The Silvercore Podcast with Travis Bader

Brief Summary of Show:

 

In this episode of The Silvercore Podcast, Travis speaks with jet boat instructor of University of Northern BC, jet boat tour and fishing guide, Robert Bryce.

Listen as they discuss some considerations you should make before purchasing a jet boat and experienced based safety precautions when out on the waters. 

 

Robert also talks about his interest in ghost towns in Northern BC and what he does in his off time when he’s not touring people with his business Northern BC Jet Boat Tours. 

 

If you have a story that would be of value to the Silvercore audience, or know someone who does, email us at podcast@silvercore.ca.  We would love to hear from you!

 

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What is The Silvercore Podcast with Travis Bader?

The Silvercore Podcast explores the mindset and skills that build capable people. Host Travis Bader speaks with hunters, adventurers, soldiers, athletes, craftsmen, and founders about competence, integrity, and the pursuit of mastery, in the wild and in daily life. Hit follow and step into conversations that sharpen your edge.

Kind: captions
Language: en-GB

I'm Travis Bader,
and this is The

Silvercore Podcast.

Join me as I discuss
matters related to

hunting, fishing,
and outdoor pursuits

with the people in
businesses that comprise

of the community.

If you're a new to
Silvercore, be sure to

check out our website,
www.Silvercore.ca where

you can learn more about
courses, services, and

products that we offer.

As well as how you can
join The Silvercore Club

which includes 10 million
in North America wide

liability insurance to
ensure you are properly

covered during your
outdoor adventures.

If you really want to
get deep into the back

country to explore
areas that see little

to no hunting or
fishing pressure, a jet

boat can unlock that
pristine wilderness.

This podcast was recorded
on the side of a river

instead of thunder jet
aluminum boat with expert

operator, Robert Bryce.

Robert provides
important tips and tricks

and insight that can help
you get to your dream

location and back safely.

So I'm sitting down
on the side of the

beautiful Skeena River,
just outside a historic

19 hundreds ghost town
with Robert Bryce on his

thunder jet jet boat.

Robert, welcome to
Silvercore Podcast.

Oh, thanks a lot, Travis.

You've got an
interesting history,

you teach and help
out at the University

of BC don't you?

University of Northern
BC, I should say.

Yeah, university
of Northern BC with

our campus based out
of Prince George.

And yeah, we encompass
the whole Northern half

of the province and
we're fortunate to have

a campus in Terrace,
which I work out of.

You also have your
own tourism business?

Yeah, so I have a little
touring jet boat business

called Northern BC
Jet Boat Tours, which

I actually contract
myself in a sense to the

university for a series
of adventure tours.

And then also do a
bunch of other jet

boat touring on my own.

So when you take
people out on these

jet boat tours, what
exactly are you doing?

A lot of them are focused
on kind of a little

niche based unique tours
focused on Northwest BC.

So, you know, one of
the highlights that I

think we have is a series
of ghost town tour's.

We're fortunate enough
to have five or six,

kind of unique and almost
exclusive ghost towns

in this area, so that
would be one of them.

Grizzly bear viewing,
so, you know, we have

lots of coastal rivers
here in estuaries and

that with grizzly bears
in them and some really

healthy populations.

So we can go out and
watch, you know, grizzly

bears from the safety
of a boat and makes

everyone feel comfortable
and yeah, other stuff

for this area, we
have, canneries tours.

We're so we have a
long history of a

salmon canneries on
the base of the mouth

of the Skeena River.

So we'll go and look
at those and talk all

about the history and
look at the remnants

that still remain, you
know, from that late

1800, early 1900 days.

We also have the Skeena
River, which we're

sitting on right now.

And we do a tour, a five
day tour down the Skeena

River and looking at
all of the history and

scenery and wildlife,
you know, staying

at accommodations on
the edge each night.

So that's definitely
one of the highlights,

especially on a nice
day like today, you

know, where it's
nice and sunny out.

And yeah, a series
of other rivers with

waterfalls and, you know,
ecology culture, you

know whale watching even.

You know, kind of just
kind of looking at what

we have in Northwest BC,
what other people might

want to see and take
them out to see these

things and experience.

Can I get a
shameless plugin?

Like if people wanted
to experience this,

where were they go?

Where would were they?

