Boat cruise waterfront homes

I was lucky to be invited to a pleasant afternoon cruise on a private yacht last week



We had lots of room to roam around and I chose to stay on the upper deck so I could take photos along the way. We cruised the south shore of West Vancouver and we were able to see the spectacular homes along the waterfront which are not visible from the road . Many homes are built in challenging positions on cliffs, on private islands with most having swimming pools.



I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Oh how nice it would be to be living in any one of these beautiful homes with stunning views, overlooking the ocean.



The high tide mark can be seen on the rocks
















(Your own private island)













Homes of the rich and famous . Doesn't hurt to dream . . .

Walk to the Marina

Last week I took a rare mid-week day off to go on a cruise. What to do, do I drive downtown and pay for parking ? do I ride my bike and leave it in a parkade ? I was meeting Mrs Skoot so we would possibly have two cars down there and have to pay double for parking. Then do I take the bus which is half a block from home ? Or do I take the Skytrain (subway) instead and walk the mile to the nearest Skytrain station. Decisions, decisions . . .



Even though my foot is not yet back to normal, I took it easy and decided to walk the mile . As I allowed lots of time, I decided to get off at the Cambie Street station and walk the rest of the way . It's amazing what you notice while you are surveying your surroundings at walking pace



In order to get to the downtown area you have to travel across one of many bridges. Today I was going to walk over the Cambie Street Bridge



I set a slow pace and the bridge is shorter than it seems but looking at the walkway it appears to never end, though it is only about 1 kilometer long



I turn around to see I have walked from the top of the hill. The building on the left is Vancouver's City Hall.



It is a pleasant day with lots of marine air which is expected to burn off around noon. The temperatures are just right with a strong breeze blowing over the water . I am soon nearing mid-span and can see my destination on the other side aboard one of those white yachts



As I get closer I snap another close up photo



Eventually I get to the other side and have to cross through Yaletown where there are some fancy condos with creative water features



This one looks sort of like a tree with barren leaves so I just have to walk through it . Unfortunately I did not bring my tripod and could only put my camera on the ground and it chopped off my head



I was still a bit early so I decided to have a snack at one of the restaurants in the Marina area. I grabbed a sidewalk table and ordered a heathly sandwich accompanied with a healthy beverage



Two waters because I was thirsty and it was easier to carry two glasses to the table instead of having to get up a second time for the refill . My grilled salmon sandwich was simple



and very tasty . I was still had an hour to kill so walked around the corner to the Roundhouse Turntable Plaza which is still under construction



The Roundhouse was where rail cars and engines were put on a circular moving platform and redirected to various garages which were arranged in a cirle. CLICK HERE for more information



Of course the turntable is now in a fixed position



I was thinking that it would be nice to have a Roundtable mechanism in your own garage so you could turn your bike around



The rail tracks go into each "former" garage and have been left in the ground . There is also a railway museum on site and they have restored the first engine, No 374 that entered Vancouver during May 1887 .

I took many photos of waterfront homes during our cruise and generally had a relaxing time watching the scenery float by. Here is one taken from the stern, of Lighthouse park in the background . The lighthouse is still in daily operation but recently through automated control

Stators are submerged in oil

Lately I have been in keep fit mode. I have been cycling and last week I decided to take a walk on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Not long ago I used to take my camera and walk all day shooting photos of daily life. These days not so much because it irritates my foot, but I take it easy, take smaller steps and keep the distances manageable. As I was in the area, I decided to walk past this old house



It's the 3 storey walkup with the red roof. I notice that the veranda is now closed in. It used to be open



It was not considered to be in a good area back in the mid 1960's, and I notice that nothing has changed. It is still not in a good area but things look more deteriorated now. Earlier I walked past the front of the house intending to snap a closer photo, but the tenents came outside to enjoy the sunshine and I had to back off to a more discrete distance and zoom in, from a vantage point out of view.

It is not general knowledge that I was from a broken home and I thought my mean step-mother was picking on me as I was the one that always had to do the chores, while my step siblings didn't . One night I packed all of my worldly possessions into the trunk of my car and went to work as usual . . . only I never went home again. I found a room in a boarding house and shared my room with a friend. It wasn't the greatest existence but I continued to go to work expecting my family to call me on the phone at work to ask about me, but they didn't. A couple of weeks later, my dad called and asked how I was but we were not well off and he couldn't help much . Not long after I decided that a boarding house was not for me. Dinners were Kraft dinner and perhaps a hot dog or two for protein, preceeded with a stack of bread and butter. To this day when a meal is served with bread as the starter I often think of these sad times when I was alone with no support .

When I left the boarding house I was finally on my own. I had to fend for myself and I rented half of the upstairs of this old house, photos above. I look at those two windows on the top floor and remember that the one on the right was my bedroom, and the left one was the kitchen that I had to share with another young person. As I walked by it reminded me of these old times that I would rather forget. This was nearly 45 years ago and I still remember the sadness.

