Vehicle Insurance on the Upper Pitt

Message from RCMP:

We have confirmed the following with respect to third party liability insurance required for the operation of a vehicle on a Forest Service Road.

 1. BC Wildlife Federation have confirmed that their off road insurance covers Quad's only, and nothing else. We were of the understanding that as a member of this Association, you had coverage, no matter what you were driving. This is not the case. If you are operating anything other than a Quad, you are not covered. 

 
2. BC Off Road Motorcycle Association confirms that their coverage includes Motorcycles, Snow Mobiles and Quads, but not Vehicles. 

Should you be subject of a vehicle check, please ensure that you have the required $200.000 minimum third party liability insurance. The fine for not producing the proof of insurance is the same for both ie: no insurance, or failing to produce proof of insurance is $345.00 as per Section 12(1) of the Forest Service Road Use Regulations.

Any questions, or should anyone wish to discuss this, or any other issues, feel free to give me a call.

Regards,

Colin 
(C.KENT) Cst.
Rural Section
Serving Anmore and Belcarra
604-945-1584.
cell 604-809-4407.

fire ban lifted , green heron photos from July at the boat club...

click here for link to more green heron photos

Fire ban lifted

PARKSVILLE – Effective at noon on Aug. 26, 2013, the campfire ban in the Coastal Fire Centre was rescinded due to a decreased risk of wildfires. Campfires now will be permitted throughout the Coastal Fire Centre.

 

The public is reminded that campfires cannot be larger than a half-metre high by a half-metre wide. Anyone who lights a campfire must have a hand tool (such as a shovel) or at least eight litres of water available to fully extinguish it. Never leave a campfire unattended and make sure that the ashes are completely cold to the touch before leaving the area.

Category 3 open fires are permitted throughout the Coastal Fire Centre jurisdictional area. A Category 3 open fire is a fire that burns material in piles larger than two metres high by three metres wide, windrows or grass over an area larger than 2,000 square metres. Any person lighting a Category 3 open fire in the Coastal Fire Centre must comply with burning regulations and must first obtain a burn registration number by calling 1 888 797-1717.

Small backyard burning piles (Category 2) remain prohibited within the Coastal Fire Centre, except in Haida Gwaii and the area known as "the fog zone". This includes:

 The burning of any material larger than a half-metre high by a half-metre wide and up to two metres tall by three metres wide.

 The burning of stubble or grass up to 0.2 hectares.

Fireworks, sky lanterns and burning barrels remain prohibited in the Coastal Fire Centre, except in Haida Gwaii and the area known as "the fog zone". A map of the affected areas is available online at: http://bit.ly/13TKcnr

Anyone found in violation of an open burning prohibition may be issued a ticket of up to $345 or, if convicted in court, be fined up to $100,000 and sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes a wildfire, the person may be subject to a penalty of up to $10,000 and ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.

The Coastal Fire Centre covers all of the area west of the height of land on the Coast Mountain Range north of the U.S.-Canada border at Manning Park, including Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park in the north, the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Haida Gwaii.

 

August Moon

Coastal Fire Restrictions and Upper Pitt Fire links..

Campfire bans link

Effective noon on Thursday, August 1 2013, the Coastal Fire Centre prohibits all open fires to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect the public. This prohibition will remain in effect until Oct. 15, 2013 or the public is otherwise notified.This prohibition covers all BC Parks, Crown and private lands within the Coastal Fire Centre, with the exception of the Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District and the area known as the "Fog Zone". Area of fog zone: The prohibition does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes, or to a portable campfire apparatus with a CSA or ULC rating that uses briquettes, liquid or gaseous fuel, as long as the height of the flame is less than 15

Coastal Wildfire link

Fire No.	Geographic	Discovery Date	Hectares
	V10310	Pitt Lake	Jul 28, 2013	50.00
	VA0343	Talchako River - W border of Tweedsmuir	Jul 31, 2013	7.00
	VA0359	South Bentick	Aug 1, 2013	100.00

Dredging is Done! Everything is back to normal

Upper Pitt Still burning and now estimated as 50 Hectares

Coastal B.C. Wild Fire LInk

July 29 Dredging Update

Today through Weds evening dredging of the mouth of the slough will be taking place.