Yeah, I have
a website it's

www.NorthernBCJetBoatTours.ca,
or they can just Google

that and my Facebook site
will come up as well and

info@northernbcjetboattours.ca
and send me a note and

yeah, we can customize
any tour for whoever.

Get multiple boats
out there and just

depending on what
people's interests are,

if they're interested
in scenery, wildlife,

culture, history,
or a combination, we

can definitely set
something up for 'em.

And you teach jet
boating out of the

university don't you?

Yeah.

I mean, I dunno if I
necessarily teach the

course, we have an
instructor that teaches

it, but I definitely
help out and assist

with the course.

So yeah we're fortunate
enough to have the

flexibility to kind
of run almost anything

and everything out of
our continuing studies

department that I
work for and jet boat

safety is one of them.

And yeah, we do a lot of
courses for ministries,

like the department
of fisheries, lots

of the first nation
communities and their

fishery programs, fishery
consultants, biologists.

You know, it's just a
program or a course it's

really not out there.

And a lot of people
are tasked with sending

their staff out to run a
jet boat and, you know,

unless they're doing
that training internally,

they have to have some
sort of training at

least to cover them off.

And so we have a one day
class in one day on the

river jet boat course
where people are actually

driving the boats and
myself and our main

instructor will be out
there with the students

and giving them all
the stuff that we know

we can share with them
to run a boat safely.

And you know this course
is for people who want

to run a boat safely, not
for Cowboys or guys who

want to jump gravel bars.

And you know, if
that's your thing,

then this course
probably isn't for you.

But if you want to be,
you know, we treat it

like being a captain
of a boat or a ship and

you're responsible for
those people, whether

they're staff members
or family or whoever,

getting them back safely
at the end of the day.

And that for us is the
most important thing

is that they're putting
their trust in you.

And here's all the tips
we know of and, you

know, being cautious.

So that's, you know,
the one thing we're

not, you know, running
rivers, we've never

run before and if we
are we're scouting

them and pre scouting
and stuff like that.

So it's a lot
of safety stuff.

And like I said,
that's the kind of

the foremost thing we
focused on in the course.

So I guess jumping up
gravel bars would be

level two would it?

Yeah, level two.

And yeah, we call them
the Cowboys and you know,

these guys who have the
sporty boats and yeah,

it looks fun to me, but,
you know, I value my boat

a little bit more maybe.

And some of these other
guys are, you know,

they got money to burn
and the impellers to

burn, you know, kind of
gravel continually, and,

you know, a boat like
this might be $3,000

to redo the impellers.

And some of those
guys they'll do that,

you know, two or
three times a year.

Woah.

You know, they're pumping
more gravel out of their

boat than they are water.

And so to each their
own if that's their

thing, but you know, our
couse and what we do is

more tourism focused
on running some, some

nice rivers, but doing
it safely and yeah.

So I've always
wanted a jet boat.

I've got an aluminum
boat that I take out

into the Georgia Strait
and do some fishing in,

but I've wanted the jet
boat so I can get into

the shallower areas and
hunting in the lower

mainland and taken up
some of our rivers.

For somebody who's never
owned or operated a jet

boat before, what are
some considerations that

I should be thinking
about maybe in purchasing

and once I have one?

Well, I mean, I always
tell people, what do you

think you're going to
be doing with this boat?

Cause one boat will not
serve all your needs.

You know, we're on a big
boat here that can run,

you know, decent sized
rivers and go out on

the ocean, but it will
not run skinny rivers

where lots of boulders
and shallow areas.

So you have to decide
where are you going

to be running your
boat and pick a boat

for that application.

And also within your
budget as well, I

mean, money's always
an issue as well.

So I always tell
people, where are you

going to be running
your boat primarily?

How many people are going
to be going in your boat?

That'll decide
how much power you

need for that boat.

Is it just you and your
wife, or are you a hunter

that's going to get that
thousand pounds moose

and want to carry it out
to some remote river?

Well you need more
horsepower for that

and a bigger pump and
so you know, are you

doing fisheries work
out of the back of it?

Do you want a motor
sitting in the back

or do you want an
outboard motor?

If you're doing fisheries
work and having a

big platform at the
back of your boat?

So it just really
depends on what

you're going to be
using that boat for.

