BC up; BC down

Posted on August 23, 2011 by murray

Every time I get on my bike, I’m going up or down. On the prairies we ride all over hell’s 1/2 acre looking for some kind of incline, sometimes for fun, sometimes for fitness. Here I look for a flat spot to spin an even cadence for awhile.

On Vancouver Island I got on my bike near Mill Bay, rode north to Cobble Hill, then went inland and around Shawnigan Lake. Leaving the edge of the lake, I turned south wanting to join up with Hiway 1 so I can get to Victoria. I’m sure there are back roads but I am not at all familiar with the area and did not run into any locals on my ride, so the hiway it is. The very long climb to the top of the Malahat was gruesome. At times I was grinding my smallest gear barely maintaining 12kms/hr. But, if you make it to the top and you are going to end your ride at sea level you have got to have it figured that the ride down is going to be a fast one, and it was. There is one spot on the hiway that the speed limit is 70 kms/hr, I had to use my brakes to slow down enough so I would not pass the vehicles on the right. This went on for 4 or 5 km. ADRENALIN RUSH! The downhill aspect was all the way to the spot I was to meet Debbie. I averaged about 50kph If you ride bikes you know how much fun that kind of ride is.

Yesterday I rode as few kms along the Crowsnest Hiway, Hiway 3, it parallels the Canada/US border. The ride was pretty good. The roads are very rideable with reasonable shoulders on most of them. When I lived in BC in the late 70’s and early 80’s there was 4 inches (100 mm) of white line and an equal amount of pavement to the right. I think that is where I learned to ride a straight line. After all I am still here. So the bike riding has improved immensely. Anyway, the ride was up and down, funny eh. Again I hit a stretch that I chugged up at about 15km/hr. Then after a short flat respite, I enjoyed a 10km downhill jet ride. 50+ from top to bottom. You gotta love it.

Today, Tues. Aug. 23, Debbie and I did a great, out of the traffic, ride. A few days ago my brother told me of a ride from Cranbrook to Kimberly. The old railway bed has be redone, rails removed and surface paved, to function as a multi-use trail. We rode it on a Tuesday so it was not crowded at all. It is 25km up at no more than 3% grade and 25km ripping down. Again, it is BC and even though the grades are not great it is UP and DOWN. We left at about 10:30 so we arrived in Kimberley in time for lunch. A really good ride. You do not have to be a particularly talented rider to do this ride but you do need to be able to sit in the saddle for 50km as there is not much possibility of bailing and grabbing a cab.

Bikes in our campsiteSo if you do ride and you are coming to BC, do with your bike like you do with your AMEX card, ‘Don’t leave home without it.’

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Kelowna Pushor Mitchell Apple Triathlon – Debbie Does the Sprint

Posted on August 22, 2011 by debbie

ok debbie, you can do this.  remember you like to do this. kick with my glutes, kick with my glutes, smooth to start, strong to finish. there’s the horn, here we go, water isn’t too bad. go……dive. easy easy not too fast kick with your glutes. breathe breathe there’s the buoy. kick with your glutes. (coughing) ok that wasn’t nice. breathe air NOT water.

there’s the next buoy. mmm a guy swimming in just baggy trunks. just go by him debbie.  kick with your glutes. even strokes.  breathe breathe. get around the buoy.

ach! I can’t see the buoy in the sun. find something above.  the edge of the tower. rinse your goggles. okay that’s much better.  I can see! kick with your glutes, strong strokes breathe.  I can see the bottom.  where’s the sand.  getting closer. getting closer.  should I stand up now? not yet. okay now. jog jog jog.

“GO DEBBIE.  There’s only about 6 in front of you!” What? run if you can. can’t get my arm out…there it goes.  straps next… oooof who put that bridge in here.  okay. just past the second tree. bike bike bike.there it is. sit down. wetsuit off socks on shoes on number belt on helmet on glasses on gloves on bike down

there’s the mount line. clip in, go. watch for others. spin spin.  not too hard. woa…passing on the right. better watch out.  there’s the hill. you can do this. steady strong glutes core glutes core glutes core. what? I’m catching a guy in the Male 20-29 age group. just go by him “On your left”. steady steady. almost there. ha!

gear up. pedal pedal. eek..better improve my cornering. go debbie go. oooo that was fast 41 kph. here comes that corner. leave it in the big chain ring.  ooof. maybe not. spin spin.  take a drink now!