Tuesday afternoon it will be possible to put all the boats back on the " inside East of the Gas Dock".

Thursday the launch ramp will be closed from 7 am to 7 pm so that the dredging equipment can be disassembled and removed .

Friday , everything should look as if the dredging never took place except that the water will be deeper just about everywhere..

Fire in the Upper Pitt.

Details available from provincial wildfire site

Link to Coastal B.C. active wildfires

 

July 28th dredging update (for the next couple of days)

Still some work , perhaps a couple of days depending on how things progress, on the "inside East of the Gas Dock (see photo below).  Unsure when the finger floats will be able to be put back in or when the wet moorers will be able to return  there, but hopefully in the next two or three days. Updates will follow as quickly as things become more certain.   We are nearing the end.



Dredging the "inside" on  Sunday afternoon

And a few of the birds at the slough today..

link to the batch of photos that these were selected from

Update Sunday July 28th.
The dredge will be at the mouth of the slough from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

This means you may experience LONG DELAYS getting in and out  of the slough between 7 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The good news is that if you come back any time after 3 p.m. you will not have any delays getting into the slough. Originally we thought that the mouth of the slough would be blocked off til 7 p.m. but that is no longer the case.

Dredging Update July 25th

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: THERE ARE ONLY CERTAIN TIMES THAT YOU CAN ENTER OR LEAVE THE SLOUGH EVEN THOUGH THE LAUNCH RAMP IS OPEN. THIS MEANS YOU MAY BE ABLE TO PUT YOUR BOAT IN THE WATER  AND FILL IT WITH GAS BUT YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO LEAVE THE SLOUGH!

Typical layout of dredging equipment in the slough

Weekend  Plan:
1) Entering and Leaving the slough

Saturday  - you can leave/enter the slough in the morning and after 7 pm(between the morning and 7 pm will depend on the dredging)

Sunday     - dredging doesn't stop til 7 p.m. so if possible come back after 7 p.m. otherwise you may have significant waits as the dredge can only stop at certain times and may result in you waiting 20 minutes or more.

2) The Gas Dock and Launch Ramp are now open normal boatclub hours.

Whether you can get in or out of the slough is a different matter as that still depends on the dredging operation.

3) Any wet moorers with moorage WEST of the gas dock or in boathouses can put their boats back in their moorage spots now.

adding the last finger floats West of the Gas Dock

4) Wet moorers on the inside EAST of the gas dock will have to wait til late Sunday to put their boats back in their moorage spots and may also need to attach their own finger floats.

"inside East of the Gas Dock" - where the dredging will be going on the next couple of days

The photos above were taken on Weds evening.

Here are a couple photos taken Thursday evening (click on photos to enlarge them)

Panorama of inside, east of gas dock

panorama west of gas dock

Dredging Update July 23rd

As of Today:
estimate that we have 4 or 5 days of dredging left.
All  the boats on the west side of the gas dock and all the boats in boathouses may now go back in the water.
The launching ramp is open but access to it is blocked between 7:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. (probably for the next couple of days), so if you want to launch your boat it has to be before 7:30 a.m. and between 7 p.m. and dusk.

All the boats opposite the boathouses on the inside can launch this weekend and we'll find a spot for you Sunday though  you may have to put your own finger float back on.
Kevin

Dredging Update July 22nd

The launching Ramp is now open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. and from 7:00 p.m. to Dusk.

We only have one road in and out (the upper road) so please walk up the dyke and check for traffic in the launch area first as backing up is cramped.

We expect to have the launch ramp fully operational by Thursday and hopefully all the boats west of the gas dock and the majority of boathouse owners can go back in before the weekend.

Kevin

Dredging Update - Sunday July 21st

We are starting to see progress now and dredging of the "Catch Basin" has been completed.

This morning the inside under the club house was being dredged.

As the dredging progresses eastward it becomes easier (easier material, shorter hauling distance , and less depth required to be dredged).

