4 - Sunday, March 1, 1987 - North Shore News Pacinos ora aera BACK WHEN I was much younger and filled up with Bob Hunter @ strictly personal @ Zen thoughts of purity, | had a hankering to become a fisherman, Accordingly, i 1¥72, E bought myself a 29-foot gilluetter, com: plete with a net and CO" licence. for jusi $1,400. At the time, in my innocence, T thougnt wo rather wonderful that the boat had a Ford V-8 engine instead of an ordinary marine diesct. Ht turned out the trouble with a V-8 engine in a boat is that there is a litte gadget chat shuts off the supply of fucl as soon as the engine tills to any serious degree. Why this should be, |} don't know. AIL F do know is that any time there was a wave more than a couple of feet high coming abeam, the engine would gasp and shudder and die — just when you don’t want it to. It would have been nice to have found somieone to take me out and show me the ropes, but nobody [ knew who knew anything about fishing, or, for that matter, boats, would go out brew oor twa, playing a tape deck at full blast. Rather than heading im niediately for the west coast af Vasecouver Ishind or auything ambitious like that, | decided to modesdy ain for the mouth of the North Arn of the Fraser, in the waters just west of Point Grey where PE had been told there were zillions of salmon to be caught, An element of mysticism has to be introduced here. i'n sorry. But that’s the way it was. The boat had been built in Steveston well before the war, which meant that she was un- doubtably one of the fishing boats that had been ripped off from Japanese-Canadians and sold cheap to white folks after Pearl Harbour. Maybe that explained what happened within minutes of our arrival on the Point Grey fishing grounds, with me once they’d seen that It had been flat calm all the Ford V-8. Can’t say | blame way across English Bay, you them. understand. But within five So I tock along a guy who minutes, | swear, of our reaching knew a bit about motorcycle our goal, a_ killer nor’wester engines and wanted to be arock = sprang up and the little gillnetter musician. What a team we made, _ began pitching and rolling hor- him out of his gourd and ribly. me chucking back a celebratory It was not lost on me that Medical premiums jump MEDICAL Services Plan - premiums will increase by 10 per q cent April 1, and premium assistance levels will be enhanced. The premium for a single person will be $20 a month compared with the current $18. The rate for a person with one dependent will increase to $37 from $34, and families of three or more persons will pay $42, com- pared with $38. (The current rates went into effect April I, 1986). Health Minister Peter Dueck said the increase wi'l help the Med- ical Services Plan meet rising costs, HARBOUR CENTRE which continue to exceed the 689-4111 growth in population. Premiums will meet less than 40 a Yeae the Cnty On a NO APPOINTMENTS 4 YOUR NON. VeOrH anid inate hamithaze means Divine Wind after the famous starin that samak an entire Chinese tleet that tried toate Japan an anaiedt fines Recrbutan? beth tke uy tes sure. Served me ight tor busing hot yauds, even af the thet aed been the Govermitonat at Cada Towa gust starting ta feel at buve of triumph on the face at ecout odds whem brealived thyrr something tocible bad: happened She pepe cammechar rhe net to the boat had broken, Thoaosttnamon tke chet amie does whet he dais fo, ob course. Sood backed the boat up vers, cers ccarebilly, casing: toward the drittame net Atay, the automatic gen on the canned V-8 woutdi't SHEE tito reverse qaickly cheagh amd YOu ptiessed) att the propetloc smayged osm che ner and everyiiing counched toa belt, Wunderbar, here was nothing for it but to strip down to omy underwear, seizing ao breadhnite in my teeth, and dive into the water. It was late September, by the way. Gasp. What with the waves and the hor'wester, the boat kept leaping upward as [ grappled with the propellor, sawing desperately away with the breadknife, Nylon rope comes apart so slowly when you're ina hurry.... And then the boat would come down, trying deliberately, it seemed, to slice me open. [t was a bit Jike being a water bug under a huge wooden fly swatter. I did get us free but 1 was so spastic from the cold that my deckhand had to put his guitar down and haul me back aboard. We tried one more time, but the net got away again, the V-8 was making gagging sounds, and the Divine Wind was giggling hysterically. [ decided to retire from the fishing business, go home, and write my memoirs. NEWS photos Stuart Davis WORKMEN MANOEUVRE 2 27,000 pound section of pipe into place on Capilano Road in the District of North Vancouver. The pipes, which are 60 feet long and 78 inches wide, are lowered by crane. Approximately 130 of these sections are being installed to improve the water sysiem izom Edgemont Boulevard to Marine Drive. NORTH VANCOUVER STORE Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am - 9:00 pm Sat. 8:30 am - 6:00 pm ) Great styles. | Great prices...everyday! Sun. 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Shampoo } Conditioner! Blow Dry or Set a $ Permaneni ‘Wave ey {includes cut & finish} “Drive Through Lumber; Yard Now Open”’ 987-9374 WEST VANCOUVER SCHOOL DISTRICT Complimentary Consultations Use your Sears card per cent of the Medical Services Pian costs, which will total ap- proximately $1 billion in the com- ing year. The remaining funding comes from general government revenues, including transfer payments from the federal government. The Medical Services Plan has a premium assistance program covering more than 530,000 British Columbians with low incomes. 24 In the coming year, starting Jul . a : 1, premium 8 ar ee coverage Next time you're in, ask for our price will be improved by increasing the list. qualifying income levels and by providing higher subsidies. This year, subscribers with a Surprised our copy prices are so low? They're low because we specialize in photocopying — not printing. And there's no extra charge for collating or coloured stock. On large jobs. your cost can be as low as 2.5 cents” per copy. taxable income level of $2,500 a a year or less (up from $2,060 last the full premium rate, compared ! 1350 Pemberton Avenue CONCORDE COPY CENTRES LTD. . year) will pay only five per cent of | Tbe North Shore's Copy Specialists. with the 10 per cent previously. | | North Vancouver / Ph: 985-5115 Over 500,000 persons are expected to qualify for this level of subsidy. ca Persons with a taxable income between $2,500 and $3,500 (up from $3,160 last year) will pay 45 per cent of the full premium rate, compared with 50 per cent previously. L - i Mon.-Fri: | Saturdays: | After hours by appointment. “plus taxes. 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM West Vancouver, B.C. THIS EXCEPTIONAL PROGRAMME, NO.v IN ITS SECOND YEAR, IS OPEN TO ANY NORTH SHORE STUDENTS ENTERING GRADE 7 IN SEPTEMBER 19:7. For further information, please call 922-32y1.