“GO DEBBIE GO” Oh Mur! whoa watch the corner.  spin hard. go go go okay the hill again. same thing,  steady strong glutes core glutes core. this one hurts more. okay down.  push hard debbie. go go go. small chain ring this time around that corner.  oh that small hill hurts this time.  okay long downhill. spin spin.

there’s the exit chute. steady off the bike.  don’t want to fall over now. one two three SPRINT OLYMPIC turn here. 681 681 681 there’s my towel. bike sit take shoes off put runners on take helmet off put visor on grab gel. go this way to run exit “Thank you”

small steps core core core glutes glutes glutes. okay feels okay. gel get 2 mouthfuls water. where’s Mur.  “THERE”S ONE ABOUT 30 SECONDS IN FRONT OF YOU.  CHASE HER DOWN” okay steady now. core glutes. there’s a rabbit. keep going. oh – use the shortest route.  remember Devon. cut the corners.  there’s another rabbit.

3 km to go.  oh just passed by another Female 50 – 54 grouper.  RATS. can’t keep up.  go go debbie.  2 kms to go.  1 km to go.  pick up your pace abit.  concentrate.  core glutes core core. arms. smooth. there’s Mur.  There’s the finish line.  Can I catch this fellow in front of me.  almost.  DONE! WOW!

Can’t breathe.  Don’t stop walking Debbie.  Where’s Mur? There he is.  Walk to him.  I’m going to cry.  Breathe Debbie.  It’ll go away. “Mur – I can’t breathe.  Gotta keep walking”. “WAY TO GO! You were great!” Okay, I feel better now.  I can breathe again.

WOW, I did good for me.  Swim was fantastic.  Bike was okay for me and another strong run for me. What an experience this was!

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To Kelowna

Posted on August 22, 2011 by debbie

Day 7 ? Kelowna, we arrive on time. Caught the 7am ferry out of Swartz Bay and it was only 60% full when we arrived at 6:30. The day starts well. Time checks hit the mark all the way. Traffic on Hiway 1 is terrible until Chilliwack but then thins out considerably.  The Coquihalla east bound had paving going on  when we went through three days before and we noticed the lines on the up track were extremely long. We figured we would outsmart the locals and run Hiway 3 to Princeton, then 5A and 97C into Kelowna. The route is only a few kms longer but the speed limit is less so most folks want to make time and will opt for the Coquihalla.

Ha, WE WON. The trip was at least as fast, we had no long tedious wait at the paving section, there was much less traffic and the route was absolutely more interesting. Hiway 5A is an outstanding drive. I have never been on it before and I would definitely do it again.

Like I said, we made Kelowna on schedule. 3pm.  Debbie had time to get her bike into transition, get registered for the Tri and go to the pre-race meeting.  Done.

We had made reservations at a campground a few kms out of town on Wood Lake, The Wood Lake Terrace Campground. It was getting close to dinner and we were a little edgy so we headed towards our abode. We didn’t have the exact location and Wood Lake, although quite small, is big enough when you do not know which side of the lake you want to access. Many years ago I had stayed on the south shore of the lake and assumed that the campground would be there. We drove by on the highway and did not notice any signage indicating that the camp we were looking for was there. The highway follows the west shore of the lake with a steep bank to the west and there is only enough room for the highway. Suddenly there is a sign ‘The Wood Lake Terrace Campground.’

WLTC is the only thing on the west side of the lake. There is the lake shore, the highway and then a terraced campground and RV area.  I had a bad feeling as we drove in; the place just did not feel right. It was within spitting distance of the highway and the traffic noise was horrendous.  Frankly, it looked more like a junk yard than a campground. I worked in a campground for about 15 summers and I know that there are many types of campers but at least ½ of these campers would have been asked to leave the campground where I worked at because of the condition of their campsites. There was junk and garbage strewn everywhere, the tents and RVs were in terrible repair. Some of the sites looked as though the occupants were living there and they treated the area as their own yard, storing whatever they had collected over their tenure.

As the evening progressed things got worse. Someone turned up the music. The music was not that bad but it was loud enough that the whole campground could hear it, even over the highway noise.

Then the folks across the road from us came home. There was 4 tents on the site. There were at least 14 people camped on the one site, all ages from 5 to 50 and none of them had any idea what quiet was. They also rivalled the highway noise until well after midnight. I think they won the db contest hands down.