There is a chance the launch ramp maybe open Monday night perhaps after 7 p.m. but we'll let you know.

Dredging update

The launch ramp will be closed at least through this weekend - July 19-21st.

Our boat club dredging project is coming along, but these things never happen as quickly as one would like. We lost a couple of days working out the kinks but are now dredging full speed ahead.
HOWEVER, the LAUNCHING RAMP will remain CLOSED until further notice. I appreciate everyone's participation in removing their boats , it has made the job so much easier. Many thanks to those who have come out and helped..
Kevin 

Dredging Update : Launch Ramp closed July 15th to 19th

1)Effective immediately, there should be no more boats remaining in our wet moorage areas. 

2)The launch ramp is now closed and is expected to remain closed at least until and including Friday July 19th. If we are able to open the launch ramp earlier thant that we will post a notice on this webpage but for now assume it will also be closed on Friday. If for some reason the launch ramp needs to be kept closed beyond Friday we will let you know.

3)Although we will try to keep the Gas Dock open, any access to the Gas Dock will only be allowed when it does not interfere with the dredging. So if you try to access the gas dock during the next couple of weeks please note that you may have long delays and at times you may not even be able to access the gas dock.

If you have a complaint  about anything you should complain to Kevin at 604-290-8574. If you choose not to contact Kevin directly and instead behave rudely or abusively or vent your frustrations on the boat club managers you will permanently lose access to the gas docks and/or  have your access to the boat club (launching, moorage etc) terminated. There is zero tolerance for any inappropriate behavior that is directed at our managers.

As stated earlier , the dredging crew will be working 12 hours a day and the work starts tomorrow (July 15)  and will go till at least July 27th and possibly longer.

Dredging Information and updates

Dredging will commence on Monday July 15th and continue until about July 27th, Originally it was thought that the dredgers would be working 24 hour shifts each day but circumstances have changed and they will only be able to work 12 hours each day effectively doubling the length of the project.
Please remove your boats from the water prior to July 15^th – a Monday ------ come down the lake Sunday July 14th and pull your boat out.  This includes all Boathouse Owners. If you can’t do that for the Club, be on notice that your boat will be moved and we will accept no responsibility for any damage that may occur.

Please remove your boats from the water prior to July 15^th – a Monday ------ come down the lake Sunday and pull your boat out.  This includes all Boathouse Owners ------- and if you can’t do that for the Club, be on notice that your boat will be moved and we will accept no responsibility for any damage that may occur.

Tentative Dredging Plan:

The first thing to be dredged is our catch basin upstream.  After that they will go inside and up under the clubhouse. 

Next is a straight line up the Slough past the boat houses, then turning the corner and coming down the inside. 

The remainder of the time will be spent on the channel and at the mouth.

There is zero tolerance for is anyone who feels the need to abuse our Resident Managers during this period when there will be delays getting in and out of the launching ramp and the slough. Anyone foolish enough to blame Debbie or Glen for any disruptions to their lives will be locked out forever.  If you want to complain to someone, please phone Kevin directly at 604-290-8574.

Cautionary Buoy in the River (yellow) and Buoys at the South End of the Lake

If you try to cross between the yellow buoy and the north end of the island there is a good chance that you are going to stop very suddenly....

Click on any of the images  below to get an enlargement that provides more detail.

cautionary buoys

Link to Table listing all the navigational aids on Pitt Lake...

http://www.notmar.gc.ca/go.php?doc=eng/services/list/pacific-coast/p372e2010

copy of the table as of June 8th, 2013

The  buoys at the south end of the lake,

click on photo to enlarge

clcik on photo to enlarge

Rainbow and ducks

Saturday Evening (may 25th)

 

 

Remember to check the tides before you head out of the BoatClub...
The water has been very low as many boaters found out on the Easter long weekend...  (link to Pt.Atkinson tides)

and.....

here is how high water levels from last June look if you want to compare them with the low water photos

Side by side comparison with corresponding Fraser River Levels

 

 

 

Very low water

Boatclub just before midnight on Saturday Feb 23rd

 

Pt. Atkinson Tide Tables (Feb 23rd onwards)