Then once people have
decided that, we help

people kind of narrow
it down to the type

and size and length.

And you know, what kind
of V on the bottom, is it

flat bottom, does it have
a good V for running in

bigger water and oceans
and lakes and that.

If you're just running
your boat out in the lake

then yeah, you don't need
a flat bottom boat that's

going to pound your
kidneys all day long.

So there's lots of
options out there between

types and sizes of motors
and lengths and yeah,

it's almost endless.

Then you have inflatable
boats, you know,

so that's one thing
that's kind of getting

more popular now is a
inflatable jet boat.

So something that's a
bit more portable and

you can move them around,
deflate them, put them

inside another boat.

So yeah, lots of options.

Oh I like that idea.

Yeah.

So just like an
outboard jet?

Yeah, an outboard jet.

You know, I have another
small jet boat that

it's a two-stroke motor
that you can actually,

one or two guys can
actually carry the motor.

So I can put it in a
bigger jet boat like

this, I can put the
inflatable in a bigger

jet boat like this.

So I basically have two
boats in one and then use

the big boat to access
areas that you wouldn't

normally get to and push
the small one off and

put the small two-stroke
jet motor on and access

small creeks out in the
ocean that you wouldn't

normally run a small jet
boat like that out there.

But having the big one
for the transportation.

So yeah, lots of options.

I'm not a hunter but I
know guys love to hunt

and putting an ATV on
the back of your boat

is something that a
lot of hunters would

probably like and I've
done that with this boat.

A little platform built
on here, some ramps and

load up that ATV, and you
can go push that off on

some bar where they've
logged out in some ocean

Valley or Creek and run
that ATV up there and

be probably one of the
only people hunting up

there with your ATV.

Now that's cool.

So yeah, it just depends
on what you want to

use that boat for.

And it's almost endless
to be honest and just

know the limitations of
the boat you're getting.

Now you recently did
a trip in this boat I

think it was, wasn't it?

Yeah.

Can you tell me a
little bit about it?

You started talking
about it, but I

asked you to save it.

Yeah.

So I love to fish and
with COVID this year,

one of the things that
happened was a couple

of lodges on the lower
Dean River, which is

probably the premier
steelhead river in the

province were shut down.

And that gave us an
opportunity to go down

there and fish a river
that basically nobody

is going to be on none
of the clients, no

guides, nothing on there.

So something you wouldn't
think about is taking

a jet boat nine hours
to a river to go fish,

but we decided to
do it, mostly inland

ocean water, and ended
up being pretty calm.

But nine hours of jet
boating to get to a

river that really only
has three kilometers

of jet boatable water
and then there's a big

Canyon, but primarily,
we had that river to

ourselves fishing it for
five days and then jet

boated back to Kitimat.

So from Kitimat to
the Dean River, six

hours to Shearwater,
gassed up at Shearwater

and that's about the
extent of the limit

of this boat for gas.

So six hours, seven
hours of running time.

We did bring some extra
gas cans with us just for

safety purposes and then
yeah, gassed up and three

hours into the Dean,
three hours back, that

was another full tank
and then six hours back.

So yeah, it ended up
being about 18, 19 hours

in total of boating that
we did there and back.

But beautiful trip,
lots of fish and one of

those trips of a lifetime
that you won't forget.

No kidding.

Was it the first time
you've taken it out on

the ocean like that?

That far, I mean I've
done two and three hour,

one way ocean trips.

So, you know, never
really more than a

full tank on the boat.

So that was definitely
the furthest I've done

it, but I've been out in
areas similar, in similar

areas that, coming
in from Bella Coola

or out from Kitimat.

So there was only maybe
a couple hours I'd never

been on in that stretch.

So I was fairly familiar
with the water and

I knew that, fairly
protected, there's no

open water that you're
going to hit and all

the safety precautions.

We got a radio satellite
phone and everything.

If something did happen,
we were set up for

pretty much anything
that could happen.

Now I saw something on,
I think it was Tourism

BC, they did a video
and you were in it.

Yeah.

And that was talking
about the ghost towns.

Yeah, that's something
that's kind of

unique to this area.

And one of my passions
definitely is, we're

fortunate here to have
five or six different

kind of ghost towns,
all resource towns.

