bastion SUMMER 2017
Celebrating
Nanaimo as a Lifestyle!
ICON OF NANAIMO
Family Affair at Chateau
Wolff Winery
Down on the Corner EMBRACING the
PASSION
Hanging out at
Longwoodstock 1
SUMMER 2017
Energy Efficient
RENOVATION Style Team FASHION
DIVING Hot Spots
BASTION MAGAZINE
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SERVING VANCOUVER ISLA ND FOR 28 YEARS!
LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED SINCE 1989
HOSPITAL BED FEATURES IN YOUR HOME the foot and head, however if you require inhome care you may need to raise or lower the entire frame and possibly require guard rails. At John’s, I have 4 great models to choose from. Basic models with just foot and head raising/ lowering capabilities to our Hi-Low Supernal (exclusive to John’s) with massage, overall height adjustment (great with wheel chairs and care givers really like them!) and optional guard rails. mattress and be prepared to change We have an adjustable for you! Match that with our Natural Talalay Latex your nights forever!
Sometimes a great mattress just isn’t enough to ease the aches, pains and maladies that some of us experience with aging. Sometimes we need a different position altogether. Snoring, acid reflux, and sleep apnea are only a few of the ailments that could benefit from an adjustable bed. Maybe there aren’t any maladies, maybe you’d just like to raise your feet, head or both and possibly enjoy a massage while reading or watch TV? Most adjustable frames just raise and lower
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WHY LATEX? Talalay vs. Memory foam. Of the top four mattress companies in the US, one spends more in annual advertising than the other 3 combined, and this company only makes memory foam beds. This is why we see so much hype about memory foam. While memory foam seems to be good at relieving pressure, it actually only works one dimension – you sink into it until you hit the firmer surface underneath. Latex is two-dimensional: it supports you while reducing pressure. At John’s our latex mattresses have a 6” medium and/or firm base (and yes, we can build you a mattress that is firm on one side and medium on the other) with a 3” soft latex topper. This combination gives you the best of both worlds – supportive, and pressure relieving.
As a consumer in today’s marketplace I strive to purchase products that are made as close to home as I can get, items that are cleaner and greener, always with an eye on value. With over a quarter of a century in the sleep industry I’ve seen thousands of mattress fails and very few wins. One of those wins is good quality, natural, pure, Talalay latex which I get from Talalay Global (TG) who in my opinion produces the best product.
Latex doesn’t sleep hot. “Too hot” is the biggest complaint I hear about memory foam. Memory foam requires body heat to collapse the foam cell structure in order to conform to your body curves; this collapse prevents air flow and traps body heat. This same process also creates a crater where you sleep, when you turn over the feeling is like rolling uphill leaving a hole behind. I’ve had many people tell me they wake up exhausted from this process. TG Latex is seven times more breathable than memory foam. Talalay latex is healthier. Our Talalay latex is harvested from rubber trees that create an inherently hypoallergenic, dust mite resistant, mold and mildew resistant sleep environment that doesn’t off-gas like as memory foams can. Latex lasts longer. I have a sample of latex that was in a client’s favorite
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NANAIMO VICTORIA 1711 Bowen Rd 661 McCallum Rd 250.753.6361 Millstream Village BASTION MAGAZINE 3 250.475.2233
bastion SUMMER 2017
ICON OF NANAIMO
Bastion is a special quarterly publication of the Nanaimo News Bulletin and Black Press.
