Storms

Our bone dry summer ended with a couple of incredible storms. Earlier in the month there was a lightening storm that struck Bowen with 1000 bolts of lightning and 100mm of rain in a couple of hours. There was some flooding damage but nothing serious.

Then last night the first southeasterly gale of the season. A hurricane force system slammed into the west coast of Vancouver Island and by the time it got to is at supper time it was blowing storm force winds - up to 100km/h. There were trees and power lines down and the creeks are swollen with salmon calling water. Within six weeks there will be snow on the mountains and chum in the streams.

We have turned.

Cleaning up Mannion Bay

Adam Taylor and crew are set for their annual clean up of Mannion Bay.  I'm out of the country but if you are around on September 7, join in:

The 3rd annual Dive against debris will be held in a couple weeks, on Saturday September 7th. We will meet for a briefing at Noon on the pier outside the Taco & Kayak Shacks, then head over to Deep Bay. 

If you would like to lend a hand on shore, on the water in a kayak, rowboat or small power boat, or underwater as diver or free diver please let me know. 

Over the past 2 years we have brought up over 2200lbs of junk from the bottom of Deep Bay. We have covered most of the bay already so are hopeful that we won't be encountering as many old boat batteries, generators, welding machines and other such nasty junk. 

Based on recent discussions there appears to be some interest in improving the general appearance and functionality of the Sandy Beach area. To that end a few of us would like to have an informal site visit after the event to discuss what could be done to improve the beach & bay for residents and visitors alike. 

SUPping in peace

This is Hutt Island which lies a few hundred meters off of Bowen on Galbraith Bay. It's a steep island with hardly anywhere to land. It lies out of the way of most boat traffic and at the end of a small quiet road. This part of Bowen is perhaps the most quintessentially iconic Gulf Island. Beyond Hutt is Gambier island and behind that Mount Wrottersley, which stands further north of us up Howe Sound.

I SUPped out here this afternoon in the grey light and the warm summer air, paddling around Hutt. A little breeze from up the inlet raised some chop and have my arms a good workout. And running downwind I got to drift with the wind and the ebbing tide.

There were tons of seals out there today - several pairs of mothers and pups. One pair followed me almost the whole way around the island surfacing around me and disappearing as fast as they arrived.

It was beautiful and calm and relaxed and untouched. One of the last places on Bowen that has been allowed to return to its natural state. Hutt is all Crown land and at one point was slated to be mined for gravel put that was stopped decades ago. All that remains is some old pilings for a wharf and a half built road ascending into the second growth forest of arbutus, Douglas-fir and cedar.

May it always remain so.

Breaking the pattern for a moment

We set a record that will never be beaten.  July had no rain at all.  Not a drop, not a whiff, not even the mere idea of rain crossed the threshold of the island until just after midnight on August 1.  It (was, and is) bone dry around here, although last night the skies opened up and we got a good soaking.

Summer rain on Bowen is like that, the same as sunny days in the winter.  They briefly interrupt a trend and then the weather returns to the natural cycles that the climate has bestowed upon us.  And so the drought will return, but for the moment, we are basking in damp, cool, goodness.

Temporary respite in civic affairs can be like that too.

This morning there has been a lovely thread on the forum in response to one of my blog posts that got republished on our community mailer.  In it, several islanders who we haven't heard from recently surface and lend their voices to the conversation about change that is happening around us.  It's good to hear from devo and Irene and David (with whom I have had vehement disagreements in the past)  Corbin and Steve.  Feels like rain in the middle of a dry summer.

On Bowen Island, not matter how hard you try, you can't shout down the beauty.

Big dock gets its shaft - and so does the view

The big dock at Lot 13 at Cape Roger Curtis started getting its decking today.  From Collingwood Point the view of the Cape lighthouse from the point now has a line drawn straight across it.  It's as if the iconic view of a lonely lighthouse atop a rocky point has been cancelled out.  There is now nowhere on Bowen where the view of the north side of the Cape does not include this pier.  And should the current applications go ahead, another will be built between this one and the Cape.

It continues to be laughable that advertisements like this one are still in circulation:

In fact, even the views don't last forever.  At this rate the thing that is going to last the longest will be the general animosity towards the owners and the heartbreak of a huge section of the community, the cynical indifference of another huge section of the community and the perverse glee of our local libertarians. In fact the view on the cover of the developer's own design guidelines is actually different now because of this single dock.  

