Chippewa Bay

In the northwest corner of south Powell Lake you will find Chippewa Bay. Chippewa is well known for several reasons.

One -- It has a large dock and booming area for loggers working north and west into the Bunster Hills. Logging equipment comes up the lake on barges and booms of logs are towed back in the opposite direction. So, if you arrive by boat, it is best to come on weekends when logging is usually not active and you can explore on your own.

Two -- You will find a natural forestry museum up Museum Main. This logging road runs near two historic steam donkeys with lots of interesting items strewn across the forest floor. One is near the main, the other is about an hour hike from the road. If you arrive by boat, it's a long walk up to the first steam donkey. If you arrive by quad from Theodosia, it's easier. Well, relatively so. It's an all day ride over Heather Main, but well worth it.

Three -- In the summer Chippewa Bay is great for swimming with warmer water than the rest of the lake. This is probably due to the shallower depths. In the middle of the lake it is over 1000 feet deep, and that can keep it pretty cold all year long.


Four -- CB CB'ers, Chippewa Bay Cabin Busters are strong northwest winds that often follow major storms. They swoop out of Chippewa Bay and blast down the lower lake, trying to level everything in their path, including unsuspecting float cabins. This is one reason you will find some of the heaviest protective booms around cabins in this area.

Up the Lake has a chapter about Wayne getting caught on the lake in a CB CB'er. Click here to read the chapter for free and find out more about life on Powell Lake. -- Margy

Thrifty Tip

I love to browse through thrift stores. In Powell River, my favourite is the Hospital Economy Shop off Alberni near Scotiabank. They have a great selection that changes constantly, their prices are the best, plus I always bump into my friend Carol there.

Here are some of my best finds. There was a new Catalyst cap for Wayne for $.25. He doesn't work at the mill, but lots of our friends do. I found a toaster oven for $5.00 with a five day guarantee. That was a nice benefit, except I immediately voided the warranty by stripping out all of the wires to make it into a stovetop oven for my wood stove. I found a large pot for $1.00 to use to heat water for our new bathtub and I even found Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat for my collection for only a quarter.

We like to keep a fire extinguisher near our woodstove. You never know, you might need it quickly in case a bad spark, or worse yet, a chimney fire. But our fire extinguiser is round on the bottom. For years we left it lying on the floor behind the stove. Then one day while I was cleaning I stuffed it into a boot to get it out of the way. Wow - what a great idea! Not wanting to tie up our regular boots, I did the next best thing. I found a pair of colorful rubber boots at the thrift store for only a $1.00. Now our extinguisher is handy and "attractive" in a functional sort of way.

Do you like to shop at thrift stores? Where are some of your favourite stores? What have been some of your best finds? -- Margy

2007 Retrospective from Powell River Books

2007 was a great year for Wayne and me, and, of course, Powell River Books. Here are a few of the exciting moments:

January - Our cabin survived the worst Coastal BC wind storms in years and I start experimenting with wood stovetop baking.

February - We go to California to see Mt. SAC host PCIFA and Stick (our cat) flew north on Alaska Airlines to live with Mom in Bellingham.

March - We explored our new U.S. home base in Bellingham before heading back to Powell River. We planted our floating garden and it was immediately attacked in the "Junco Wars."

April - The PRB Blog had it's 1000th visitor and I start Float Cabin Living, a series to tell readers more about off-the-grid life.

May - Our Piper Arrow 997 returns us to Powell River to enjoy spring up the lake, but so do a woodpecker under our roof and a bat in our propane storage shed.

June - Up the Strait (the fourth book in the Coastal BC Stories series) is launched at Marine Traders, Halcyon Days heads back to the chuck, and Stick takes his first trip to the cabin.

July - "Mr. Float Cabin" makes an appearance at the Sea Fair parade and we see our baby tree swallows take first flight.

August - I trade in my trusty Honda 250 for a Kodiak 4X4 and we cruise the Georgia Strait in Halcyon Days.

September -The PRB Blog is highligted on Sunset.com and TheSunshineCoast.com, and 997 wings us south on Victor 27.

October - The Powell River Books Blog has its first birthday, it wins a second "Blog of the Day" award, we set up a book booth at the Powell River Newcomer Social, and fly 997 to Eugene for USC Football.

November - Powell River Books is honored at the Horizon Business Awards, a woodrat devours our garden, and we enjoy early snow.

December - The holidays kept us away from our beloved cabin and leave us BC Dreamin'.

It's been a great year for us and I've had fun sharing parts of it with you. Wayne and I wish you and your family a happy new year. May it bring you peace, love and contentment. -- Margy

Woodstove Drying Rack

John's not only our good friend, he's also the "father" of our cabin. He almost single-handedly built it from the float up. It isn't the first one he's built, nor will it be the last. But if you ask us, it's the BEST!

John is a wizard at making something out of nothing. Our woodstove drying rack is a case in point. We first met John after purchasing the cabin when he stopped by to meet the "fool Americans." As he walked around the deck, he pointed out several features that were unique or special. When he came to the woodstove, he pointed to the rack on top and said, "You never know when you might need to dry a pair of gloves or socks." And he was right, we just didn't know it at the time (it was the middle of summer and we were city-folk extraordinaire).

Here's what he did. He went to a junk yard (or one of his brother's houses) and got an unwanted oven rack. The rack was exactly the right size to sit on top of the wood-burning stove. The metal projections below that once secured the rack in it's baking position made perfect legs to keep it about one inch above the stove's surface. He used a hack saw to make two cuts on one side so he could bend a portion of the rack up to allow it to wrap around the stove's chimney pipe. In his wisdom, the now vertical section protects objects from touching the hot pipe.