PUBLISHER | Sean McCue
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EDITOR | Melissa Fryer PRODUCTION MANAGER | Darrell Summerfelt CREATIVE | Ava Clay
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CONTRIBUTORS | Tamara Cunningham, Rachel Stern; Chris Bush; Nicholas Pescod; Karl Yu SALES | Chantal Richard; Luke Winkelmans; Erin Burden; David van Deventer; Lesley Livingstone-Gray; Tammy Coles CONTACT | 250.753.3707
12 Nanaimo is a cool place to be, by any measure, and we hope that comes across in our latest issue. Our magazine is named after the Bastion, an historical fort, because it’s an icon of Nanaimo. It’s seen the city change all around it for more than 160 years. It’s a little piece of permanence in a place that continues to create its identity, build its brand, and thrive and flourish. In each issue of Bastion, we try to look at Nanaimo from new perspectives. By trying to keep up with the trends and asking questions about what’s cool and why, it’s a chance for us to find out some different kinds of stories about our community and then share them with readers. Under the dedicated watch of the Bastion, our city has changed and will continue to change, and we can’t wait to see what’s next for Nanaimo.
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SUMMER 2017
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ENTERTAINMENT LONGWOODSTOCK
is about hanging out with friends, having a good time and enjoying independent modern rock. The festival is entering its third year. This year it is held from Aug. 11-12. “The festival was created because we are fans of good music and good beer,” said Dave St. Jean, festival director. “It has a really nice backyard barbecue, home feel, really relaxed.”
BOOMSHACK music festival at the Longwood Brewery, located at 101A-2046 Boxwood Rd., during the day and various other venues in Nanaimo at night.
Each year a specialty beer is featured during the festival which isn’t available at any other time of the year. The Throat Punch beer is back this year, a brew that includes four different hot peppers to give it an extra kick during consumption. “It’s a good mix of people who want to enjoy good music and have craft beer on a sunny day in August,” said St. Jean. One plus to the festival is that attendees are sometimes introduced to Vancouver Island or mainland bands they might not have heard before, said St. Jean. This year’s concert features performances by Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra, Lion Bear Fox, Top Men and Boomshack. Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra is a collection of musicians that is “linked by common sonic journeys and familial ties,” according to the group’s website.
TEQUILA MOCKINGBIRD ORCHESTRA
Vancouver Island’s Lion Bear Fox consists of Christopher Arruda, Ryan McMahon and Cory Woodward. The band recently released its self-titled debut album, which was produced with Nygel Asselin. Last year Top Men released Heavenly Bodies. The band, which hails from Nanaimo, combines a number of influences. Boomshack is an eight-piece band from Nanaimo. The group is comprised of jazz musicians. Boomshack released its six track EP These Nights in the fall of 2016.
“The festival was created because we are fans of good music and good beer”
Last year the festival expanded to two days. It consists of the regular
“If they like good music and craft beer and want to enjoy a festival in Nanaimo they should come,” said St. Jean. Andrew Roberts, a festival organizer, said the organizing team would love to see Longwoodstock grow bigger. “We’re taking it year by year and not trying to get too far ahead of ourselves and what we can handle,” he said. “It’s a super fun and local outdoor experience. Beer and live music go together like peanut butter and jelly.” Profits from Longwoodstock will be donated to the Serauxmen Service Club of Nanaimo. For more information please e-mail info@longwoodstock.com or visit www. longwoodstock.com. - RACHEL STERN
LION BEA R FOX BASTION MAGAZINE
5
ENTERTAINMENT
Down on the Corner New owners personalize longtime Corner Lounge location Brian Biebrich doesn't yet know everyone's name, but if you happen by his bar downtown, he'll learn it soon enough. And likely a lot more.
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Brian and his wife Cynthia have owned the Corner Lounge for about a year, after saying goodbye to the cold winters of Winnipeg. The big windows draw passersby and the customers inside get to watch the colourful cast of characters on Commercial Street. “Everything happens on the corner,” Brian said. A visit to Nanaimo a couple of years ago showed the couple that the city was right for them. They dropped in on the Sunday blues jam at the Queen's and a fundraiser at Colliery Dam Park where a group of teenagers offered directions. “Teenagers just aren't that friendly in Winnipeg,” Brian said. They visited the fishing pier where people fed Lucy the harbour seal and a fisherman tossed a chicken drumstick in the air which was plucked by a bald eagle. “I was just in awe of the wildlife,” he said. They contacted a realtor and bought a condo in Departure Bay, selling their house with a pool in Winnipeg and leaving winter behind. Their four children didn't quite believe they were moving until it happened. Cynthia brought her bookkeeping business with her, which left Brian looking for something to do. “A little bar is what I thought of,” Brian said. The Corner Lounge had history. Brian found a photo of late mayor Frank Ney on a bullhorn trying to get people to stop rioting, with his bar in the background. It's located in the heart of the downtown area, linking Bastion and Commercial streets and it's now open at 4 p.m., bridging the close of the clothing stores and coffee shops and the opening of the city's nightlife. “It needed some new character and we had to make it our own,” Brian said.