Speaking of which, I was cruising through these design guidelines and see how many of them have been simply broken by this one dock, let alone five more docks.  A sample, to which I have added some commentary:

• "The southwest corner of the Bowen Island [sic] is afforded longer hours of afternoon sun while sunsets at The Cape on Bowen are unparalleled, silhouetting the Cape Lighthouse against he backdrop of the Gulf Islands."  Unparalleled in the sense that there is now a 363 foot wharf structure perpendicularly included in that view.
• "The fulfilment of these concepts...will see a neighbourhood defined by grace and generosity."  I am gobsmacked that this is actually in the design guidelines.  I await with baited breath, the practice of grace and generosity in this whole debacle.  
• "Spectacular views abound from the wild terrain and ocean's edge, intended to be captured through home siting and architectural forms and celebrated at key locations for shared community enjoyment." I'm not sure what is happening right now meets the owner's definition of a "celebration" by the community.  Unless you count the Stop the Docks parties at Pebble Beach.
• "Preserve, protect and enhance existing natural features, including views." It's just not happening folks.  It's as if the docks are responding to a guideline to "create a massive personal moorage irrespective of its impact on your view, your neighbour's view or the views of the community."  There.  Fixed that for you. 
• They actually identify the foreshore as a "conversation area."  The designers say that these areas "have been established as a mechanism to protect environmentally sensitive and archaeologically significant areas in accordance with Provincial legislation and and Conservation Covenants registered on the title of the property." Except go ahead and build a honking great dock there if you want.  

These design guidelines were created way back in 2010 so perhaps they have been forgotten or set aside now, except that they are still on the developer's website and they are right now being violated by the developer's own private dock.

Preserving seashells, the Bowen way

Kristen Denger over at FOXGLOVE Magazine has a wonderful tutorial for preserving seashells that you find at the seashore.  And she has some stunning examples of snail shells from King Edward Bay.

Currents are swirling

Another beautiful SUP last night down to Cape Roger Curtis. We have super big tides right now due to the phase and proximity of the moon. out at the Cape the currents were swirling this way and that. It was like a washing machine right off the light house, water heaving and moving in every direction. When a large boat passed the wake was crazy, at times becoming standing waves, breaking and moving all around. It was fun paddling in it, if a little nervy.

The dock at Lot 13 is now out a long way from shore. When I rounded Collingwood Point close to shore the perspective I had was that the pilings were out nearly twice as far from shore as the lighthouse is. Once they top it with a dock that majestic view of a rocky headland with a lighthouse perched on it will be eclipsed until nature decides otherwise.

Big docks for little cocks, if you'll pardon my rude insinuation. The owners of the Cape are selling these properties as a way to make your mark and leave a legacy for future generations. I have no idea what motivates a person of extreme wealth to create such a grandiose and out of proportion legacy such as this but I can only imagine it has to do with compensating for feelings of inadequacy in other parts of one's life.

But being out there in the crazy current last night convinced me that the owners are not building docks so much as they are building shish kabob skewers for large boats. The real shame is that there will almost certainly be ship wrecks out there if people choose to actually moor boats on those docks. So I'm proposing a tongue in cheek fundraising effort. I'm proposing that we start a pool. We can bet on the date of the first boat sinking at the Cape with the proceeds going to the community centre fund (but only after the fund goes to building a proper community centre). How about that?

Or is raising money off another person's misfortune too mean a thing to do, even if they clearly have the money to spend and they don't seem to care about sinking it into a situation that will only cause them to lose it? There has to be a way to convert the spiteful imposition of these structures into a force for the common good, no?

Anyway. I hear there is a community meeting on Thursday to talk about Council's proposed by law regulating, or to be clearer, permitting docks. I'm off island that day so no chance of me witnessing a miraculous recovery of civic decorum. If people like my friend Melissa are there I'm sure she will be erudite and calm and constructive. But it will up to everyone else to decide whether Council has achieved their goal of healing the community or not.

Currents indeed are swirling and are unpredictable things. Only a fool stakes an anchorage there hoping to find refuge.