Bathtubs!

Well, It was just Bathtub weekend, and it was kind of a Gong show! I saw Micki this week for my mid-summer meeting, and I got to hear some feedback, and it also made me contemplate my accomplishments as well as the areas which I need to continue to focus, and try harder to achieve more. The meeting went well though, so that was a positive start to a very busy week. Lots of preparing to do, and lots of dock management, as we have been filled to essentially capacity for the last week and a half now, and expect to stay that way for another 4-5 weeks. No rest for the wicked right? I am writing a couple days late as I spent Monday working on Cameron Island. For anyone unfamiliar Cameron Island used to be an actual island, but it has since become a man-made peninsula, and is the area where the Gabriola Ferry docks, and also where I think Nananimo's only really fancy apartments and condos exist. Cameron Island is a different beast, as it generally houses only 50' + boats, which makes it a stressful day, because for 1; People take boats seriously, and these are serious boats. I would say the average cost of a boat that moors on Cameron Island is probably 1-3 million dollars ( i know!), with some probably reaching excesses of 5 or 6 million. It is a ridiculous amount of money to float around, but one of our recent Cameron Island boats had a built in salt water aquarium on one of the OUTSIDE decks! More money than I can even imagine. Also, I am not (you guys can vouch) a very sooty sophisticated person. It was an excercise in restraint for me to spend a day dealing with really really, rich people. Good day though. Bathtubs were very good, and I had a great vantage for the fireworks which were made memorable by the lightning which really was a much more awe inspiring show. I think Mother Nature was just letting us know that she can out do humans any time she wants. The picture is me with the S.S. Minnow and I am clearly pretending to work (I am really good at the pretending to work thing). Gilligan`s actual boat, and I got to tie it`s lines up. Awesome. Catch you guys next week.

Nine Weeks...

So, nine weeks in and things are just flying. This weekend was the Silly boat Regatta, which brings a lot of people down to the Harbour. We also had our first major Yacht club come through, which was the Seattle Yacht club. They had 900 feet of dock space reserved, and the Straight of Georgia was blowing in excess of 25 knots. This made boaters refuse to leave the docks, even though we didn't have room. It took quite a few hours of creative boat tying, but we were able to fit all of the boats in. Quite a way to make a day go flying by I must say. Also, we have been having some illegal incidents at the Port, and just today I got to spend about 45 minutes tailing a guy who assaulted someone on our docks! It was rad! I followed him from about 30 feet back all the up Albert St. to almost Prideaux, so that the Police could come and arrest him. I was totally in my James Bond moment or something. At least if Tourism doesn't work, I can't be a spy! Anywho, I am finding that when things are really busy that I enjoy the pressure of running the docks, tying boats, squeezing people in and doing everything at a full gallop. Plus, the tips are actually pretty good. Tomorrow is the start of my weekend, and I can't wait to rest up. The picture that I posted is of our southern docks at night, and I belive that I took this shot either one day before or after the full moon. The clouds were great, and I thought they would make for a kind of cool picture. Cody is out.

Eight Weeks in...

Good afternoon peeps! All is well in the Port of Nanaimo this week, and time is flying! We have been filled nearly to capacity for the last two weeks, and things are only just getting going. I am really starting to catch on (you guys know how long it can take me too FINALLY understand something!) to just how busy we can get. We have had some Dodd's rushes that will keep us on the dock's for 3 or 4 hours, which can amazingly feel like no more than 20 or 30 minutes. We have had to a lot of dock managing to make everyone fit, and I actually thought back to Aggie's class, because managing ahead of time is not my specialty at all. We have had all sorts of "interesting" events, from fistfights to locking boat to the docks who haven't paid, to people requesting a channel opening so that they could land their private floatplane. Never a dull moment, and I am really enjoying helping people find what they are looking for in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, or where ever they are heading next. Weather is beautiful, hiking trails are plentiful, finally got back my Internet, and work is good. Can't complain about summer this year!

Seven Weeks...

Oh Jeez, typing seven weeks just made me realize that summer is almost over already. Life at the Port is just dandy, with the busy factor really ramping up now that elementary and high school kids are out, and people are in vacation mode. The weather is still ridiculously good, although I have to say that I hope we get rain soon, as we really need it. No major exciting things, although the other night there may have been an "amateur" film being shot at the Bastion that we had some reports of, which is, to be honest, the strangest phone call I have heard. I have been fielding lots of questions about what there is to do in Nanaimo, and I am finding that if people don't like to hike, or walk, then I am useless to them. I saw Melanie the other day sitting down by the docks on her lunch break, so I sat and we chatted for about 20 minutes, catching up on what each other has been doing this summer. I promise that pictures are coming soon, but as I am fairly not technical, I am still figuring that out. It has been a good week, and today is my one year wedding anniversary which I am pumped about. As good as school is, and as much as I enjoy it, there is no way I could do it without her, so I am taking a quick opportunity to say that she is the best. Cody is out!