So, you know, BC is
really a resource town,

we extract resources.

So all these ghost towns
once provided a resource.

So there are a lot of
them are mining towns.

Kitsault, that was a
Molybdenum mine shut

down in 1982 as a
full community there

with mall shopping
centers, swimming

pools, movie, theaters,
apartments, everything.

We kind of have exclusive
access to bring tours

and guests in there.

Another one called
Alice Arm, silver mining

town, another resource.

Another one, half hour
away by boat is Anyox,

probably one of the most
interesting ones was a

copper mining town in
the early 1900's that

had everything there.

You know, had Canada's
largest dam at one time,

which is still standing
there, big concrete dam,

which is in the middle of
nowhere, so impressive.

And then, Port Essington
is a salmon cannery down

in the lower Skeena.

Dorreen, another
mining and agricultural

town that we're
actually fairly

close to right now.

Yeah then there's
some other ones up

in the mountain, some
other mining towns.

So all resource based
ghost towns that, you

know, it's typical.

We go in, we set up
shop, extract a resource

and when the resource
is depleted, we move on

and whatever remains,
remains in these towns.

A few people remain
sometimes and but yeah,

a lot of these now are
totally abandoned or

a few people may have
taken up a summer home or

cottage in these places.

So yeah, we're lucky
enough to have that and

it's really surprising
the number of people

I know that have this
passion for ghost towns

and history, especially
in the province.

So this one that was,
I guess, became a ghost

town in the eighties
there you said it's

got movie theaters
or a movie theater

and apartments and.

Yeah, it was only open
for a year and a half.

So the American company
came in and built a

whole community there.

There's I think
200, no, 100 houses,

there's seven apartment
buildings, a swimming

pool, library, school.

There's just all kinds
of stuff there, there's

a curling rink up there,
a pub, a couple of

restaurants, post office,
a Sears, the Royal Bank.

Yeah, just everything
in this town.

And it's basically a
time capsule going back

to the eighties that,
those of you that are

familiar with that,
the old harvest gold

appliances and that,
and you know, all the

houses have these big
ashtrays in them still.

And you know, it is
really going back in time

and brings back a lot of
memories from growing up

and seeing these things
that, you know, as a kid.

So if somebody came
on one of your tours,

they'd be able to see
one of these places

or maybe a couple?

Yeah, one, two, three,
we've done multiple

trips where we'll go
to all five, but over

two or two or three
days, you can see three

of them definitely.

I just came back from
one here a couple of

days ago and yeah, we
take interested people

into these places and
they're all mostly

privately owned.

So it's, you know, or
you need a permit to get

into to some of them.

So they are
challenging to get to.

Ocean stuff, a lot of
driving and weather,

stuff like that and then
when you get there, we

actually have the option
of staying in three of

them as well overnight.

So we provide
accommodations in three

of the ghost towns.

You actually get to
overnight in these

places you know.

Oh wow.

Sometimes we're the
only people there in

these towns and you
hear creaking and noises

and other stuff, but
yeah, it's quite unique.

So, do you research
other ghost towns

throughout BC, or are you
primarily interested in

the ones in this area?

Primarily these ones.

I do have an interest,
some more of the

coastal ones, down
the coast, Butedale,

Ocean Falls, and Namu.

There's actually quite
a few ghost towns, even

Alaska, you know, just
for personal interest

up in the panhandle, has
a ton of canneries up

there that I know and
have read a lot about.

It'd be interesting to
go up and visit them.

And a lot of them are
fairly intact as well.

Yeah, especially when
you know a little bit of

the history about all of
them in the stories in

that they kind of come
to life that way so yeah.

It's but yeah, primarily
Northwest BC is what

my passion is now, but
that being said, if I

see a ghost town, when
I'm traveling somewhere,

I'll definitely try and
get in and visit it.

Now I heard about,
I think it was a

Difenbaker's Bunkers.

Have you heard anything
about this one?

No, I'm not
familiar with those.

I heard there was some
military and abandoned

military base, and I
figured if anyone knew

about this sort of stuff,
it would be the guy who

researches ghost towns.

Yeah.

I mean, we have some
military stuff here.

The mouth of the Skeena
River, Prince Rupert,

you know, during the
war we had, there's some

pill boxes and other
stuff at the mouth of

the Prince Rupert Harbor
that were all armed.