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Part of that character was developing a live music scene in the corner bar. Every Tuesday, Anatol McGinnis hosts an openmike night while Sunday sees Alexander Watt host a jazz night populated by Vancouver Island University music students. Through the week, the bar plays host to a variety of styles, from local to travelling bands. The key, Brian says, is variety. The night of U.S. President Donald Trump's election, a punk band was screaming on stage. “The next day, we'll have a quiet jazz night,” he said. Open-mike nights have seen a teen finding her voice to Jeff Martin, frontman for Canadian rock band The Tea Party, take the stage. A customer seeking a top-shelf scotch showed Brian the importance of having the odd
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“It needed some new character and we had to make it our own,” Brian said.
19th Annual
INFRINGING Dance Festival
BRIAN & CYNTHIA BIEBRICH
dancing in the belly of the dragon
July 6-9, 2017
$100-bottle on hand. He also has six local brews on tap, including Riot Brewery from Chemainus. What you won't find on the back bar is Jack Daniels – that's also on tap. “We're trying to give the place a character,” Brian said. Brian might be the biggest character in the place. He's the one asking questions of new patrons, connecting conversations and people throughout the bar, and offering a cold glass of water to someone who looks rather downtrodden. You never know who will be in the crowd, either. Red Ryder, Tom Cochrane's band, hung out for a night after a show at the Port Theatre. “A lot of people come in here to shoot the breeze with Brian,” Cynthia said. He wants people to feel comfortable in his bar and takes people as they come. Often if they choose to sit at the bar, they're looking for someone to talk to. “Everybody's got a story,” Brian said. For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/121BastionTheCornerLounge/. - MELISSA FRYER
INDOOR PERFORMANCES: VI Conference Centre The White Room - 4 Church St FREE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCES: Maffeo-Sutton Park TICKETS & INFO: www.crimsoncoastdance.org 250.716.3230 CITY OF NANAIMO T H E
H A R B O U R
C I T Y
We are grateful to live, work and play on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nations. We acknowledge the financial assistance of the Province of British Columbia.
BASTION MAGAZINE
7
FOOD
Embracing the Passion
It’s a dishwasher-to-restaurant owner story for 37-year-old executive chef Ryan Zuvich. Two hours before Nanaimo's Hilltop Bistro opens, Zuvich, owner, is answering the phone for reservations and recalling how he entered the food world — the need for a job, a hiring sign for a server and the offer for a dishwasher job instead. “I said, all right, I'll take that,” Zuvich said. The stint in 1998 lasted a week before a cook quit and he was on line.
RYAN ZUVICH
PREPARES FRESH HALIBUT FOR DINNER SERVICE
His passion for food
Support a future VIU student with a gift in your will, or consider a gift now to establish an award. Contact Susie Caswell with VIU Advancement at 250.740.6216 to learn how your gift can change lives.
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“I remember when I was young, I had this salad and it was arugula she was growing and we thought it was weeds,” he said, grinning.
“For every chapter that you go onto that pushes you to the next level of your career, there's more to learn and that just never stops”
“It was like, this is actually kind of fun, there was this camaraderie and environment that was so different and volatile and exciting and all those things that I already thought restaurants kind of were,” he said. “There’s a romance to it and there’s a heroism to it. So I decided to go to school.”
When there’s a will, there’s a way.
had started long before that. Food was a focal point of family get-togethers, and his nana, who's Croatian, made everything — bruschetta, wine and olive oil.
