Vol. 26 No. 54
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Record Staff
After rowing 1,150 kilometres around Vancouver Island, Colin Angus came into the boat ramp at Point Holmes at about 3:47 p.m. Tuesday. Under sunny skies, Angus — who was joined by a handful of local paddlers for the end of his circumnavigation — brought his boat in to shore to a round of applause from family and friends and was offered a bottle of champagne. The cause for celebration? Not only had Angus made it around the Island, but he’d also just set a new speed record for circumnavigating Vancouver Island. Angus, who lives in Comox, finished in 15 days, 11 hours and 45 minutes, beating the previous record set by kayaker Joe O’Blenis by a full day. When he stepped out of the sliding-seat row boat he and his wife Julie designed and built — the same boat Julie rowed during the couple’s Rowed Trip expedition from Scotland to Syria — a tanned and cheerful Angus sprayed champagne before embracing Julie and their ninemonth-old son Leif. “It’s a long way to go,” he said. “It’s 1,150 kilometres. I had to average 70 kilometres a day, which is not too bad on a day like today when it’s calm on the inside (passage), but on the West Coast, it’s tough.”
Angus felt “fantastic” to have made it around the Island and beaten the record. “It’s just such an excellent feeling to be here again,” he said. “When you are out there, it seems so far away, especially on the West Coast. The last couple of days have been wonderful, and I’ve really enjoyed the rowing.” During his trip, Angus developed tendinitis in his wrists and forearms and in his legs. He also had many blisters on his hands and a “very sore” bum. He says his hardest day was around Estevan Point, where there were massive waves, strong headwinds and no shelter. “I had to keep going because it was all rocky and cliffy, and the day was just going on and on forever,” he said. “That’s the day when my tendinitis started kicking in.” Angus saw a lot of other boats, particularly sports fishing boats on the northwest coast, but places like the Brooks Peninsula were “pretty lonely.” He also encountered many marine mammals, including whales, sea otters, porpoises, sea lions and seals, and he saw many bears on land. Angus would camp at night and leave early in the morning — often around 3 a.m. — in the pitch dark. Angus, who plans to try to break the 24-hour distance record next summer, says his motivation
... see ANGUS ■ A3
Record Staff
Although Rolling Stone guitarist Keith Richards can’t get any satisfaction, Comox Valley artist Robert Proulx hopes he can help Richards find some. Proulx, a Comox Valley stone artist who specializes in creating custom fireplaces, stonework and furniture, is working on a tribute to the Stones’ rocker — made of course, completely out of stone.
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HIS BODY COMPLAINING, Colin Angus gingerly completes a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. PHOTO BY LINDSAY CHUNG
Keith Richards image planned “I’ve visualized it for years, but it took 10 years to figure it out,” said Proulx about the 700-pound piece of rock, which he originally planned to use as a table. “I had an art show in Bamberton, and had (the stone) hanging around. During an art show, someone put a cigarette in Keith’s lip, and it was Keith,” he added. Proulx found the rock along
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CYMC Musical Theatre has big plans this month. ■ B1
Rolling Stone being immortalized – in stone Erin Haluschak
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www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
Angus fastest to paddle around Island Lindsay Chung
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with his other pieces that he uses for his fireplaces and tables in a secret riverbed location on Vancouver Island. He does not use any machines, rather logs, sticks, ropes and pulleys to remove the rocks from the creek. Not only does the piece’s form bear a striking resemblance to the guitarist, but Proulx wants to ensure the stone moves like the
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rocker. He has mounted the head on a metal rod that, when given a slight push, swings the stone head back and forth. He admits “making Keith rock” was one of the biggest challenges. “With a 700-pound piece, I had to figure out how to make him move in the air without falling over and killing someone,” Proulx adds. Eventually, he hopes to create a metal guitar neck on which the
... see ARTIST ■ A2
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Anne Cameron (above) and John Vaillant are part of an all-star cast of authors at the Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival this month. Both of Vaillant’s recent books have won prestigious awards and garnered glowing reviews. Set in the remote forests of Russia’s far east, The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival chronicles a terrifying duel to the death between a hunter and a massive Siberian tiger.
...Full story on page ■ B9
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