We had nets going across
the Harbor, you know,

thinking the Japanese
subs were going to come

in and torpedo our,
I don't know what we

had there for fishing
boats or whatever.

We had a train that
went up and down the

Skeena twice a day that
was an armourment train

with guns sticking
out of it and, you

know, full of armor.

And this thing would
make, I think a trip

in the middle of the
night and one in the

day looking for Japanese
subs, it entered the

mouth of the Skeena
or boats coming up.

So yeah, we ran this
military train, which

is, a lot of photos
and stories about

that one going up
and down the Skeena.

So, you know, we do
have a little bit of war

history and in that, even
in this area as well.

That is so cool.

And then of
course fishing.

Yeah.

You take people
out fishing?

Yeah, another thing I do.

Do some fish guiding on
the side, which I love

to do, take people out
and yeah, hopefully get

them into some fish and
experience the rivers

that we have in this area
which are just endless,

you know, we have
the Skeena the second

largest river in the
province here and so many

tributaries off that.

And so many access points
in Northwest BC here for

accessing the ocean and
then small tributaries

and rivers off that,
that are all different

in their own way with
different species and

timing and yeah, with
all the different

fish that we have.

So it really is just
a fisherman's paradise

up here for that.

And we can start fishing
well, pretty much year

round for steelhead
here, but some of the

salmon show up in late
April and we'll go into

November and in between
that period, it's

just one species after
another and different

timing between all the
systems that we have.

So, if we go back to
jet boarding a little

bit, you can access
some pretty remote

areas with a jet boat.

Oh yeah, they are, I
mean the places you

can get with a jet
boat here, it's just,

it really is endless.

And I'm always looking
on Google Earth for

new places that I can
get into with my boats.

And especially these
new inflatables with

the small jets that you
go to places that are

otherwise helicopter
accessible only.

And even some of
those, there's nowhere

to land on some of
these small creeks.

And it's really
opened up some of

the systems here and
we're fortunate enough

to have a number of
tributaries, especially

on the Skeena that
have never been logged.

So logging is also a
big thing up here and,

but we do have some
tributaries where yeah,

there is no logging,
no industry, nothing up

these places they are
totally pristine and

you can take a jet boat,
you know, 30 kilometres

up some of them.

There's even a couple,
I think I went up one

this year that was
probably in the 80,

90 kilometre range.

I went up 65 with this
boat and then probably

another 30 with a small
inflatable after that.

It almost from the
Skeena Valley over to

the Douglas Channel.

It's hard to, if you
don't have a map in front

of you, but yeah, it's
just, like I said, the

possibilities are endless
here with the number

of tributaries we have.

And just, you know, the
technology today with

these jet boats and the
tunnels and how flat

they are and plastic and
everything that they're

putting into them.

And you wait for a little
bump of water on some

of these, you know,
a little bit of rain

or pressure, and you
can go into spots that

you'd otherwise never
be able to get into.

So talking about the
training course and

is that something
that's open to only

you and BC students?

Or can somebody just
sign up for that one

particular course?

No, it is primarily for
people in the community.

So, you know, I would
say people that are

new to jet boating that
aren't that familiar

with it, want to get
some experience on it,

some tips and tricks and
that before they get out.

Maybe they're even
looking at it, buying

a new jet boat.

And we have usually five
or six jet boats there,

different sizes, types.

They get to see all
the different brands

and types and sport
jets and V8's, and

outboards and all the
different pumps and

Hamiltons, and you know,
it's American turbine.

There's just so many
different options.

So they'll actually
get a good feel for

what's out there.

So that's probably one
audience and then the

other is the, kind of
that working kind of

DFO, BC conservation
officers, you know,

fisheries, technicians
and biologists, they're

a big audience as well.

So they'll come out and
take that to kind of

I guess tick off that
Worksafe BC, they need

some sort of training
and Worksafe nowadays

is, if there's not a
course out there, you

have to do something.

Whether it's, you know,
training your staff

internally or taking
the next available best

course that's out there.

So this usually ticks
off that box, in

combination with more
training from someone

in the company, they're
not just going to let

them loose on a big 50,
60, 100,000 dollar boat.

But at least it
gets them started.