So with a little effort, and probably no cost, he made a valuable tool that we use frequently during the winter to dry our wet gloves and socks, just as he predicted. But you still have to be careful! Constant turning prevents burning. Wayne has a melted pair of slippers to prove that! -- Margy

Meet "Captain Bob"

If you've been reading my blog or any of Wayne's books in the Coastal BC Stories series, you know who John and Bro are. But some of the other names in my T'was the Night Before Christmas rendition may not have been as familiar. One of those was probably "Captain Bob." Bob is a good friend and fellow quad rider. Bob has a cabin "up the lake," but is probably best know for his skookum boat. Like many other Powell Riverites, he is very self-reliant and able to build anything. He started with a sturdy aluminum hull and custom made the cabin to create his own classic work boat.

You can always tell when Bob is heading up the lake because his boat is one of the biggest and definitely has the largest aft deck. In it he can haul lots of logging equipment and workers, tree planters or students heading to Rainbow Lodge for a outdoor experience. You can also tell it's Bob's boat by the prominant red Zodiak perched on top.

To those of us who ride quads, we also picture Bob's mightly boat hauling bikes to the head of Powell Lake for an excursion to remote spots few others get to see. Wayne and I were fortunate enough to meet up with Bob and some of his friends on one of those trips. Bob can fit quite a few quads and bikes in the back of his boat for such a trip. As far as a barge carrying eight quads, I used a little poetic license. But I did see another boat heading up the lake last summer doing just that.

Bob is just one of the great people who live in Powell River. Want to get to know our town and its people a little better? You can read the PEAK online to see what's happening. Maybe you'll read a story by Jeremy who just joined the PEAK staff. Go to YouTube and see some pretty interesing (if not unusual) videos. Or get one of the Coastal BC Stories books. I recommend Up the Lake. It is the first book in the series and has the most stories about my favourite place in the whole world, Powell Lake. -- Margy

Merry Christmas from Up the Lake

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the float,
Not a creature was stirring, except a pesky little woodrat.
The stockings were hung by the woodstove with care,
In hopes that our friend John soon would be there.


Stick was nestled all snug in his bed,
While visions of mousies danced in his head.
Wayne in his USC T-shirt, and I in my Canada cap,
Went up to the loft for a cozy little nap (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

When out on the lake there arose such a roar,
We sprang from our bed to see it blowing full bore.
Down to the great room we flew like a flash,
To see our sawhorse skid off the deck in a mad dash.

The sun over Goat gave a boost to our panel,
And the clouds they went skittering through the nearby channel.
When, what to our wondering eyes should appear,
But a boat and a barge with eight quads in the rear.

With Captain Bob at the helm, his eyes straight ahead,
We knew in a moment it must be a trip to the Head.
More rapid than a tug, up the lake they came,
All shouting and waving, so we called them by name!

"Hi Poki! Hi Rick! Hi Doug and Bob!
Hi Janie! Hi Dave! Hi Elden and Rob!"
To the top of the lake! Past the Hole in the Wall!
Now off we go! Off we go! A good ride for all!

And then, in a moment, we heard under the roof
The screeching of brown bats, and then a resounding woof.
As I moved my head, and was turning around,
There came Bro up the dock with a bound.

He was wearing a raincoat, from his head to his paw,
A hoodie over his ears, so his eyes were all I saw.
A raven was flapping and cawing behind his back,
And stealing his sardines right out of John's pack.

And there was John, stepping out of his boat.
His jacket all buttoned, slipping on the mossy float.
His tools were many, all packed in a bag,
For his purpose in coming wasn't just to lollygag.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his task,
And fixed the wind generator, never needing to ask.
When his work it was done, the steaks went on the grill,
One for each and Bro if you will.

He sprang to his feet, to Bro gave a whistle,
And away they went right out through First Narrows.
We stood on our deck and called in their wake.
"Merry Christmas to you and everyone else down the lake."

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our Powell River Books friends wherever you may be. -- Wayne and Margy

Best Airport Layover Story

We flew back to Bellingham this week and had a delay in Seattle, fortunately a short one. But it brought to mind other trips that didn't turn out so simple. I'm used to the difficulties of airline travel, but traveling with my mother can make it a little more challenging. Mind you, she is a young 91, but getting through airports can be difficult.

On one of her first trips to our float cabin on Powell Lake we flew out of LAX, just the two of us. We took Alaska Airlines non-stop to Vancouver where we had to transfer to a smaller Pacific Coastal Airlines plane. It was just before Christmas, so we encountered some weather delays getting out of LAX. When we arrived in Vancouver, the baggage was delayed. By the time we got over to the South Terminal, we missed the last flight to Powell River. What a mess!

The Pacific Coastal gate agent saved the day. She called Alaska Airlines and made arrangements for us to get back to the main terminal where the Alaska agent gave us vouchers for an overnight hotel with free dinner and breakfast. You've got to know my mom. She grew up during the depression and anything free is very special. She thoroughly enjoyed her flying mishap and layover in Vancouver because of our "free" night on the town. In fact, I think she had more fun that night than our week's stay at the cabin (a whole other story).

This was about five years ago. I'm not sure if the airlines are so "free" with their vouchers, but thanks to that Pacific Coastal agent a traveling disaster with my mom was turned into an adventure she still talks about. Do you have any airline tales to tell? Let's hear them. -- Margy