We had decided not to hold the second night of our reservation and told the lady at the desk so.  We devised a plan to rise 15 minutes earlier than our already early time of 5:30 am and pack very efficiently, cut out and still arrive at the Tri site early. We pulled it off to perfection. Hopefully, we made just enough noise to irritate our noisy neighbours.

I would not stay at this campsite again on a bet. If you are thinking of doing so please check it out before making a commitment.

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Still sitting in Starbucks

Posted on August 18, 2011 by debbie

Hope to Bamberton Park

We slept last night with the tent vents wide open.  It is wonderful to sleep in the fresh air. We awoke rested and ready for the trip towards the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal and Victoria.  I snuck in a short run while Murray broke camp (ie took down the tent and packed the car). Even had a shower!  WHO HOO!

Headed to the coast and stopped at a triathlon store in South Surrey to buy Mur a De Soto beanie to protect his head in his helmet from wasps and the elements. Bought groceries and gas and headed to the ferry.  Timed it really well and we didn’t have to wait very long before we were boarding and off across the Georgia Straight.

Met a group of four ladies from Victoria on the ferry.  Two elderly ladies were caring for two even more elderly ladies.  They had come for the ferry ride – got on the ferry in Victoria, rode it to the mainland, did not get off the ferry and were heading back again.  A very lovely day for an excursion.  They had bought lunch, needed a place to sit so shared our table. Since they were all over 65 years old, the ferry ride was free so their little adventure just cost the price of lunch.  They were very charming.

We checked out MacDonald Campground right near the ferry terminal but the noise from the highway was too loud, so we headed to Brentwood Bay to take the ferry across the bay towards Mill Bay.

We got a surprise at the Brentwood Bay Ferry.  It cost $30 to take the ferry! Oh, and 40% discounted tickets are available at the store just close to the ferry.  Guess that’s what happens when we don’t do any research into where we are going.  End up paying full price for things. Lesson learned!

We are camped in a campground called Bamberton Park.  It was 47 sites, pit toilets and access to a beach.  It is a very cozy, quiet campground and only $16 a night. We would definitely stay here again.

Bamberton Park to Victoria

Murray wanted to get in a ride, so we decided that he would ride into Victoria and I would drive and we would meet up somewhere. After breakfast and packing up, Murray headed off to go north to Cobble Hill, around Shawnigan Lake Road, south over the Malat on Hwy 1 and we would meet where Hwy 1 intersects Millstream Road.  I finished packing, took a look around and left too.  I drove straight to Millstream Road looking for a Tourist Information and a Starbucks. Found a Starbucks and tried to post the last blog, but got kicked out just before I was ready to post.  I am actually getting slightly frustrated with internet access and trying to get it for free all the time.  Have to talk to my network expert (spelled son) when I get home to find out what the options are. Since I was under abit of a time constraint I just bailed and headed to the rendezvous.

Found a place to park that was visible from the road, pulled out my lawn chair and sat behind the vehicle and read. Suddenly my phone rings and it is Mur. He overshot the rendezvous and wants to confirm where I was.  Next to the fire station. He is only 3 km away so he says, stay put, I will be right there.  In no time I spotted him in his yellow jersey coming up over the road.

We were heading to My Aunt I’s house when we spotted the Juan de Fuca Recreation Center.  POOL! I had to get in a swim as part of my taper week, so we pulled in and I swam for about a half hour. My Dad was in on the design of this facility, so it was nice to swim there.

We continued on our way to my Aunt’s house and had a nice visit with her and my cousin.  Will return this afternoon for more chatter. I love visiting them as they are always laughing.

We met up with Murray’s parents and brother and friend at the Surf Motel for supper.  The Surf Motel is the only place we will stay in Victoria. It is a 1960’s style motel.  Two stories, only about 12 rooms with floor to ceiling windows that look right out onto the Georgia Straight. It is slightly dated, but the owners are slowly fixing the rooms up and it is quite lovely to stay in.

We opened the blinds this morning while still lying in bed and watched the world go by.  A cruise ship came in, 2 scuba divers went out, people walked by, rode by, ran by, drove by.

I am sitting in a laundromat right now and Murray is finding a BCAA to get a real map. Another item we forgot to look into before we left.  Traveling around Victoria without a map is an adventure!

When the laundry is done, I will head across the street to the Starbucks and try to post these two posts.  Wish me luck.

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Sitting in Starbucks….