And so that would
primarily be our market

for that course and
yet very popular.

Like I said, just a
wide range of people

that have taken that and
lots of good things to

say about it that, they
get out there and kind

of get this mindset.

And they're still things
today for myself who

am out there almost
every day it seems.

Jet boating, I still
think of the things

that we learned in that
course that, I still

hold true where to run
a boat and going out

and checking rivers
and levels and walking

them prior to going
out there and running

it with your boat.

Like just, especially if
I have guests on board

that like, Oh yeah and
that in the course, we

do this, we do this,
we do this and, it

all comes back to you.

So when I'm out in
the ocean, we've got

Navionics and Bathymerty
that'll show us a pretty

good idea of what the
ocean floor looks like.

Yeah.

But with the river
is changing so often.

Do they have any sort
of thing like that,

or is all just local
knowledge and running the

rivers slowly at first
and getting used to it.

Yeah, I think it's more
that, there really isn't

anything out there.

One of the best things
is going with someone

first who's run the
river and making a lot

of mental notes there.

There is Google Earth
and Bing Maps, there's

a few on some of these
tidal rivers that do

show the gravel bars and
that if they're tidal.

That'll give you a good
idea, especially if

you're going to run some
of these coastal rivers

that are very tidal,
you try and go in at low

tide, some of them fan
right out and there's

one slot in there to
get up in a boat at low

tide, which I get anxious
even running a jet boat

at low tide up some of
these tributaries that

flow into the ocean so.

But, yeah, there's really
not much out there,

just talking to people.

We have some local rivers
here that, you talk to

enough people, there's
a cascade here, a little

fall here, a slot here,
there's some rocks here,

watch out for that.

Talk to them and then
try and maybe piggyback

with someone else.

And that's what I try
and do is ask a lot

of questions or I go
up and very cautious.

I get out and I walk
a section, okay, I

can get through there.

I don't just run it
and hope for the best.

Right.

You know, I value my
boat and everything,

and the people on
the boat as well.

So for us, like I
said, we don't just run

things without knowing.

We'd rather talk to
people or we, common

sense, the rivers very
high and almost in flood

stage and there's not
a lot of debris, we

know we can get through
a lot of this stuff.

But here we're on the
Skeena river, it's

actually a little
dirty right now.

So you can't see bottom,
you're kind of going

visually, you know
what a little pillow

looks like behind
a rock or a boulder

and what a shallow
riffle looks like.

But every once in a
while stuff does catch

up on you and I always
tell people, we do our

best, but those things
do happen eventually.

You will hit a rock
eventually in your life

or nudge something or.

You're out in the river
enough, it's just, you

know, it's inevitable or
you get there close calls

where you're, ooh, I
just missed that one or,

oh what about that one.

You know that was a close
call and eventually you

hit that stump that is
under the water that

doesn't have any, you
know, it doesn't send

any message to you that
there's something there.

It's dead calm and
it's six inches

below the water.

Ooo.

Or four inches and
there's really nothing

you can do sometimes.

Unless you want to idle
up a river, but that's

not feasible most times.

So yeah, I mean stuff
does happen, but you just

kinda try and minimize
those as much as you can.

When you're not jet
boating and giving tours,

what are you doing?

I'm out fishing lots.

I don't know, I'm trying
to think what, that

seems to take up most
of my time to be honest.

I like to explore though,
and I like to read.

Love to find new books
on history, culture,

environment of this area
and any material that's

come out there, I love
picking up on that stuff

and reading about it.

And people are always
telling me about

someone else's writing
a new book about this

area and hearing those
stories from the past.

So, which probably
wasn't, I wasn't really

interested in that maybe
20 years ago, but these

days, yeah I just can't
wait to get myself into a

good book on some history
of the local area.

So I would say that
yeah, to be honest, I

don't have a lot of, it
seems a lot of that, our

hobbies right now, other
than being on the boat.

And when they do get a
spare day, when I'm not

out doing a tour for
someone or, doing some

fish guiding, I'm either
out fishing or seeing

wildlife, watching bears
or trying to find some

wolves or something.

So, if I get stir crazy
after a couple of days

and need to be going
out and I have a little

bucket list of rivers
on my list that I want

to go up and try out.