I walk around the corner to see if my previous mechanic, DJ Paul is in



He was the one who used to work on my SV650. He used to work out of a private garage, but now he has a storefront called, Motomethod. You can hire him to do all the mechanical work, or you can rent a lift and work on your bike yourself and call him over if you run into problems



Chelsea has a failed stator which she installed and somehow there is now an oil leak. I did not know until today that the stator is immersed in oil. here she is with her 600 sport bike leaned on the frame sliders while she removed the stator cover



with the cover off DJ Paul noticed part of the previous gasket was not fully removed causing the new seal, not to seal correctly and the oil just gushed out when the engine produced some pressure



That is the starter pinion gear near the bottom . After her bike was put back together and started for a few minutes



both of them crawled underneath to check for oil leaks . There was some oil residue but it was presumed that it was not completely cleaned off the inner fairings from the original leak, and was dripping down



There is another person who uses the shop to make custom bikes using 650 engines. Here is one example



later on this other person started one up to go on a road test

Choosing my new boots

Recently on my return home from a recent trip, I found out that my waterproof boots were not waterproof . Last year on my trip to Oregon I wore a pair of waterproof boots from a different manufacturer but the buckle broke and they were too snug, so I gave them away to a needy noobie.



Last week I stopped at Imperial Motorcyles to check out their Alpinestar boots, the same ones that someone else recently purchased.



They are the Alpinestars Ridge Waterproof, at least I hope they are



There is not much choice if you don't want a full height boot. I opted for the shorter Ridge model



They were not in stock last week but a new shipment was arriving in a few days so I put two sizes on hold . Ever since I hurt my foot I have been wearing GEL inserts which would require the next larger size, so I was fiddling around for quite a while trying to figure out which size to buy



I tried on the boots, with and without socks, and socks with and without the GEL inserts trying to narrow down the decision. On regular street shoes I would take a 42 metric. These size 10's were 43 but felt tight, then with the insert in, really really tighter. Remember in winter you may want to double up on the socks



the size 11's were 44 metric and were easier to put on. With the GEL insert they felt nearly perfect but my mind was thinking that they were 2 sizes too large, even though they felt good. I walked about the store for a bit wearing both sizes trying to flex the new leather and the 10's bit into my foot because it creased in the wrong spot (on my foot).

I even tried the eye test



and the larger boot looked to be the correct size. The 10's were very tight to pull on. Funny thing that when I compared my size 9W to the size 11 Alpinestars, they appeared to be virtually the same size



The top boot is the Alpinestars Ridge Waterproof size 11, and the bottom is size 9W and it fits a bit snug. If you didn't know the size you would think they would fit the same. Perhaps the Ridge is slightly wider. I like the idea of boots with NO laces as the laces have been caught on my pegs before.

After a lot of humming and hawing



I finally settled on the size 11's. They feel very comfortable with the GEL inserts

Smell the roses orientation ride

A few years ago I used to do a bit of cycling. After work I would come home, cycle downtown, ride along the seawall then ride home . I had two loops, one was 25 km, and the other was 40 km depending how I felt. I also rode with my friend on Saturday mornings after breakfast in Kitsilano. We would race around the seawall until one day my friend had a mishap and wrecked his elbow. My old bike was worn out with too much mileage so I upgraded to this bike



Of course I still have my racing bike with the 100 psi tires but the frame is old style with the shifters on the down tube. You could nearly lift it with your baby finger. This bike doesn't have the lightest frame but it is chrom-moly with alloy wheels and those new type of brakes which stop on a dime.



it has Shimano gears with the changers integrated into the handlebars



The cateye computer still has battery power and still works after all these years. I rushed home after work with the intention of going for a short cycle ride. I dug the bike out from the basement, pumped up the tires to 32 psi, and got out my chain lube and lubed the chain and gear cluster. I also sprayed the pivot points on the brakes and got a dust rag and dusted off the 8+ years of accumulated dust. It is illegal to ride a bicycle in BC without a helmet and I noticed that the inside cushions are disintegrating, so I may have to purchase a newer style helmet



I don't have mirrors mounted on my bicycle but since I wear glasses, I have this neat mirror gizmo which attaches to my left glass arm . Not the greatest but I have to monitor the traffic behind me

It took a few blocks to get used to the hang of things. Such as the front brake is the left lever, and the rear brakes are operated by the right lever, sort of opposite of how a motorcycle works.



I forgot that I did mount some accessories such as the front and rear fenders, rear rack and additional lighting

I cycled over to Queen Elizabeth Park and the hills defeated me, I had to stop for a quick power rest



I seem to be getting my rhythm back, twisting left and right gear levers to find the right gear ratios. Vancouver is bike friendly with many bicycle paths scattered throughout the city and I was able to use the traffic control button as I crossed Cambie Street



bike lanes are easily identified by these large bicycle graphics

My feeble muscles are running out of power so I stop again for a photo with this RCMP statue



I stop because I need to rest my legs. I am not used to this torturous method of transport. When I got home my legs were like jello and I could hardly walk, but it did feel good .

I have a short video . . .

Happy BC Day, August 1st, 2011

I know that I have posted these photos before, but the girls all wish you a very happy BC Day



It is a long holiday weekend in British Columbia. The weather is good, the sun is out and we get to play for another day. I tried to find a BC provincial flag but I couldn't . Hope you don't mind



Have a Happy Day from BC