He went on to enroll in the Dubrulle International Culinary Arts in Vancouver, and worked at restaurants like Bishop's in Vancouver and Raincity Grill with Scott Kidd who had the “baddest cooks in town.” Kidd was also amazing, able to do flawless work so effortlessly, said Zuvich, who considers the chef a mentor.
But it was an instructor Adam Busby who gave him advice that stuck. He told Zuvich he'll never stop learning, that the day he does is the day he's given up. “For every chapter that you go onto that pushes you to the next level of your career, there's more to learn and that just never stops,” he said. “Out of all the people that I've respected in the industry, that's been the underlying lessons is that as much as today was the best service you've ever had, tomorrow needs to be better.”
The chef worked in Michelin-star restaurants in France, London and Germany and in 2009 he and his wife moved from Vancouver to Nanaimo. He found that there were all these farms and product no one was using and yet, people moving from Vancouver, Calgary or Toronto that were used to restaurants using that product, like delis or charcuteries. He opened Market Artisan Deli on Rutherford Road and later Hilltop Bistro in 2013, with the idea of offering simple French food with a focus on fresh, seasonal and local ingredients sourced from B.C., Vancouver Island and even from the planters outside the restaurant. Eventually he hopes to grow all of his own ingredients. It's a cozy restaurant, with paint and art chosen to create a feeling and theatre for what people will experience at one of the bistro's tables. It has a reputation for being high-end, though Zuvich meant for it to be casual.
No substitutes on the menu lends itself to that high-end feeling, but he said it'd been for his own sanity when they first did it. “It drives me just mental when you get that modifier like bacon sandwich no bacon.” But the rule is also practical. When a dish is made, it's made that day; nothing comes out of a bag or freezer. If there are 12 orders of fish, Zuvich makes 12 garnishes. If someone wants the fish but the garnish from the steak, it means a steak doesn't have a garnish and a garnish doesn't have a fish, and now that's waste, he said. Zuvich opened La Stella Trattoria in Nanaimo's Old City Quarter three years ago, looking to offer something more approachable and casual with pizza and pasta. “Both our restaurants, Stella and Hilltop are just about good food, about having a good time and hopefully creating a memory and if not, hopefully creating a return customer.”
- TAMARA CUNNINGHAM
BASTION MAGAZINE
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A Family Affair
DRINK
W
southern France," Riga said. "This property has hen Matt and Natalie Riga purchased Chateau Wolff Winery and its large property near Northfield Road back in 2014, they the southern facing slope which is ideal." saw beyond the old, tired vines that occupied its landscape. But when von Wolff planted vines for the “This one really spoke to us. The story behind it and everything. The first time, it didn't go so well. property itself was beautiful and it needed a lot of work but we saw the “The first time he planted the vines didn’t potential in it,” Natalie Riga said. make it because there was too much rock,” Riga Chateau Wolff was originally founded in 1998 by Harry said. “Instead of giving von Wolff, a Latvian immigrant who developed a passion up, he hired an excavating for wine while working in the hotel business in Europe company, they actually "We were both during the 1950s. dug through all the rock “He spent a lot of time in France learning about burgundy strongly passionate so there was space for the style of wine making and that was his passion,” Riga said. about food and wine vines to actually grow." After working a variety of jobs that took him all over When von Wolff ... we really started to the world, von Wolff purchased a 3.2-hectare property replanted, the vines grew. explore that" in 1987 that would later become the home of Chateau They would continue Wolff, one of the first wineries in Nanaimo. grow and produce wine under the name Chateau Back then, the site was nothing more than trees and Wolff until his death in rocks, which forced von Wolff to landscape the property 2005. Different owners held the property into an ideal place to grow vines. for nine years until the Rigas purchased “There is actually a lot of rock under us," Riga said. "He had to log the it and decided to revive the Chateau Wolff winery and pay tribute to von entire property." Wolff. Von Wolff could have gotten vines from anywhere, but instead opted to “We tried to keep some of the original aspects of the winery. We have a import Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines from Europe, which could grow chandler that came from the winery and we have von Wolff ’s hat hanging on Chateau Wolff 's sunbaked southern slope. on the wall and some old bottles here, but that said, we are our own wine “He actually planted the vineyard. He imported all of the vines from makers,” she said.