And especially with
the little inflatable

jet boat and get up
there as far as I can

and see what they, you
know, what the system

looks like and just tick
them off one by one.

And so I would say that's
what I do with any of

my free time is just out
in the river, on my own.

Have you ever had any
issues on the river?

Yeah.

Yeah, I had, well, I've
got lots of stories.

When I first started
jet boating, you get

out there, I don't
know, 10, 15 years ago

and not understanding
tides is always

one of the biggest.

Ooo, yeah.

Yeah, going up, one
story was a tidal

tributary of the Skeena.

I went up with some
friends and we didn't

realize how far the tide
went up this tributary.

And we packed up all our
gear and went up there

to go camp on this,
found a gravel bar up

I don't know, a couple
of kilometres up and

got up in the middle of
the night to go to the

bathroom and it looked
like in the dark than

my boat was up on the
gravel bar, which I

thought that's strange.

And then I hop back into
bed and we were all in

big tent with air beds.

We woke up in the
morning and the thing

was full of three or
four inches of water.

The tide had come up
right into our tent and

had pushed the boat right
up onto the gravel bar.

Oh man.

We had no idea that, now
I would laugh by her to

someone else, you know,
telling that story, why

didn't they look and see
where the tide line was?

Where's the debris pushed
up to and there's all

kinds of indicators.

Yeah good point.

Looking at the tables
and things that you can

see where the highest
tide has actually been.

But I was young and,
younger and naive

and really not aware
of, I haven't had any

incidence's where we've
been hurt or stranded,

but like lots of stories
where I've spent five

or six hours out there
because of the tides or.

Yeah, my first boat,
you probably didn't want

to see what the bottom
looked to that it was

pretty beat up with
hitting lots of rocks

and boulders and that.

And I was just telling
you the story, how pretty

much the first rock
I've hit in this and

18 months, even tweaked
was out on the ocean, a

little sunken reef there
that kind of caught me

off guard while we were
watching a bear on shore

so that was yeah now I'm.

Good reminder.

Yeah a lot smarter, but
I realized that I still

gotta be on my toes and,
I still get even jet

boating, I still get
anxious and nervous going

up systems all the time.

I go up from for the
first time or low

tide, or I think that's
good to be cautious.

And I'm always, I see
people, I know that

we call them weekend
warriors that get out,

maybe with their jet
boat a few times a

year and you see them
go up these systems

and I'm always amazed
that they go up there.

And then without very
little training or

knowledge of the rivers
and but then you do hear

the stories, oh, so and
so sunk his boat, put a

hole in it, and you hear
those stories all the

time that someone had
to go rescue someone.

And so I'm just thankful
that's not me and that

and all my stuff is,
professional development

I call it, if I'm out
by myself, I'm learning

rivers, learning about
the river and always

staying current.

And yeah, so that's my
professional development

for my business.

Well, many years ago I
was into the rivers and

I really loved rafting
and it would go down

and just cheap, old
Canadian Tire rafts.

And then I got a world
war II inflatable

from a gun show, and
I started running

that down like the
Elaho and the Thompson

and the Nahatlatch.

And then finally got
a proper commercial

whitewater raft, which
I still got sitting

upstairs at the office.

Yeah.

And one thing that I
learned kind of coming

into it, at first, you
look at some really

gnarly looking water
only to find later

on that it's actually
pretty safe, you just

kind of bob over top.

And then you can see
some water that looks

otherwise, to the
untrained eye, pretty

safe to find that it's
something that could

be pretty dangerous.

Yeah.

Are there similarities to
that in the jet boating?

Like, are there things
that when you're starting

out, you'd think, ah
it's fine, let's run

it, only with a bit more
experience to say, uh uh.

Yeah, I would say
there's things like that.

I mean, one of the things
that I always find is

when the water is shallow
and I come up in this

boat, which is a big boat
and I look at the gravel

size, it's relatively
small, your intuition

is maybe to slow down a
bit, but it's not, you

have to put that throttle
down and speed up.

And you can just feel it
as you put that throttle

down, you think what,
you're getting into

shallow water, you're
going to go even faster,

you know, with rocks
and stuff, but that's

what you have to do.

You can feel the back-end
rise up a few inches

and you'll put it up to
maybe 50 kilometres an

hour, even more, just to
get over those shallow

ripples and then pull
it right back again.