Posted on August 18, 2011 by debbie

Edmonton to Jasper

We awoke on Monday morning in the clouds.  We were in Wabasso Campground off Highway 93 between Jasper and Banff, near the Athabasca Falls. When we climbed out of our tent, the clouds were hanging in the trees and over the river close to our campsite.  What a wonderful sight.

We had left Edmonton at about 9:30 Sunday morning and had decided to drive to Jasper only.  We wanted to be able to go for a bike ride when we got to Jasper. The drive was fast and the traffic was fairly light until we hit the park gate and where the highway turns into a double lane rather than a four laner. We were going to ride down 93 toward Banff about 25 km, so it made sense to camp along 93 somewhere.

As we turned onto 93 we noticed a line up at the entrance to Wapiti Campground – mostly those dreaded RVs.   We kept driving through the park gate and turned onto the Marmot Ski Hill Road, continued along 93A until we came to Wabasso.  If you ever want to camp in the Jasper area, go to Wabasso.  It was not crowded at all and the tent sites are all  good.

We were warned about a bear in the campground.  The young woman said not to worry about him, he is just eating berries and assured us he didn’t like to eat cyclists.  We found our site, quickly set up our tent, changed and then drove past Athabasca Falls down onto 93 to start our ride.  We decided not to ride from the campground as the young woman at the campground entrance said the road is not in good condition and there is a lot of tourist traffic on it – safety would be a concern.

Parked the vehicle in the entrance to the Athabasca Hostel and headed south on 93.  It was a steady slog uphill.  I remember riding this road when Murray and I rode Jasper – Lake Louise many years back.  I wasn’t in shape back them and the hills killed me. I remembered one particular hill fairly close to Jasper – it was the equivalent to about 3 or 4 Gallagher Hills in Edmonton.  Rather steep and goes on forever.  I knew it was coming so around every corner I would look to see if it was there.  Sure enough, we rounded a corner and there it sat.  I’m gonna kill you this time, I thought to myself.  See, I have been strengthening my bod with a trainer for the past while and I wanted to see what I could do. Well, that hill did NOT get me! I killed it! May not have been fast, but it was strong and steady and I felt great at the top (rather than feeling like I could die).

I rode to 22 km and turned around when it started to rain on us.  Mur kept going for another 3 km, to get his 50 km in.  You know what happens when we climb steadily up and up and up and go up 4 or 5 major hills?  You SMOKE IT going down! What a fast ride back.  I topped out at 56 kph on the big hill, Mur topped out at 77 kph.  I didn’t pedal at the top, he did.

Wabasso Campsite

By the time we finished setting up, having supper and cleaning up, it started to get cold and rain.  We piled into the tent and read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any more.  Then woke up in the clouds.

Jasper to Hope

We decided to drive drive drive today and get close to Vancouver.  We thought we would head to the island on Tuesday rather than Wednesday and camp for one night on the island.  Something we haven’t done since the kids were younger. We pulled into Hope at about 4 and both of us had had enough of the vehicle.  I am sitting here typing at the picnic table in the Coquihalla Campground right in Hope.  Had to dry out our tent, sleeping bags and mats as everything was damp – either from the rain or from the condensation in the tent.  Didn’t take long to dry out. Drive a few hundred kms and change weather systems – love it.  I am sitting here in pants, shirt and fuzzie at 8:30 and last night at this time, I was wearing pants, 2 shirts, fuzzie, jacket, hat and freezing to death.

It’s getting dark so I am signing off.  Good night. Sleep tight.  Don’t let the bears nibble your toes….or something like that.

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Car Camping

Posted on August 13, 2011 by debbie

We are heading to the West Coast in a couple of days.  Murray’s aunt is turning 100 years old next weekend and we are going out to Victoria to help celebrate.  The next weekend R is throwing a “PhD” Party for D in Canmore that we would not miss for the world. We are also stopping in Kelowna so I can participate in the Kelowna’s Pushor Mitchell Apple Triathlon.  www.appletriathlon.com.

We decided to camp (and ride our bikes) along the way.    We load up our vehicle with all sorts of stuff, including the kitchen sink, and head out the door. This spells ROAD TRIP!

Our car camping packing list is now posted as a page under the Packing Lists Menu item.

Over the last 4 or 5 days, we have been using the list to slowly gather our camping gear and all the other stuff we will need for the trip. Basic camp stuff, plus nicer clothes for the 2 parties, plus bikes, plus my triathlon gear. The house has pockets of stuff everywhere.

