Friday, March 2, 2012

Cedar Strip Canoes

Don't let building a cedar strip canoe intimidate you. Using epoxy, fibreglass cloth and cedar strips makes it fun and easy. A quick and simple description of the building process, tools used and costs involved will stimulate enough interest to overcome fears.



Building a cedar strip canoe requires very simple techniques and tools. Building a cedar strip canoe out of cedar strips, epoxy and fiberglass cloth is a 6 step process. As long as you are familiar with basic woodworking and have access to some tools and some space you can do it..

Step One

Building the strongback is the first step. You'll need two 2x6s that are dry, straight, and 2 feet shorter than your desired length. Fix the two pieces of wood together in a T-shape. Put some legs on the T so that it stands on it's own.

Step 2

Cut up plywood into molds that will form the shape of the canoe. You can use eitehr a jig saw or a bandsaw to do it. Cut out the stem pieces (for the bow and stern). Assemble everything in the correct order on the strongback (the spacing will be in the plans).

Step Three

Now is the time to make or buy the cedar strips that form the hull. With a bandsaw, table saw or radial arm saw you can rip your own strips. Then bead and cove the edges of the strips using a router. You can also purchase finished bead & cove strips from a number of different sources listed elsewhere on this site.

Step Four

Bend the strips in place around the molds. Cedar strips don;t need steaming to bend. They bend quite well. The strips get glued to each other and nailed or tacked to the molds. You can use various types of glue.

Step Five

Once all the strips are glued in place you must pull the nails or staples. Clean the hull of the big glue globs. Sand the hull until it is completely smooth and clean. Lay the fibreglass cloth on the hull and trim it to make it lie flat. Apply the epoxy resin to the cloth. Put the outer gunwales on the hull to stiffen it up. Remove the hull from the molds and clean and sand the inside of the hull. Sand the inside and epoxy it. Install the inner gunwales and decks.

Step 6

Make and install the thwarts and the seats. Install any hardware that you plan to use. Slap on some spar varnish to protect the hull from UV rays. You've just finished your first canoe.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Chilcotin Towns -Kleena Kleene

Kleena Kleene is a little town in the West Chilcotin. It is west of Tatla Lake and northeast of One-Eye Lake. It's name comes from the Klinaklini River, which runs through it.

The Klinaklini punches through the mountains and drains into Knight Inlet. It is an example of a Chilcotin river that doesn't drain into the Chilcotin drainage.The Hotnarko, Dean, and Atnarko are other rivers that drain directly into the Pacific. The Westroad River is the other main river that doesn't daring into the Chilko/Chiclotin system.

Logging, ranching and recreational activities are the main economic drivers. It is a launching place for trips to other Chilcotin tourist and recreation destinations. There are plenty of guest ranch and bed and breakfast opportunities in the immediate area.

Kleena Kleene is on Hwy 20. This road is also called the Freedom Highway. It is 150 miles to Williams Lake and 14 miles to Tatla Lake.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Champ

Aeronca 7A Champion - A great little bushplane

There are a couple versions of the Aeronca Champion. The 7AC comes with a 65 horsepower motor. The more powerful 7DC has an 85 horsepower Continental motor. It's a great bushplane

Speed is not the Champ's strong suit. The VNE is 135 mph. Cruise is 80 mph. It won't stall until 40 mph, though, which is why it can make a handy little bush plane. Like many GA planes of it's era it is a tealwheel aircraft and lacks flaps.

The Champ is not technically an aerobatic airplane. Still, they are capable of looping and rolling in some circumstances. The Champ was the platform that the Super Decathalon and Citabria were based on. They use the same truss and look very similar. This is why the Champ can reputedly do so many things. The problem is age - 60 year old wood spars may not be in top notch condition when it comes to acrobatics.

It is reported that the Champion has a lot of adverse yaw. This is not uncommon among acrobatic aircraft. Coordinated turns can be a challenge, but the rudder is very responsive. Authoritatve controls make up for the lack of flaps. Pilots slip the plane instead of using flaps - after all, both things increase drag.

The Champ is a good back country aircraft due to it's STOL characteristics. A three point landing results in a very short ground rolls. If you're at an airport you can get off the runway quickly with a wheeler landing. It has Oleo landing gear which makes it pretty durable and forgiving.

Low cruise speeds and small engines mean a low fuel burn rate. The Champ uses about 4 gallons per hour. It's at home on wheels, floats or skis.

Empty weight on wheels is about 850 lbs, and about 950 lbs on floats. Maximum take off weight comes in about 1300 lbs (1400 on floats). It has about 440 lbs useful load. It has an endurance of about 5 hours in the air with 21 gallons spread between a main tank and two wing tanks.

The Champ is 21 ft, 6 inches long. The wings are 35 feet 2 inches across. It gets off the ground in 300 feet solo, and 400 feet dual. It climbs at 600 fpm dual and 800 solo, which is not too bad.

