Bob Hunter 4 - Wednesday, November 6, 1985 - North Shore News From Page 1 the suitability of the jet- propelled Boston Whaler rescue boat, which witnesses Upgrading the rescue boat’s contents and improv- ing communication between seamen who man it were also addressed by the jury. to the B.C. Ferry Corpora- tion was that ferries should sound the ship’s whistle upon entering Queen Charlotte Channel so as to © strictly personal ® I’D BEEN out of town. Getting home, I found that the back yard was back to being a swamp. My Renault had died. The front eavestrough had snapped. The washer was gone in the bathroom sink. And the boat had sunk — again. It was winter. tell. I don't closely identify with any other mode of transportation, besides boats. A 747 may be the penultimate deus ex machina but a ship is an event. You’ can always write a book about your lust sea voyage. But can you imagine a novel entire- fly. devoted to a plane flight? MYSTICAL SOUNDING I don’t want to sound f mystical, but {| KNEW something horrible had ’ happened to the boat. I’d been busy. Good help is so hard to find. Boats equal money. For all those reasons, | hadn’t looked at her for well over a month. _ That’s negligence. Boats have a way of divorcing you quickly if you stop ‘loving them. They go all broody with. moss and slime, 1 had never even given ‘the old girl a. name, you know, I. mean, you call that love? She was just a i substitute for a boat I’d ‘really loved and which had been. taken from me by fate. She knew it, nameless little, beauty that she was. ‘And I knew it. And, more to ,the point, ‘the ‘guys at the club knew ‘it. ‘‘When're you gonna i-haul that piece of junk outa here, buddy?” . “It is amazing © how philosophi- cal you can get, | staring at the cabin of your ‘boat as it. wob- bles in the wake of a Passing tug ee _ I went down to the dock in the rain. Alone. Indeed, as every man is in the y crunch, SINKING SHIP . Only the roof and wails ‘of the cabin were. still above the water and one corner of the stern. Other- wise, empty fuel drums ‘bobbed about, clanking together, oars moved like ‘chopsticks and float ‘jackets and foam-padded seat covers silently glided about. Ah yes, and a styrofoam picnic box, its lid washed out to sea. ‘And .the rain made a great HISS upon the waters. And there was nothing to see but a grey blur all around. A’ gull cried in the distance. Ky, ky, ky! Mocking, some- how. It is never just your boat there in the water. It is your fate. Possibly it is the universe’s fate. At the very least it is a whole conflux of event-horizons sloshing ‘around together in the mist. _ The term dead in the I could ‘but finally, water comes to mind. Yet, it is curious. A boat sunk is no less beautiful, really, than a boat afloat. It is the the same with a dead bird. | If its wing is flung out, it is still a lovely arch, whether made of bones or feathers. ERLE RTE **.. I did get her home safely and up on blocks in the yard beside the carport and the patio, where I'll be able to look down on her fondly while I barbecue ham- burgers ...”’ It is amazing how philo- sophical you can get, star- ing at the cabin ‘of your boat as it wobbles in the ] wake of a passing tug and the lines creak as they strain, keeping the rest of the hulk from sinking. ‘MUST RESCUE It would be nice to cut the lines, but of course, ahem, that’s out of the question. We mariners are gentlemen, are we not? She must be rescued. Besides, there’s the boys at the club. So I arrange for the ‘truck with the boat-hauling trailer to arrive. It takes " . séveral attempts before we actually coordinate me, the | truck driver, the tides, the boat, the keys to the dock, one rainy November afternoon, we couple, as it were. As the boat comes up [| squeaking and. crunching out of the water, cupped in the trailer, we see she is wearing a dark seaweed beard Afro’ed with oyster shells and barnacles and razorback clams. She sags in the middle. The damp -has left the windows foge- ed so she ‘seems to be avoiding my eye. “Well, Ido get her safely home and ‘up on blocks in the yard beside the carport and the patio, where I’ll be able to look down on her | fondly while I barbecue hamburgers, if it ever stops raining again. DRIPPING MESS The kid wants to make a “fort”? out of it. The wife wants to make a bonfire. I talk mystically about ‘‘get- ting her fixed up’’. The dog cringes away from this immense, dripping mess. And the rain makes its great HISS. ' But, you know? I finally feel like a genuine B.C.er, It has taken me since 1964 or thereabouts, to achieve this state. I thought I'd have to grow web feet, but no, I’ve done the next best thing: I have a boat up on blocks in my yard.! NOW 1 | feel like a native! And the boat’s happy, of course. She’ll get to be a flowerpot. foe, alert other vessels in the said appeared to be difficult vicinity of its presence. to maneuver. A MERCHANTS Show Remembrance Display a POPPY WREATH in your window POPPY TAG DAYS North Van & West Van Nov. 7,8 &9 Assist Canadian ex-service personnel and their dependants in necessitous circumstances ... their sacrifices will ever inspire us to labour on, to the end that those who serve and now need our aid | may be assured of assistance. Thank You for Your Kindness Contact: THE ROYAL CANADIAN tEGION e Br. Pte 423 W. 15th St., N. Van. 51915 . Br. 114, 4 1630 Lynn Valley Rd., N. Van. final recommendation Best Price Best Service at Soundcraft isn’t if time you] were | looking e Br. #60, 580 18th St., W. Van. 922-1920 AN.AF. Vets of CDA #45 § 119 E. 3RD ST. N.VAN. | 988-7811 LJuy a pair of Dynastar Visa a Skis at the regular price of | | $199.95 & receive a free pair | of Caber Sierra Boots or . Caber Athena Boots _ (reg. up to $210.00). Spalding or ‘Elan. Ski package. _Caber: | Sierra 9 Caber Athena |Spalding Team or Elan Skis reg. $200.00 f BSaiomon 326 S000 54 §9° a Caber Sierra or Athena Boots $ 17.00 Now | § Binding mounting Total $537.00 NORDICA SALOMON Socks $X91 %2 price reg. $350.00 249% SALE ENDS Nov. 10th North Shore Ski Swap & Shop 1625 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver 980-1911.