I have a new vehicle since we last car camped and took our bikes, so it will be interesting to see if everything fits into this vehicle.  We purchased a RAV4 partially due to the size of the back cargo area, with the seats down.  Our bikes fit into the back without having to take the front wheels off.  Murray likes having the bikes inside so they are not subjected to the weather.

We do have a Thule box for the top of the vehicle which is indispensable for us, especially when traveling with the bikes. It carries most of the soft stuff plus the stove and lawn chairs.

We also have a bike rack for the top of the vehicle, which sits beside the box.  We will only use it if we cannot get both bikes and the necessary camping gear inside the cargo area.

I am always amazed at how much we cram into the vehicle to go car camping.  A totally different concept than traveling with carry on bags only.

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Edmonton Folk Music Festival

Posted on August 12, 2011 by debbie

I had good intentions of posting at least one blog during the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, but sleep became the priority.  It was a great festival – well organized, beautiful weather and superb music.

We had one evening of rain and a sprinkle of rain on one afternoon.  Here is what our dining room looked like after we came home from the evening rain.  Gotta dry out our gear somehow!

Disaster Zone

A few musical highlights (for me anyway) of the festival were

Noah and the Whale

Lissie

Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros

Kila

Matt Anderson – Also watch his You Tube video of “Ain’t No Sunshine”

There was a lot more great music than what I have listed.  A few more greats were Garnet Rogers, Delhi2Dublin, Angelique Kidjo, The Deep Dark Woods, Andrew Bird, De Temps Antan, Baka Beyond, KT Tunstall and Etran Finatawa.  Check out the festival website for more information.

Another year’s festival is over……I’m catching up on my sleep……..and looking forward to next year.

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Decisions about India

Posted on August 10, 2011 by murray

The past week has been busy for us. In general (see folkfest blogs) and to do with trip organization. Most of our India/Bhutan trip is constrained by transportation. Therefore  our itinerary is pretty well set and we cannot float too much . We have to catch this or that plane or be at this or that designated spot at this or that designated time. So, I have started to research accommodation and the possibilities available.

Since we are constrained, we think that we can book places in advance. This will take some of the adventure out of the equation, but at the same time it will reduce some of the stress. Looking for a place to stay as we arrive at a destination is always a good way to take in the lie of the land, but it does take time from  some pointed touring and the stopping at place after place trying to make an instant decision, ‘Is this place the one?’, can be quite a stressful exercise.

I think we have decided to start picking a place to stay in the towns we know we will be in for fixed date. Our Kolkata stay is  hard ended by airplane flights. We are to leave Bhutan by  Oct. 16 and we have plane tickets to the Port Blair on the morning of the 20th. My research has dug up 10 or so places that we have emailed with our first round of questions. There is a wide range of accommodation types from Budget hotels in the centre of Kolkata to boutique hotels further out in the suburbs.

We got back answers to most of the emails and will have to analyze them over the next couple of days. Hotels are quite cheap in India, except of course the luxury hotels that are basically there for the more gentile crowd. Those particular hotels are as expensive as they are anywhere in the world. As you have probably gathered we do not stay in ‘luxury accommodation’, but with the rates the Indian hotels charge we should be able to stay in places a cut above our standards and not affect our budget.

Most of the places we have located in Kolkata are standard hotels rooms. Done up like any hotel in the western world. Nice for the familiarity factor but not so good if one that wants to be part of somewhere other than home.

When we were in Beijing we discovered this great little place, The Double Happiness. It was a small hotel in a more or less residential district that was built to resemble a traditional hutong and furnished with Chinese antiques. It was one of the best places we stayed.

There is a hotel similar to The Double Happiness in Kolkata, the Bodhi Tree. We have included this establishment on our email list and hope that our investigations are favorable.

We have also emailed the hotels with possibilities in Darjeeling and Kalimpong. We have not begun our investigations into places on Havelock Island because we do have some flex time when we arrive in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. We have the possibility of taking a bus ride up island from Port Blair to Mayabunder and doing a little exploring before catching a ferry to Havelock and loaf for the duration of out trip. I think we are leaning on getting to Havelock as soon as we can so this may result in us booking there soon as well.

Next step; determine which accommodation offers us what we want and negotiate the terms.

