our boat i is now tied to the fate of a “wooden face Polynesian Back in'1974, ‘ny wife and I bought a boat called the Astral,’ a 30-foot double- ender built in. 1930. out of . She “served” “with “the provincial . police before being: turned: over to the RCMP. and used for decades as a patrol boat along the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Needless to say, they don’t build boats like that anymore. So far as I know, home-grown gumwood, for instance, is extinct.. So’s craftmanship; I might add. — The. Astral is a classy, heavy-duty boat, and that’s all thete is to it. For the. first three years that we had the: boat, we lived on her full time. It makes quite a difference if you're living on a2 boat. The pumps have to be kept working. The diesel. stove has to be mended You're always regularly. North Vancouver City staff were negligent because they didn’t bill Lonsdale Quay for $38,503.86 in legal fees, Alderman Ralph Hall charged at last Monday’s council meeting. Hall, backed by Stella Jo Dean and Bill Sorenson, said council has an established policy of billing for the use of the City’s legal services. “We have a policy and I suggest that somebody's been negligent in not cn- forcing it,” he said. Council has always billed firms and individuals when the City’s lawyers have to draw up documents for rezoning applications and similar. matters, but the British Columbia Development . Cor- poration(BCDC), which is coordinating the with - ; funies, bilging , this’ or checking that, testing the. engine, fiddling alert to’ the ~The rocking motion ‘of the boat became a part of life. There is no sweeter way to be put to sleep than by the movement:of water. Oh boy, Tm nodding off just thinking aboutit... . _8es8 Good.: ‘times?. Well, later. So many: Astral stories _crowd into my-mind: that, by ‘rights, I'll have to.do a book about it someday." Naturally, it'll ‘be’ calied Astral Travels.. It often seemed that our stately little craft was bearing us along some dimensional slipstream quite outside the ‘reach of the ordinary universe. -We mounted a ‘carved development of Lonsdale Quay, aren't being billed for these services, Dean con- tended. However, City ad- ministrator Ed Raymond and Director of Permits and Licenses Frank Morris said council should have notified BCDC in advance if it wished to bill the corporation for legal expenses. Dean's motion to bill BCDC was defeated by other council members who said the policy of billing for legal services is meant for cases like rezoning applications, where the City has to draw © up the legal papers for the applicant. Lonsdale Quay, on the other hand, is a multi-million dollar development where the City has to use its own West Vancouver FULLY LICENSED golden capital rouNGE Free Delivery 926-6037 Open from 4 p.m.-Tl p.m. Catering for Parties 2168 Marine Or. West Vancouver DINING ° flying lawyers to protect its in- part West Coast bridge; -and this ‘became the embodiment of the Astral’s personality. - ‘Did. I°-say personality? Well, yes, I did. I doubt it .. when: I'm ‘ashore, but -when I'm.on the boat, it’s im- possible not to relate to her as.though she was a. being of some | kind. There have been - - many times, I know,. when she cither did the steering herself. or faked some problem to keep us out of trouble. And’ when [m alone on the boat for any length of time, I take to talking to her as though she was a person. But, for all this, it remains true that a boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money. And now comes the sad part. Last spring we finally paid for her. By then we had moved ashore, putting aside the “last vestigéS of our Romantic Youth and became Mr. and Mrs. absorbs ,000 legal bill terests, said Frank Marcino. “Isn't that worth a few bucks in legal fees?” he asked. The City also runs the risk it will “Mickey Mouse” Lonsdale Quay out of existence if it bills BCDC for the legal fees, Marcino added. Gary Payne agreed, saying council would jeopardize its . ‘longer living ‘on the: we decided to put her to. work. Couldn't just leave her sitting there: .- We chartered her out. Whoops! Bad “mi Never charter your boat. -The guy we chartered her. “to succeeded in ruining | the four-cylinder diesel ° ‘engine mistake. . completely, . and. -when - he ‘abandoned the boat, a lot of ‘stuff was stolen. It turned out there was a fine-print loophole in the insurance, and the insurance company refused to pay the damages. Are you crying yet? I was. All we could get out of the insurance guys was a small ‘ex gratia payment of $2,500. Damages were in the neighbourhood of $8,000. When you're in a desperate corner, you do desperate things. So we took the $2,500, shopped around for stocks a bit, and decided on a gold mine in Newfoundland with $2 shares that someone said are supposed to go to $10. When our shares reach own credibility and that of City staff if it sent BCDC a legal services bill more than a year after the project was approved. Mayor Jack Loucks said Dean and the council members who supported her were being ungrateful as BCDC has given the city $2 to 3 million worth of land for the waterfront park. EARLY DINNERS EARLY WEEK TIME TO LINGER LONGER 107 W W. Esplanade, N. V. 134 W. Esplanade, N.V. about: that stock: Then. Now that’s optimism. 40% off Sale - " Until Feb. 21sv/81> - - 20% off selected — short dresses ““Wedding Fair’’ Feb. 22/81 « Hyatt Regency Register here! 106 W. 18th St. off Lonsdale * 986-2621 R.E.S.T. con be used in the hours, R.E.S.T. reduces ¢ replacing smoking discomfort. 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