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Originally from Ontario, the couple met at the University of Guelph, fell in love and later moved to Victoria, where they developed an interest in wine. "We were both strongly passionate about food and wine and being in Victoria everything is done locally, there are wineries close by, so we really started to explore that," she said. Family health issues forced the couple to move back to Ontario in 2009. That's when they decided to open their own restaurant and sell locally made wines, despite their friends and family advising them not get into the food service industry. “When we started the restaurant all of our friends and family told us we were crazy and that it was a really bad decision,” she said.
NATALIE & MATT RIGA
Instead of being a complete failure, the Rigas' restaurant was profitable within two years of operations. It also brought the Rigas in constant contact with local wineries and wine producers that only further their interest for wine.
“We did everything locally. We purchased all of our wine locally from Ontario and so we got to know a lot of small wine producers and we developed a really strong connection," she said. "We ended up selling it but I think it really gave us the confidence to able to take on anything that we wanted to do." Soon after the Rigas purchased the Nanaimo winery, they spent hours and hours landscaping and pruning the property.
“We started out mainly in the vineyard. We started out pruning and then we had to do some renovation to the winery itself. There was some equipment that had to be replaced and revamped. We also renovated the tasting room. There was a tasting room before but it was rundown and dark,” she said. “It was a lot of hard work.” Today, Chateau Wolff produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, just as von Wolff did years earlier. "Harry was known for his Pinot Noir and we do that as well. Ours is aged for about nine months in a French oak barrel," she said. "We really have been focusing on growing the best-quality grapes and making the bestquality wine that we can." Chateau Wolff also offer tastings throughout the summer on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. For more information, please visit www.chateauwolff.com. - NICHOLAS M. PESCOD
BUILDING CANADIAN DREAMS FOR OVER 48 YEARS Where there’s a Will, there’s a way. Did you ever wonder if leaving even a small amount to charity in your Will makes a difference?
It does! Leaving a Legacy Gift, no matter what the size helps in such a variety of ways, and impacts the lives of many.
“Plant a tree under whose shade you will never sit.” Please consider a gift to the Nanaimo Community Hospice Society and help us hold the hand of those at the end of life and their loved ones who are walking the journey of grief and loss. www.nanaimohospice.com
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11
FASHION One of the most important items in a person’s fashion arsenal is confidence. “Not all trends suit everybody. Ultimately just dress for your body type and as long as you are confident, you can wear whatever you want,” said Katharine Suna, a fashion stylist with Woodgrove Centre’s style team. “Being fashionable, you don’t have to follow a trend. It’s just owning your style and being confident and feeling good and dressing for your body type.” Suna suggests spending money on classic pieces that will last for years. If people want to incorporate trends into their wardrobe, they can do it with accessories. “Using accessories is a fun way to incorporate trends because you don’t have to spend so much and can add it to the pieces you already own,” she said.
What’s trending this summer? The ’90s are back. Little backpacks, overalls, ruffles, pompoms, tassels and appliqué patches have all resurfaced in fashion. “Embroidery is a big one that is coming back,” said Woodgrove stylist Melody Rhind, adding embroidery can be found on accessories, denim jackets and other articles of clothing this summer. “Scarves and chokers would be a must have.”
Suna and Rhind said they want to make the experience fun and positive for people. Maybe people just need some new ideas or want to know how to take an outfit from casual to a more dressy look.
"Ultimately just dress for your body type and as long as you are confident you can wear whatever you want”
People looking for a little help navigating the fashion world can book an appointment with the Woodgrove Centre Style Team. The team, Suna and Rhind, work with people during a two-hour session to find pieces based on their needs, whether the person is starting a new job, attending a special occasion or just wants to update his or her look.