Champs aren't cheap compared to some other planes. A quick look at Barnstormers shows them in the $30-35k range. Still, that's cheaper than a SuperCub, and they make a good little rec backcountry plane.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Moose Lake, Chilcotin Plateau, BC

West of Williams Lake you will find Moose Lake. It is 300 miles by air to the north of Vancouver. It is northeast of Anahim Lake.. For those who want Chilcotin real estate or Chilcotin property this could be the area.

It is located in the headwaters region of the Dean, Blackwater and Entiako rivers. It is close to two parks, Tweedsmuir and Entiako. If you're using a GPS the coordinates are 53.089694, -125.365334. Access is difficult, with air being the best way in. Logging roads originating in Vanderhoof will get you close, but navigation will be a challenge.

This is a wilderness lake. It has great hiking, fishing and hunting opportunities. Large animals in the areas include grizzly bears, black bears, moose, woodland caribou and wolves..

Moose Lake Lodge operates at the lake. They will fly you to several places between Moose Lake and the Coast. You can also fish teh Blackwater and Dean Rivers with them.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Charlotte Lake

This blog is primarily a backlinking and SEO blog. If you are looking for off grid or offgrid information about BC go to www.offgridbc.com. If you're looking for Cariboo or Chilcotin property, or other information about those regions, please go to Chilcotin Property.com or Bushpilotproperties.com If you're looking for my company home page please visit Coronet Realty Ltd., especially for information about vancouver property management, non-resident taxation, and rent collection.

The two lakes, Charlotte Lake and Little Charlotte Lake, are found in the Chilcotin. The two lakes are joined by a short portion of the Atnarko River. They are just south of Nimpo and Anahim Lakes, which are much better known.

Charlotte Lake is accessible by road. It is about 300 kilometres west of Williams Lake The distance to Nimpo is 25 klicks from Nimpo. If you know the area or have a map you can find dirt road access to several points on Charlotte Lake.


It is harder to get access by road to Little Charlotte, but you can drive close to it and then walk. There is a lot of unorganized camping as well as a Forest Service Rec site at the lake. There is no power and no telephone at either lake.

Charlotte Lake itself is quite large - it is roughly 20 kilometres long and 5 wide. It reaches depths of 300 feet. The lake has several sand and gravel beaches.

Charlotte Lake and Little Charlotte Lake have reputations as good fishing lakes. The big lake produces well with trolling. For fly fisherman Little Charlotte, the west end of Charlotte, and the portion of the Atnarko that joins them is most productive. The lake offers some big Rainbows, reaching 3 pounds and bigger. There are also Kokanee in the lake. Kokanee are a type of land-locked Sockeye.

The area south of the lakes is sometimes referred to as the Charlotte Alplands. They offer great hiking and mountain biking opportunities. There is an extensive network of trails and old logging roads.

The lake has three guest facilities at last count.
The first is Charlotte Lake Resort, which rents cabins and RV sites. Atnarko Retreat is a bed and breakfast located there. The One Eye Outfit also does some guiding and outfitting.

You can fly to Nimpo Lake or Anahim Lake on scheduled air services and then make your way to Charlotte. There are also landing strips for wheeled aircraft at both those places. There is an old airstrip on the southeast corner of Charlotte Lake, but the
condition of it is unknown.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Strata Meetings

This blog is primarily a backlinking and SEO blog. If you are looking for off grid or offgrid information about BC go to www.offgridbc.com. If you're looking for Cariboo or Chilcotin property, or other information about those regions, please go to Chilcotin Property.com or Bushpilotproperties.com If you're looking for my company home page please visit Coronet Realty Ltd., especially for information about vancouver property management, non-resident taxation, and rent collection.

A Vancouver property manager should know how to conduct a strata council meeting. Without this understanding you will have problems running meetings. Meetings will be unproductive and stressful if there is no formal process.

Parliamentary procedure has a clear objective. It is to conduct the business of a gathering or assembly in an orderly and efficient manner. It is a good way to ensure that the gathering actually accomplishes it's goals.

Parliamentary law has certain principles.. They include equality and justice for all. Majority rules apply, but minority opinions must be heard and respected.There is a right to be heard by proxy.

There are some common customs and rules. These are now recognized as common parliamentary laws. These laws should be known by everyone.

There can only be one question before the assembly at a time. It has to be in the form of a motion. It must have a proposer and a seconder. The presiding officer or chair must re-state the motion clearly. At that point the assembly can debate the merits of the issue.

The chair has to recognize people before they can address the assembly. This includes making motions or speaking to motions. This is accomplished by asking the chair for recognition, often while rising. At this point the speaker is said to have the floor.

Nobody can dominate the gathering by speaking too long. No one can speak on the same subject or motion twice. If the gathering permits it this last rule can be bent. However, before this can occur all other gathering members who wish to speak on the question must have an opportunity.

People who have the floor must refrain from directing questions to or speaking directly to other gathering members. Speakers should not use another gathering attendee's name if it can be avoided. The Chair of the gathering is the person to whom all remarks should be addressed.