And so I've learned
that, that that's one

of the things that
maybe not intuitive,

but that and then speed.

The guy who taught
me how to jet boat

was, especially
going down rivers is,

speeds your enemy.

And I still remember
that you get in this

false sense of security.

You're cruising down 50
kilometres an hour, when

you can be going down
just barely on step at 35

kilometres an hour, stuff
comes at you so fast.

So fast down the river
and if you're not

familiar with that river,
I keep catching myself.

Oh, look on I'm going
50K an hour, slower down

a bit stuff comes at
you really fast and you

can't react fast enough.

And the guy who bought my
first jet boat, a friend

of mine, he probably,
if he heard this podcast

he'd probably hate
me for saying this.

But yeah, we went up a
river that was fairly

high and relatively easy
to run and I think he

put us in the rhubarb
and gravel bar three or

four times on the way
down and beaten and put

in a few more dents in
the bottom of that boat.

And I was basically
yelling at him, slow

down, sacrifice an inch
or two of flotation

in the water for
some control and.

Yes.

Yeah, he would come
around these corners at

mach one, and basically
trying to pull the

throttle back on him
so he had some control

and he just couldn't
make the corners up

on the gravel bar.

Into the brush, into
the tree, every one of

them was cause speed.

And I think that's
something that new

people, you know, they
get that 50K an hour,

the throttles down and
up river it's not as

bad, but going down
river on technical

rivers, you have to go
down and under control.

And with an inflatable,
it barely drafts

anything, I'll go down
idling down these things,

which is barely enough
control because you can't

make some of the corners.

Right.

Nuggets that'll pinch
your inflatable, will

pop it, sticks, logs,
you don't draft almost

nothing, less in an
inflatable so come

down with control
and get down there.

Maybe you'll bounce
into something, even

your boat, if you're
down under control,

maybe you'll bounce
into something, but

more than likely
you'll have control

to make those corners.

So I always say, yeah
speed is your enemy, is

kind of ingrained into
me when I'm going down

river on a new system.

Maybe not on the Skeena
here where it's fairly

forgiving and that, we
don't have the big tight

turns and logs and big
nuggets everywhere.

But you know, any of
our smaller systems,

there's some, like I
said, so many things

I remember from the
guy who taught me.

And the first thing
he ever taught me was

look at your bow line,
and he took my bow line

which was really long.

I thought, well yeah I
want to have the second

tie off on trees, on
shore and whatever.

And he took that thing
and he ran it down the

bottom of my boat and
it went right to the

very end of my boat.

Oooo.

And I go, what's the
big deal with that?

And he says, this will
inevitably flop out

the front of your boat,
you're going to hit a

wave or something, and
it's going to go right

down the middle, right
into your impeller,

you're going to suck
it up and you're

going to be stranded.

Not having a good day.

Yeah.

So we cut that off
and shortened it.

So it was a few feet
shorter than the intake

on my boat and just
stuff like that for new

people that maybe not.

But that was
the first thing.

Totally.

He did was take my
rope, my bow rope

and shorten it up.

And whoever owned the
boat before me, he

obviously had this
big long bow rope

cause it was still
on there and I just

thought nothing off it.

That, oh yeah, it's
nice having a big

long rope that I can
tie off and whatever.

But yeah, lots of, most
people would know stuff

like that, but maybe not
if they're brand new.

Yeah, totally.

Well, is there
anything else we should

be talking about?

I don't know, this is,
it's just like I said,

it's nice to meet you
and be out here with

you on the river and
learn a lot about you.

And I know you were
talking about maybe, you

know, being out here.

A jet boat might be in
your future and you'd

probably be a good
candidate for one.

You're into safety, which
is always a good thing.

And it sounds like
you've rafted a lot

of rivers, you know
rivers and that's

probably one of the
main things jet boating

is reading the river.

You know where the
current is, where the

pillows, the rapids and
that kind of stuff, where

the deeper water is, the
V's and everything else.

So that's sometimes
half the battle with

jet boating is being
able to read the

water and the river.

And if you can figure
that out then, yeah, you

got 'er made and yeah.

Well, Rob, thank you very
much for taking the time.

I really enjoyed
speaking with you.

Thanks for having me.