Style Team
“For $20, which is crazy cheap, you get a twohour style session with one of us,” said Rhind. “What we do is we will take our clients around shopping and help them ... There is no pressure to buy, which is super cool.”
Suna attended Humber College in Toronto and studied fashion and business. She started her own fashion blog and has worked in personal shopping field and styling for fashion shows, and photo shoots for magazines. Rhind studied fashion merchandising at the Blanche Madonald Centre in Vancouver. The styling sessions are $20 and all the proceeds are being donated to Haven Society. People can book an appointment by e-mailing styleteam@woodgrovecentre.com or by visiting www.woodgrovecentre.com. On the Woodgrove Centre website people can also check the stylists' availability.
- RACHEL STERN
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SUMMER 2017
HOME
B. Gallant Homes helping people be energy efficient JACQUES LEVESQUE IN THE 'CONTROL ROOM'
R
enovation costs can hit your wallet hard, but with rising utility rates, spending now can save you money later. Among the benefits of going for energy efficiency are lower water, gas and maintenance costs, said Steve Strenja, co-owner of B. Gallant Homes, a home renovation and building company that follows EnerGuide Canada and BuiltGreen guidelines. “The only way we can really save in the long term is, if we're doing something, re-doing something, is to invest in the best, energy-efficient technology that is available ... you may spend 20 per cent more for that product, but over a course of 10 or 15 years, it's paying for itself and it's starting to pay you back, because as hydro goes up, you're still paying minimal cost to heat the house,” said Strenja. Jacques Levesque and Karen Sharp enlisted B. Gallant Homes for renos on their north Nanaimo home and see value in spending extra money. If you're going to strip a house down to the studs, said Levesque, you might as well go for efficiency as well. Strenja said the house has new mechanical systems installed, and interior walls and copper piping were removed. While the living room currently is well lit and spacious at a comfortable temperature, part of the renovations included removal of a fireplace, which goes a long way to saving energy, said Strenja. “There's a fireplace downstairs as well, so there's two flues coming up,” said Strenja. “It's a typical '70s construction where they built this monstrosity of a brick fireplace that really took the view away ... chimneys are not energy efficient. They act like a vacuum, just suck the heat out of a house and consequently, the same with the cold drops in the winter time too.” Levesque said one of the biggest air leaks was between a fireplace and the wall, which was coming from the attic.
“When we discussed with Steve, we thought it would be way too expensive, but in the end, it was only $5,000 or $6,000 to get rid of [it] and in the end, we saved money by using the bricks for STEVE STRENJA ... filler rather than paying for CO-OWNER OF B. GALLANT HOMES having to have them carted away,” said Levesque. Strenja said when tackling a renovation project for one's home, it's good to be prepared. He said 30 per cent of clients know what they want and the majority of the others know what kind of flooring and countertop finishes they want, but it may not know with mechanical items. “It is nice having a client like Jacques that knows what he wants and researches it, because that's what half the battle is, because they wanted it energy efficient, but who's going to do that research and pick the best products? Sometimes the sub trades come up with good information, but generally it's a combination of what the homeowner wants and what the sub trades can supply,” Strenja said. For Levesque and Sharp, they were looking at long-term living costs. “There has to be an amortization cost for the investment as well,” said Levesque. “Working with the [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] contractor ... we looked at should we do this? And while that payback period is 30 years, that's not worth it. This payback in 15 years, well that is worth it.