When a question is put before a gathering there are only three ways to handle it. The assembly can vote to adopt the motion. The assembly can also vote to reject the motion or question. If the assembly neither adopts nor rejects the question it must be disposed of in some other way before the assembly can proceed. There are rare motions taht do not fall into one of these three categories, and are referred to as "privileged".

dealing with a motion requires 8 steps. First, the proposer rises and addresses the Chair. Next the person making the motion waits for recognition from the Chair. The speaker then says "I move..." and expresses the motion to the assembly. Another person then has to second the motion for it to proceed. The motion is then clearly stated by the Chair so everyone understands the wording. The matter is then open for discussion and debate. Members may rise and state "I wish to speak in favour of..." or "I rise to speak against...". When discussion is over the Chair calls the motion to a vote. The Chair then reports the vote result and what the action will be, if any.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Affordable Housing in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland

This blog is primarily a backlinking and SEO blog. If you are looking for off grid or offgrid information about BC go to www.offgridbc.com. If you're looking for Cariboo or Chilcotin property, or other information about those regions, please go to Chilcotin Property.com or Bushpilotproperties.com If you're looking for my company home page please visit Coronet Realty Ltd., especially for information about vancouver property management, non-resident taxation, and rent collection.

A residential vancouver property manager must know about energy use. Energy use and sustainability is one of them. However, energy consumption is not the only issue effecting sustainable home ownership, as a residential property manager must know.

Canadian homeowners know about sustainability. They have taken the initiative in making homes more sustainable in terms of lighting and heating. High energy prices have prompted them to save money on heat through higher efficiency and insulation. This saves oil, gas, and electricity.

Homes built in the last half century have become more and more energy efficient. They use less energy than older homes. This is the case even as houses have grown in size.

However, sustainable home ownership isn't just about energy, just as the energy issue isn't only about energy. Real estate has to be financially sustainable as well. The term often used is "affordable housing".

Affordable housing is a tricky challenge. As the value of housing rises the return on it tends to drop. This is because rent can't be financed by mortgages, while purchases can be.

This creates a conflict between the cash flow generated by tenant paid rent and the purchase price of the underlying asset. Real estate purchase prices can be much higher than their underlying cash flow justifies. Rents rise, and become burdensome, but they don't rise enough to make the cash flow on rental properties realistic.

Owners of real estate accept lower returns because the real estate has performed well in terms of capital appreciation. They also hold because they like the asset class. Last, they hold because transaction costs and taxes are high.

In theory this is not sustainable. If rents don't support high purchase prices something should give. Either rents should increase or property values should drop. Prices don't fall.

The result is an apparently unsustainable situation where tenants pay high rents. Owners get low returns. Yet, tenants get, as can be shown from math, great value for what they pay in rent.

Vancovuer Housing and Vancouver Property management

This blog is primarily a backlinking and SEO blog. If you are looking for off grid or offgrid information about BC go to www.offgridbc.com. If you're looking for Cariboo or Chilcotin property, or other information about those regions, please go to Chilcotin Property.com or Bushpilotproperties.com If you're looking for my company home page please visit Coronet Realty Ltd., especially for information about vancouver property management, non-resident taxation, and rent collection.

A residential vancouver property manager must know about energy use. Energy use and sustainability is one of them. However, energy consumption is not the only issue effecting sustainable home ownership, as a residential property manager must know.

Canadian homeowners know about sustainability. They have taken the initiative in making homes more sustainable in terms of lighting and heating. High energy prices have prompted them to save money on heat through higher efficiency and insulation. This saves oil, gas, and electricity.

Homes built in the last half century have become more and more energy efficient. They use less energy than older homes. This is the case even as houses have grown in size.

However, sustainable home ownership isn't just about energy, just as the energy issue isn't only about energy. Real estate has to be financially sustainable as well. The term often used is "affordable housing".

Affordable housing is a tricky challenge. As the value of housing rises the return on it tends to drop. This is because rent can't be financed by mortgages, while purchases can be.

This creates a conflict between the cash flow generated by tenant paid rent and the purchase price of the underlying asset. Real estate purchase prices can be much higher than their underlying cash flow justifies. Rents rise, and become burdensome, but they don't rise enough to make the cash flow on rental properties realistic.

Owners of real estate accept lower returns because the real estate has performed well in terms of capital appreciation. They also hold because they like the asset class. Last, they hold because transaction costs and taxes are high.

In theory this is not sustainable. If rents don't support high purchase prices something should give. Either rents should increase or property values should drop. Prices don't fall.

The result is an apparently unsustainable situation where tenants pay high rents. Owners get low returns. Yet, tenants get, as can be shown from math, great value for what they pay in rent.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Real Estate Stats January 5th

New Listings 350
Price Changes 87
Sold Listings 45

That's a sell/list of 12.86% to be precise.



Sales stats are courtesy of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, and while all efforts are made to ensure their accuracy, the REBGV is in no way responsible for them. I take all responsibility for any errors.