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Folk Festival

Posted on August 1, 2011 by debbie

As we have said, we have lists for EVERYTHING! Every summer, we attend the annual Edmonton Folk Music Festival.  http://www.edmontonfolkfest.org/  It is a 4 day event and all we do for those 4 days is eat, sleep and folk fest.  Organization is the key.  Our Folk Festival packing list is now listed under the Packing List Menu item.

I have grouped the items on the list so they make a bit more sense – food, clothes, important stuff (like tickets) and other stuff.  Murray and I each carry a backpack stuffed to the limits with food, stuff and mostly clothes.  This is what our list looked like after I did the initial pack.

There are items on the list that we do not always take  – camera, tape measure, bug spray, parking pass and hiking boots. We always take the rain gear and the warm layers.  The rain gear is indispensable as it can be beautifully sunny in the morning and pouring rain by evening. Sitting on the side of a hill until midnight can get chilly, so long underwear, fuzzies, mittens and touques come in handy.

Our dining room looks like disaster zone during the folk fest.  We gather all this stuff and lay it out on the floor between the living room and dining room. Each day we pack it up and each day, when we get home, we unpack most of it.  I even undress in the dining room each night and leave my warm clothes there, so they are ready to be packed again in the morning. This ensures that nothing is left behind.

A few years ago, Murray and I drove into the garage extra late one night.  Knowing we had to unpack, get up early the next morning, repack, and then head to the line up for gate placement tickets, Murray turned to me and said, “Why don’t we just sleep right here in the car.”

See you on the hill!

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The New Camera

Posted on July 30, 2011 by murray

It’s done. We have spent the last couple of weeks researching cameras and underwater housings trying to decide what will serve our purposes the best. We started out looking at things in a random fashion, worked on selection criteria as we went and narrowed it down to two choices by the end. The two cameras it came down to were the SeaLife DC1200 with its own housing and the Canon S95 with an Ikelite housing.

When we arrived home from Bonaire with our now defunct Canon A 620 camera and our Canon waterproof housing we thought we might be able to find a replacement for the camera and just continue on with the housing. The camera has long since been discontinued so we got on the internet and found several used and refurbished ones. The price was right so we prepared to buy a couple of them to last us a while.

Debbie thought before we jumped into the purchase of second hand equipment, we should maybe test the housing. We cleaned it up, thinking that maybe it was a grain of sand or hair on the seal that caused the leak. Then we put the empty housing in the kitchen sink with a weight on top and left it for a couple of hours. No leak. Our son suggested that we test it in the local dive (as in diving board, 5M deep pool) tank. So we rigged up a tether and weight system and Debbie took it over to the pool and submerged it. It leaked. We talked and decided that it would not be worth it to trust the housing even if the replacement cameras were cheap. We can save the cost of the cameras, plus the technology has advanced in the last few years, so we might as well put that money towards an up to date model.

We needed a starting point so our first research revolved around the SeaLife DC1200. This camera was developed specifically for underwater photography and had good reviews. It is a good camera with lots to say for the underwater component of use. I particularly like the fact that the case has a rubberized coat that I think would protect it against bumps and bangs like the one that was the demise of our last housing. (See Camera Housing Update) The cost of this camera is $500 to $600. The controls on the housing are suppose to be easy to use both on land and underwater. The number of preset underwater settings is numerous which allows for many different situations and should make for good pictures, if you can master all of them.

The two things that may have dissuaded us are, first, the fact that after we analyzed the usage of our future camera and decided that most of the time it would be used as a land camera and the big advantage to the SeaLife is that it was developed as an ‘underwater’ camera. That is not to say that it would not function well on land, in fact the reviews indicated that it did preform quite well out of the water, but it was developed for use underwater, which means that the default design would have been to underwater preference. Second, was the fact that there was not a camera in town that we could handle. It is a specialized product and it would be expensive for shops to keep a stock on hand, so even the dive shops special order the product which means we would have bought it sight unseen.  This was the first camera we looked at and was still on the list when we had narrowed our choices to two.

Doing our due diligence, we expanded our search to land cameras for which underwater housings were available. I started by visiting the B & H camera website and finding out what housings were available. This took some work as there are many housings from several different companies for several different types of cameras. We knew we were not going to buy and DSLR so that eliminated a good number of choices. Then I made a executive decision and narrowed the camera brands to Nikon and Canon. Both brands Debbie and I had used before to good success. That narrowed the selection again and I started noting the cameras that have housings available. Canon has its own housings and there are several housing brands like Ikelite and Fantasea that house multiple brands of cameras. Again an executive decision and we narrowed our search to Canon and Ikelite.