“That's the kind of thing we went through and in the end, heat pumps would've been a longer payback period than the gas boilers we went with.” If the home was still running on baseboard heating, Strenja estimates the bill would come to $700 to $800 a month. Sharp and Levesque estimated their bill comes to $150 to $200 a month. “That's $6,000 a year, so it adds up really quick and that's always the hard thing with new construction is a lot of people are just focused on the finishes ... and they don't think about that furnace. They say, 'Oh I'm going to get a heat pump, it's efficient,' but really a heat pump is only efficient as the building,” said Strenja. The building code doesn't mandate air tightness, it only mandates minimum requirements. It doesn't push that extra envelope, whereas with energy efficiency, that's where people start getting money back, according to Strenja. “Essentially (new construction) is the point in time where you can invest in the KAREN SHARP ENJOYS HER NEW building envelope EFFICIENT FIREPLACE and secure an airtight building envelope. That's the key to energy efficiency,” said Strenja. “When you've got an older home, really all you can do is a little bit of an insulation upgrades. Windows and doors, attic insulation that really doesn't get you up to true energy efficiency.” - KARL YU
BASTION MAGAZINE
13
Diving Hot Spots
OUTDOORS
P
arked at the bottom of Departure Bay lies a Second World War-era tugboat.
Once known as HMRT Prudent and HMRT Cautious, the tugboat was built in the United Kingdom and launched in 1940. It served with the British Royal Navy during the Second World War, where it was responsible for towing damaged Allied convoy ships. Today, the tug serves as a home for all kinds of marine life and is known as the Rivtow Lion artificial reef, one of three shipwrecks in Nanaimo that divers can explore. “The wreck is sitting in about 80 feet of water. There are lots of openings you can peek into. You can peek into the engine room. You can peek into the wheel house and down the stack,” says Shirley White, veteran diver and owner of Nanaimo Dive Outfitters. Whether it's reefs, wrecks or walls, the Harbour City has it all. White, who has dived all over Nanaimo, says the area has plenty of exciting diving opportunties for divers of all experiences levels.
is a great wreck dive for novice divers because there are plenty of openings to swim through and its deck is at a depth that is manageable. It's also covered in marine life including sea slugs, rockfish, lingcod and crabs. “It’s great for people if they like to explore structures, but it is also great for people who like to see marine life because there is lots of interesting marine life on it," she said.
Whether it's reefs, wrecks or walls, the Harbour City has it all.
“Nanaimo is rated very highly for diving on Vancouver Island especially because of the access to the both shore diving and boat diving,” White says. “We’ve got really great dive sites around here and we’ve got the ability for people to dive on their own by coming into the dive shops and asking about the dive sites or they can hire guides." The Rivtow Lion artificial reef was created in 2005 after the Nanaimo Dive Association purchased the HMRT Prudent. White says the Rivtow
The most popular artificial reef in Nanaimo and perhaps, British Columbia, is the HMCS Saskatchewan, a Mackenzie-class destroyer that served with the Canadian Navy from 1963 until 1994. The 111-metre destroyer became the Harbour City's first artificial reef in 1997 after it ceremoniously sank near Snake Island. Nanaimo is also home to one of the largest artificial reef dive sites in the world. Nearly 40 metres at the bottom ocean near Snake Island sits the HMCS Cape Breton Artificial Reef, which is just a few feet away from the HMCS Saskatchewan.
White says both the Cape Breton and the Saskatchewan are longer dives that are intended for advanced divers. “It takes some extra training to get down to those,” she said. “They are both beautiful dives. The Cape Breton is slightly deeper and it is a little bit longer of a ship, so you’re not going to see the whole ship on one dive, but there is a wheel house and an engine room that you can look down into.”
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If shipwreck diving isn't enough, there are also a handful of beaches that allow for shore diving. "We’ve got really great shore diving here in Nanaimo, which is really a great benefit to us because you can go right off shore from your vehicle," White says.
At the end of the day, White says it's the diversity of dive sites and marine life that make Nanaimo such a special place for diving.
Neck Point Park's beaches, particularly Finn Beach, provide quick and easy access for divers. White says the water at Finn Beach is a great place for novice divers because of its depth and marine life like crabs and baby octopus.
“You’ve got a variety between having the wrecks, having some walls and having shallower rock reefs and the variety of sea life that we have that makes Nanaimo a very popular area,” she says.
Photos Courtesy of Nanaimo Dive Outfitters
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