A Rendezvous With A Bear In Canada

On August 14th & 15th, 2010 Fellow Woody Boater's Paul & Karen Harrison are hosting the 1st Annual Okanagan Chapter ACBS (Antique & Classic Boat Society) Shuswap Rendezvous at their summer home in Britsh Columbia, Canada.

The months of planning and organization leading up to the event have gone smoothly, and they are expecting a good turn out of folks and their classic boats from all over Western Canada. Only one glitch... Earlier this week a bear stopped by for an unexpected visit. When they first met the bear, they thought he was just interested in the garbage cans, which they quickly addressed. But then, to their surprise, the bear returned the next day.

Well anyone who knows Paul & Karen Harrison will tell you that they are very friendly, outgoing people. They love antique boats and are always willing to share their boats with anyone who is interested in the hobby. After observing the bear for a while, some how they determined that all the bear was really looking for was the same thing we are all looking for -a Woody Boat ride. So Karen went down to the lake, fired up their 1940 Chris-Craft Barrelback, the bear hopped in the back seat and they went for a ride around the lake. After a couple hours on the water, they pulled in to nearby beach, the bear jumped out and as the bear was walking away he turned back, looked at Paul & Karen, smiled and walked back into the forest.

Paul said that the bear was a little rough on the varnish and for some reason, kept looking at the "Bear Claw" vents...

The ride in the Barrelback gave them an opportunity to get to know each other, and of course they invited the bear back to join them at the rendezvous next weekend... (Just kidding folks, bear sightings are a common occurrence in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and Canada, and we would never do anything to harm them or take them away from their natural environment)

The Shuswap Rendezvous will be held on Shuswap Lake, near Sicamous in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada which is located approximately 4 hours north the USA - Canadian border, north of Washington State. Shuswap Lake has over 600 miles of natural shoreline amidst spectacular mountain scenery and a pristine environment. (Don't forget you can click in the images to enlarge them.)

The formerly successful Okanagan ACBS Chapter boat show has not been held since 2006, after a run of almost 15 years, due to loss of dock space. Unfortunately with no annual boat show, there was no central theme or activity for club member's to focus on or rally around and as a result, interest dwindled within the club. Ideas and concepts for revival of the annual boat show were discussed but none came to fruition. The idea to start re-energizing the membership was easy to grasp, and in the absence an annual boat show, the only way to do this was through organization of club activities. The decision was taken that these activities should be primarily on-the-water events, and from this the 2010 Shuswap Rendezvous was conceived.

The Shuswap Rendezvous will be a loosely structured event held over 2 days, but none the less will provide an opportunity for chapter members to get together, create some dialog and show off their boats in a new environment. The dialog and camaraderie during the event will hopefully breed a sense of former spirit with the understanding that the chapter is being rediscovered.

The Okanagan ACBS Chapter has several unique challenges. It is a small chapter and it encompasses a huge geographical area, with members up to 700 miles apart, which makes getting any more than a few members together a significant challenge. Any event of any size will be a destination event for most chapter members. Literally, chapter members are scattered all over Western Canada.

Secondly, the boating season is quite short so the opportunity to stage a club event like this quite likely conflicts with other seasonal plans for many of the chapter members. Despite all this, response to the 2010 Shuswap Rendezvous has, according to the organizer's, been encouraging and the Okanagan Chapter is hopeful that this will be a poitive step in gaining a sense that the chapter is making a comeback, functioning actively and once again growing.

The Okanagan Chapter is also seriously looking into alternative locations to once again host an annual boat show in 2011. However, to organize and present such an event, the chapter needs a good nucleus of of active and interested members in order to move forward. The hope is that events like the Shuswap Rendezvous will provide the ingredients required to attract that level of enthusiasm, and from this a more active and dynamic chapter will result.

There are probably other ACBS Chapter's in the United States facing similar challenges, and it would be interesting to hear who they are and what steps they are taking to grow and move forward. I know the executive of the Okanagan Chapter would love to hear from you.

In closing, I had a difficult time coming up with a title or caption for the Bear in the Boat story. A Bear in the Back of a BarrelBack.... or A Barrelback with a Bear in the Back.... Bear-el-Back Bear... Any suggestions?

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