4 - Friday, Cctober 2, 1987 - North Shore News

pepo

ae

WHEN IT COMES TO THE CRUNCH

Ifyou’ve been injured in an accident,
you may be entitled to compensation
for out-of-pocket expenses, lost
income and pain. If so, call Patricia
Armstrong or Howard Bradbraoke,
our personal injury claims team.
They're experienced at providing
valuable counsel and representing
your best interests. What's more, semen
they'll work for a fair and reasonable

Bob Hunter

@ strictly personal ®

PVE GOT a wooden 26-foot cabin cruiser called the
Venator. Readers of this column did not run across many

gailey table and also went to
sleep.

Venator stories this summer for the simple reason that in
early June, one of the fuel tanks sprang a leak, as did, a
short time later, the second one.

The tanks cost $1,200 to
replace, what with the back deck
having to be ripped out and
rebuilt.

And then there was the water
pump to be fixed and a new fuel
gauge to be installed. She had to
be brought up on the ways to
have the barnacles and the weeds
scraped off. She needed copper-
bottoming, new zincs, a complete
paint job inside and out.

Basically, through the summer,

. we bailed money from the bank
into the boat.

-~ Finally, the day came when the
Venator looked so sweet and
hummed so prettily that my heart
went weak from love at first sight
all over again.

It had cost us $3,000, and we
still hadn’t got out once this
summer.

So on the weekend when we
finally did, there was a lot of ex-
pectation involved.

‘Ah, but it was perfect! The
new fuel gauge stood at full,
meaning she had been topped for
us, We loaded all the goodies you
could imagine on board, ranging
from a decent Bordeaux for the
adults to coloring books for the
little girl, and Archie comics for
the eight-year-old.

Passing under the Lions Gate
we found ourselves in the teeth of
a 20-knot wind, maybe gusting to
30,- with the swells gradually
building up to some five-foot
waves, just about ready to break,

.

but not quite.

lt was enough so that | had to
put the wiper on and we had to
close the windows against the
spray.

No big deal. But in a 26-foot
boat, not exactly over-powered,
with a shallow keel, drawing no
more than a couple of feet, you
do get an adrenalin buzz.

When I’m doing 23 r.p.m., the
Venator cruises at about nine
knots.

By the time we were halfway
across English: Bay, though, I
had nudged the throttle down to
just 15 r.p.m. in acknowl-
edgement of the fact that we had
actually torpedoed once, that is,
our nose had dug into a wave in-
stead of rising before it.

There were plenty of sails
spread out across the heaving
blue water, but only a couple of
motor-powered vessels in the
whole of English Bay, even
though it was a Saturday aiter-
noon.

Belatedly, 1 realized that we
had not listened to a marine
forecast since last night, when a
heavenly calm was promised.

50 badly had we wanted to get
out here that we were into a mild
but quite real smail-craft warning
situation.

The kids handled all this being
heaved-about with aplomb. The
boy climbed -into. the. forward
cabin and went to sleep. The girl
snuggled on the bench beside the

LIONS GATE Rotary Club
members with the assistance of the
Rotaract Youth Club and North
Vancouver RCMP will be at the
Esso station located at 17th Street
and Lonsdale Avenue 10 a.m- to 4
p.m. Oct. 3 to identify vehicle con-
tents as part of the Automark
engraving program to deter theft.

That left the Captain and his
mate enjoying the ride, talking
about the old days when we were
young and didn’t have kids and
used to go adventuring — until,
with a horrible chug-gak, the
engine conked out.

Venator began to wallow hor-
ribly.

My wife yelled, over the sud-
denly loud keening of the wind:
“The gas! We're out of gas!’’

I punched the fuel gauge. It
said FULL even though we had
travelled some distance. Well,
that was wrong, terribly wrong.

The kids were still asleep, with
their lifejackets on, which left us
both free to scramble to the stern
to start checking out the new
tanks and see how they worked.
While the boat tossed like a hurt
animal, we each unscrewed a gas
tank cap and took turns shoving
a wooden ruler inside, to discover
that the port tank was empty, but
the starboard one was full.

In a few seconds, I had traced
the starboard fuel line to a small
valve under the new deck, which
I flipped to what I hoped was
OPEN and_ hauled myself hand
over hand back to the wheel,

Twisting the key, I heard a ter-
rifying grating noise for a few se-
conds, and then the - engine
roared to life, the wheel spun
fiercely, and we were back in ac-
tion, bow-first into the waves.

How quickly the fun ended
and the terror began! But for the
rest of the day, no denying it, we
were really alive.

. A little thing.. Just.a-moment --§_.

like that. But scary enough to
remember forever.

f
Policé remind vehicle owners
who live in large complexes with
underground parking lots with se-
curity gates to wait until gates have
closed before leaving the area.
Waiting will help deter potential
thieves or vandals from slipping in
and vandalizing or breaking into
parked vehicles.

fee; either an hourly rate or ona

percentage basis.

For a free consultation on these
and other legal matters, call us at

980-8571.

BRADBROOKE
CRAWE

SOUNDCRAFT
EXCLUSIVE

HQ VHS HIFi STEREO VCR

" MODEL AVRDSS

e Stereo TV Broadcast Reception
(MTS) © Hi-Fi Stereo Audio

/ Playback and Recording ® 4-Logic

‘ Video, Heads © 107 Channel
Cablemaster Tuning * 30 Function”
Wireless Remote Variable Speed
Slow Motion « 8 Event, 2 Week
Programming «* VI/SCAN «
Noiseless Still & Slow Motion

. ~ | 63CE06
dbx STEREO

“| >MTS «
SAP =~
Reg: #999”

aa $79

T his year, Air Canada and AirBC
joined forces with Air Ontario and
Air Nova to create a massive domestic,
aviation network. Now, one ticket
gives you the full range and scope of
Air Canada Connector service. Our
interconnecting flight schedules _
provide quicker, smoother, easier’
access into and out of every destina-
tion we serve. Add the convenience
ofone-stop check-in. Connection
boarding passes. And through baggage
check-in to your final destination.

For your added comfort, many of our
flights are nonsmoking. As an added
reward, every Air Canada Connector
flight gives you a minimum of 800
Aeroplan miles toward a world of free
travel with 20 airlines, hotel chains
and car rental companies around the
world. For the one ticket to travel,

call Air Canada, AirBC, or your travel
agent today.

Giving Business Our Best

®)

AIR CANADA,

ABVIANCL OFC SRADIAN ERAVET SSS0CLATIONS
ergy FY Er on CRECCRTTANT A

| The Air Canada Connectors