Here I had my back turned for a couple of days and some honorable members of the loyal and benevolent order of C-Brats breathed new life into what I had thought was a moribund thread!
You all have provided lots more valuable insights and points to mull over, including such sensible things as ensuring that any outboard I might purchase can be serviced locally and other practical matters such as keeping one's fett (and powder) dry.
The idea of a boat lift has been mentioned, and I must say that's an idea I really like, but, as also mentioned, the tides here probably make it a bit of a tricky proposition. I am attracted to the idea because the boat won't be used everyday and, when sitting in the ocean, the bottom of the hull seems to be the place that marine life and and plants find irresistible for colonization. Here's what local tides look like at the moment:
Whaletown Bay, British Columbia (2)
50.1000° N, 125.0500° W
2009-07-23 01:28 PDT 3.25 meters Low Tide
2009-07-23 05:37 PDT Sunrise
2009-07-23 06:10 PDT 4.45 meters High Tide
2009-07-23 07:51 PDT Moonrise
2009-07-23 13:16 PDT 0.23 meters Low Tide
2009-07-23 20:32 PDT 5.15 meters High Tide
2009-07-23 21:15 PDT Sunset
2009-07-23 22:00 PDT Moonset
2009-07-24 02:19 PDT 2.88 meters Low Tide
2009-07-24 05:38 PDT Sunrise
2009-07-24 07:15 PDT 4.30 meters High Tide
2009-07-24 09:17 PDT Moonrise
2009-07-24 14:01 PDT 0.63 meters Low Tide
2009-07-24 21:06 PDT 5.10 meters High Tide
2009-07-24 21:13 PDT Sunset
2009-07-24 22:18 PDT Moonset
Byrdman, that's for your concern for my welfare! I think you have sensed that the women who find life on these remote isles to their liking are a different breed and it's possible to find oneself staked to the windmill tower in a nanosecond on account of any perceived slights. Actually, lashed to the windmill might come across as a show of leniency if one of us men should even hint that any of the women are less than competent at the helm. Keel hauling would more likely be the punishment.
As for said rendezvous of the gals at N. Rendezvous Island, I am advised that 15 showed up. The details of what transpired on that long day (my wife arrived home around 8 p.m.) remain rather murky. I dare say there's an oath of secrecy to which all club members adhere, so there's little utility in pressing for particulars.
But, on the topic of N. Rendezvous Island, I did a bit of online research in advance of my wife's departure and turned up a property for sale there. 12.1 acres with 415 feet of oceanfront with what looks to be quite a serviceable dwelling on the lot. All for 149,000 northern pesos. Strikes me as pretty reasonable. Also strikes me that it should be in the hands of a C-Brat. Here's the link:
http://www.bcoceanfront.com/show_listing.php?id=139. What say you C-Brats? C'mon! Don't be pusillanimous! It costs less than the price of a locally-made tin boat. Move into the neighborhood!
I pause to note that the description of the property includes this carefully-worded sentence: "The owners indicate that there is a natural spring located on the top NE corner of the property." I take that to mean: "I've never seen it; I'm not sure it's there; caveat emptor." But, if true, that spring is like gold. I looked into having a well drilled here. I'm partial to drilled wells. I have become a bit less partial after being told that it'll cost a minimum of $6,500 to get a drill rig here from Quadra Island and $10,000 to drill a hole, with no guarantee of H2O. And that 10 grand does not include a pump and all the paraphernalia and time charges to get the water (if any) flowing.
Now you'd think I'd have got set up with water before breaking ground. Pretty trite to say that's the way it's done. That's what I did before building my last island house. But this time, I thought if I ignored the issue, it would take care of itself. It didn't. So, after months without water, scrounging from our rain barrel, our pond, seasonal creeks, etc., I spent a couple of grand and got a well dug with a backhoe. Not real deep, even by shallow well standards. Seven rings (14 feet). Dug down to bedrock. Lots of water, but rather opaque and less than aromatic. We don't drink it. It's gravity feed to an 1100- gallon tank in a shed near the house. Gravity seems different here. Because we are remote and have no police or government presence, even the law of gravity appears able to enjoy an anarchical holiday. Can't seem to maintain a siphon action for long, despite the fact that the tank is probably 75 feet lower than the well. But as difficulties with living in a place like this goes, that's a mere bagatelle.
Another islander was here yesterday, helping me pump water from the well into the tank. We dropped a line down and reckoned that the maximum water depth - if the well is full to the top - would be 5 rings, or 10 feet. It seems that there's about 4 feet of muck in the bottom, that probably sloughed in when the rings were being set. He suggested we pump it dry and climb down and muck it out, then scrub the sides. He was firmly of the view (and he has far more shallow well experience than I) that it will run clear much sooner if that job gets done. I have heard it can take a year or 2 before a shallow well will begin to run clear. This is to be Saturday's project.
Further on this well business (and what it has to do with C-Dorys is anyone's guess), is the fact that about 20 years ago I was bushwhacking around here and came across an old well. That was before any land around here was subdivided and the road was extended this far south on the island. When the whole well topic first came up, I thought about that well and went looking, but could not find it again. I didn't try too hard because I figured it was quite a ways north of our land anyway. I got to talking about it to a neighbor a few miles up the road. Next time I saw here, she said her husband recalled that well from years ago and he knew where to find it. He came down and we went off into the bush together. We had just about given up, when damned if he didn't find it. No cover on it or anything. Chock a block full of crystal clear and cold water. Amazing! It's probably about another 500 feet from the well we dug and that much further from the house. It's in the middle of a circle of old growth cedars. We are going to see what we can make of the well we dug, but I am keeping the new-found well as a backup. One of these days I have to get out there and see if I can determine if it's on our land or not. I know where our corner posts are, but there's a lot of forest and rough terrain between, so it's hard to keep a straight line. I know it's damn close to the boundary, but right now I can't say on which side of the line it falls.
Last when we were at Surge Narrows market day, an island old-timer told me that perhaps I would not mention to my wife that a horse fell down a well down this way about 25 years ago. By that time we had already tasted the well water, and it did not taste too horsey. Didn't taste much like cougar, wolf or deer or any other of the local fauna either. The guy who actually knew where to find it assured me the well we found was not the horse well. Anyway, I am undeterred. Let's say the horse that fell in was black in color. I might just start bottling that well water and call it "Black Horse Pure Spring Water" and start shipping it around the world.
Thank you again C-Brats. What a great place this is! There’s a wealth of experience here. I have done a lot of reading on this board and I have seen a broad range of common and not-so-common problems addressed and info shared. A wonderful resource. And some plain good reading. I have enjoyed the stories of those who have shared their adventures and experiences, including some great photos.
