May 13th

Blog site was down for repair and I had to bowl early at interclub so nothing done on here  - sorry folks.
Too late for temperature as it is almost 1 pm. But a decent day out there.
I just stepped out into the back yard, the fragrance of all the flowers in bloom is amazing, I have never smelt them this strong before.

HERE SHE COMES!

I

n the 1940’s the Union Steamship Company owned a group of ships that provided the only routine connection between the various coastal communities and the “center of the universe” – Vancouver.

  These small ships arrived about every two weeks at each of their designated ports.  They made each trip regularly in all kinds of weather, I don’t remember them missing their expected arrival day although the hour of arrival fluxuated somewhat.

  It was always a treat for me to go to Vancouver usually once year, we didn’t get to have a stateroom as the trip was too short, but the dining room was for me a fantastic place.  Dinner “gongs” were rung for first or second seating; sometimes there would be one of the officers at the table.  The tables were set with real linen tablecloths and linen napkins; the silver ware was all silver and so very shiny.  A meal steward (man talk about living “high on the hog”) waited on us!

  Back at home boat night or boat day as the case may be was always a big event. Mail was delivered, fresh vegetables, perhaps some fruit and pallets of canned goods were delivered for the local store.  We, kids and adults alike, would start gathering about an hour before “the boat” was due.  The waiting period was a time to socialize and visit with those folks you didn’t see on a daily basis.  Depending on which direction the wind was blowing we would become aware of “the boat’s” arrival by either a plume of smoke or the sight of it’s bow suddenly appearing just past the point.  For some reason it was quite important amongst us kids to be the first one to shout HERE SHE COMES!

  For a couple years I was particularly excited in the summer months on boat day.  This was because there was a young fellow, probably a deckhand that would go to the aft rail his hair was long for that era and he would be dressed only in a pair of trunks.  Thinking back he obviously knew he had an audience, why else and how else could he climb up on the rail with such deliberation, stare out over the water then slowly raise his arms out parallel to his shoulders, hesitate for a long moment then launch himself out in a swan dive that was total perfection.  It must have been thirty or forty feet from the top of that rail to the water and he would enter the bay with barely a splash!  We called him Tarzan, and to me he was.

  There was one event that has always remained in the forefront of my memory; this happened just before Christmas and the Harbour’s part was the middle of a three-event episode.

  I don’t remember now whether “the boat” was going up coast or down and as the direction isn’t important I’ll say it was heading down (to Vancouver).

  As the story goes, the skipper, who like any true seaman, enjoyed a bit of grog.  Sometime before they arrived at the town of Lund the skipper had “a few” and feeling generous probably due to the season invited at least some of the crew to join him.  Now just a month or so earlier the government had replaced all the three by twelve fir planking on the Lund dock.  Now it wasn’t unusual for these boats or others to give the dock a good bump when they were landing, as tide and wind were always factors.  However this day, whoever was on the bridge was a little slow with slowing the ship and then slow in signaling all stop and reverse.  “The boat” hit the dock at a bit of an angle and crunched into those new planks for about twenty feet or more, Of course the damage didn’t stop there as the force of the collision caused a chain like reaction and most of the planks on the dock were ripped off their spikes!

  I have no idea how this affected any passengers, but I don’t believe they were able to load or unload any freight.

  Several hours later “the boat” steamed into the Harbour and docked at Irvine’s.  It was a normal docking and everything proceeded as usual – well almost.  When “the boat” left it backed out and kept on backing until it ran its stern into the little island out in the harbour.  Somehow “the boat” suffered no damage, but the same can’t be said for the outhouse that was built out over the water!

  Once again heading in a forward direction, the boat headed out of the harbour, bound for Thormanby Island.

  Now in those days the docking facility there was a large float, perhaps two chained together.  But once again the docking procedure went without a hitch.  Some twenty minutes or so later “the boat” pulled out again.  Unfortunately, no one had remembered to untie from the float.  People, dogs, freight and whatever were being towed out into the strait!  The error was noted quickly, the float was cast loose and “the boat” continued on  –  Vancouver bound.

 I sort of recall that the skipper may have been reprimanded.