Debbie started to look into the cameras on the list I had made. This was to be her camera so she was the one that had to make the decision. She did not know Nikon and was quite familiar with Canon so her search started there. We short listed 4, only 2 of which we could view at the local camera mecca, McBain. The Canon G12 and the Canon S95 were the cameras we could see and handle.

The G12 was a camera that had some features that would be of interest to someone that had been used to using a SLR. Most of the controls were accessed by dials and levers. There is also a viewfinder, although not through the lens, which is something that Debbie likes when she takes pictures. It has a slightly larger sensor than most point and shoots that would make for better clarity on large photos and it has the capability of 5 x optical zoom.

The S95 is a much smaller camera, a plus in Debbie’s list of criteria. It has a large 3″ screen on the back. The zoom is only 3.8 x optical but has a f2.0 aperture available in wide angle mode. The big thing in my books is that the camera shoots RAW. Pictures shot in RAW mode can be manipulated to a much greater degree in Photoshop and the like. So, if you do not choose the correct camera settings in the field you can make adjustments at home on the computer.

Back on the internet. Debbie finds nothing but good reviews for the S95. It is the correct size, does everything she wants and more, the only thing and it is a small detractor, is that it does not have a viewfinder.

I start the research on the best housing for the camera. I think that the Ikelite is probably the best constructed and could be the best bet although it is twice the price as the Canon. So we have made some sort of a decision.

Then I noticed that the Ikelite housing has an odd mounting configuration on the base. It has two screw mounts instead of the industry standard of one. We own a Sealife strobe that mounted to our last Canon housing with no trouble at all. My next task was to follow up on whether or not the strobe will fit on the Ikelite housing. Negative. The person at Ikelite informed me that Ikelite uses housing mounts that are unique and do not even use the same threads as a standard tripod mount. He quite honestly was not that helpful or did he seem to have the time to help. He did suggest a company, Ultralight, that may have an adapter that would unite the two items. The lady at Ultralight was even less helpful, suggesting that the SeaLife strobe was junk and she didn’t really have time for what we wanted but did suggest a system that would help. It was a mere $220 on top of the expensive housing and we would have to discard 1/2 of our $500 strobe just to make it fit. You can see where this is heading.

We have used a Canon housing to great success before. The only time we had trouble is when we were shore diving and up to now 99% of our dives have been boat dives so what the heck, let’s go with the Canon.

The Canon housing has one oddity, the dial that operates the ring around the lens will be on the same side of the housing that our strobe will be mounted, so it may be a bit of trouble to access, but we find underwater is a lousy place to start making camera adjustments and we try to have everything set up before we even put the camera into the housing. That means the location of the dial should not be that annoying.

There is a great range of prices on the net.  Especially if you do not limit your choice of venues to your own country. The best prices I could find for both the camera and the housing were at B& H in New York. My big concern is that there is always a hassle importing stuff from the States into Canada. As soon as you put in a Canadian address on the website order form, the shipping charges  become totally unacceptable.

I called Canada Customs and asked how much the duty is on digital cameras. The answer, 0%, if the camera was a consumer digital model. There is duty on professional models and some specialty items but not on point and shoots. Customs also informed me that if I had paid a fee for the duty and there was no duty on the item I should be able to apply for a refund.

Then I phoned the courier companies and asked how come they charged so much when there was no duty. Their reply was, they did not and it was the seller who was charging the extra. I phoned the seller and they said it was the courier companies that asked for the payments. Where does that money go? At least the seller told me that he would ‘look in to it’, whether he does or not, I may never know.

I did find a way around the prepayment of duty, brokerage fees and the like. I have an account with Fedex. If you phone B&H and place your order over the phone instead of  over the net, they can type in your account number and you will be charged for the courier rate only. You will have to pay GST and duty if it applies, but you will be billed directly by Fedex to the exact amount rather than some estimated amount that does not relate to anything where the money ends up in either the seller’s or the courier’s pocket.

The order has been made. We have purchased a Canon S95 camera and a Canon WP-DC38 waterproof housing. As far I can make, it has left Newark and is winging its way towards Edmonton. We’ll keep you updated on how well it preforms.

Ciao

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