 - Glacier Gulch

Glacier Gulch is a pleasant Day Hike close to Smithers.

photo: Dylan Smith

Summer 2009

Paddling an easy stretch of the Bulkley River on a beautiful summer day - a popular way to pass the time in the Bulkley Valley.

photo: Dylan Smith

May 2009 - Another Look

Here is a view of the accessories section.

May 2009 - The Touring Kayak Section

The Touring Kayak section uses the same type of displays as the canoe section. Note the Delta Kayaks on the right, made in Maple Ridge BC and some of the Native Watercraft fishing kayaks, on the floor.

May 2009 - The Canoe Section

The canoe department uses the wonderful hanging system that we developed with a local welding shop.

May 2009 - The boats are set up!

The whitewater department with Sean's very nifty log racks!

April 2009 - Reene Granlin Scrubbing & Painting

My good friend Reene was a huge help with the initial mucking out of the building, and the cleanup of the new shop space. As well, Reene took on the painting of the shop floor. Thanks again Reene!

April 2009 - Sean Allen Building Whitewater Kayak Racks

Sean Allen from Mount Robson/Jasper came down a few times during the spring to help us out with the reno. Sean built some fabulous log kayak racks for the whitewater section as well as log supports for the canoe and kayak cradles.

Work in Progress March 2009

The interior of the workshop, under construction.

Framing in the Repair Shop March 2009

Dylan is a very skilled canoe and kayak repair guy. Prior to working at Aquabatics, he built Hellman canoes in Nelson BC and prior to that worked for Swift Canoe in Ontario. He knows his composites and needed a big workshop! This was the first part of the new store to be framed in - it gave Dylan a place to work and set up tools for the reno.

March 2009 - Clean Up and wall removal

The move to the new shop began in February 2009. We had a building with lots of space and a new location on Hwy 16 close to the Smithers Airport with highway frontage.

The building was in a state of complete disrepair when we began work and there was a lot of cleanup that had to get done in order to get going on the renovation.

This shot was in the earlier phase of the job when after Dylan had removed some unnecessary walls and was reconfiguring the floor plan.