Vancouver Island

Run to Renfrew


Held: June 26, 2004

It was a dark and stormy...... but that was another time and place. Saturday, 26 Jun dawned sunny and warm. It was a perfect day for a drive out along the south coast of Vancouver Island. Seven cars made the rendezvous at the CanWest mall in Langford for the drivers meeting and briefing at 10:30 sharp! Bob, being ex-military tends to be that way some times but Lucy usually gives him a reality check and manages to remind him he's been retired since 1992.

This year's attendees included Maureen and Bob Mitchell, new members, in her immaculate blue 244, Henning and Monica Kristensen from up Duncan way in the silver 740T, Brian and Aude Volstad of Maple Bay fame in the black 780 Bertone, Roland deSchepper in his grey 1800, Rob Thornton in the infamous gold 248 (yes-248, it's a 240 with a Fjord 5.0 litre V-8 under the hood), Peter and Paula Landsman in that unmistakable yellow 1800ES, and leading the pack was Bob in the blue 145 Express with club signs on the side to identify it as the "Club Car".

The drive out was fun with beautiful vistas on the left. The picture is of the group rest stop/leg stretch at the Loss River bridge. After a light lunch at the Lighthouse Pub and Volvo Haven, the group headed off to Botantical Beach. The road had been greatly improved since the dusty run last year. It was a pleasant stroll though the ocean edge forest down to the rocky shores where the tide pools were teaming with all sorts of interesting marine life. It was one of the clearest days we had seen - you could see all the way across to Cape Flattery and well beyond out into the Pacific. And the rock formations created by thousands of years of tides and waves were amazing too. Speaking of tides - it was soon time to find the marker for the trail back up to the parking lot.

Back at the Lighthouse Pub parking lot Bob had trouble getting the Express Club Car going again due to an ailing battery. It seems the wrong fan belt had been installed somewhere along the line - too long and even with the alternator at full adjustment a bit too loose to keep the battery charged. Bob and Rob Thornton managed to scrounge a makeshift replacement and while installing it found the alternator pulley had started to cut into the lower rad hose! It was a bit of a worry so with the Express running again and the rad cap left off to reduce pressure on the weakened hose, Bob decided to forgo the ice cream stop at Jordan River and carry on strait home.

All in all a fun day. Now, gotta go and check those tide tables for June of 05 and pick a date for next year.