Episode 84: Snowmobile Adventures and the Ice Roads of Ontario

Snowmobile enthusiasts, gear up for a journey into the heart of winter maintenance with Andrew Johnston from Lakeside Marina. Andrew shares his expert tips on keeping your snowmobile batteries in top shape and sheds light on how disconnecting and charging them during spring can save you from fall frustrations. We also discover the transformation of Red Lake communities, where ice roads serve as essential links during the winter months, connecting isolated areas and bringing a sense of unity and purpose.

Experience life in Ontario's remote communities, where the absence of the Great Lakes' snowbelt means bracing against the cold winds from the Manitoba prairies. Explore the construction of ice roads, a collaborative effort that brings vital goods and services to residents. The story doesn't stop there, as the adrenaline-pumping world of snowmobile racing unfolds, with modified sleds tearing across frozen tracks at over 100 miles per hour, all while fostering a community spirit through kiosks and activities.

From the bustling spring workload at Lakeside Marina to the delicate balance of development and cultural preservation in remote areas, this episode highlights the resilience and adaptability of those living in these unique landscapes. We touch on the impact of all-season roads on traditional practices and the importance of cultural heritage. Ending with a peek behind the scenes at Lakeside, we celebrate the dedicated team that navigates the challenges of a demanding work environment, showcasing their skills, teamwork, and the occasional mishap as they prepare for the winter season.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
batteries is probably the biggest frustration point
for the majority of my customers.
Lots of people have thisthought process where they want
to go and start their snowmobileonce a month for the entire
summer just to make sureeverything's happy.
Well, your snowmobile hates youfor that.
If you can charge your batteryin the spring, disconnect it,

(00:27):
it's going to save you a lot ofheartache because there's no
potential for a draw on thebattery.
Cable's off, hook it up in thefall, hit the button and away
you go.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast
Networks, diaries of a lodgeowner stories of the north.
Willie and I are back in thesaddle and we all have the
pleasure of getting to know anduncover some really interesting
things about this awesome fellaand owner of Lakeside Marina and

(01:00):
no stranger to the Diariesfamily, andrew Johnson.
On this show we get to knowAndrew and Lakeside Marina from
a totally different perspective.
We find out about the ice roadsthat leave Red Lake and the
communities that are freed bythe ice roads and the change in

(01:23):
the community in the winterReally cool stuff.
We also talk about the sleddingseason and proper winter
maintenance to keep thingsrunning.
So, folks, if you love greatstories from perspectives you
wouldn't think about, andlearning tips and tricks that
keep your equipment reliable andlooking great, this one's for

(01:46):
you.
Here's my conversation withAndrew Johnson.
Welcome to the show.
Listen, it's a pleasure to haveyou back, willie.
Say hello to all the Diariesfamily out there.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Folks, good to see everybody again.
It's been a week here.
So, Andrew, good to see yourhandsome face.
Steve, you don't even look likeyour skin's hanging on your
bones anymore, man.
You're just cock and ribs.
That's all you are now.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
I know, wow, I told the Diaries family a little bit
about what I was doing on thelast episode.
And I'm on a fast.
Man, I haven't eaten in 37 days.

(02:36):
I said, pardon, I was waitingfor that.
Yeah yeah, I haven't eaten in37 days.
I'm on a 40-day fast and youknow, I wasn't sure if I was
going to make it.
But I'm just, I'm going to makeit.
I'm firing up my guts right now30, 47 days.

(03:01):
Yeah, yeah, 37 days, yeah, yeah,37 days.
I haven't eaten since, well,january the 6th and that's not
going to mean much to you folksout there because this isn't
falling in chronological time,but yeah, I've been drinking,

(03:30):
I've been drinking.
I try to drink nine liters, ornine quart jars of water a day.
It's tough to get that muchwater into you, but I usually
get.
I got to get seven, and in thatwater I put half a fresh

(03:50):
squeezed lemon and about aquarter teaspoon of cayenne
pepper.
And I take potassium andmagnesium for electrolytes and a
pinch of gray Celtic salt ineach one of those waters.
And you know the odd otherthing a little bit of milk
thistle for my liver.
And that's been it for 37 days,other than the last couple of

(04:13):
days.
I've started to repopulate mygut flora and I've been taking a
tablespoon of fermented coconutmilk, which is supposed to be
the best probiotic on the planet, and a tablespoon of kefir,

(04:35):
which is fermented milk, andsome organic yogurt a tablespoon
of that.
That sounds delicious, steve.
Organic yogurt a tablespoon ofthat so slowly coming that
sounds delicious, steve.
Oh, dude, after 37 days, man, Ican't believe how good organic,
unsweetened yogurt tastes andthe difference between kefir and

(05:02):
yogurt because the kefir ismuch sweeter.
The difference between kefirand yogurt because the kefir is
much sweeter, it's um, it's gotum, it's a little bit uh,
runnier consistency than uh,than yogurt.
But I'll tell you what thosesour flavors are, so freaking
delicious.
It's ridiculous, it'sridiculous.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
So I know everybody's thinking it, but I'm going to
ask it.
So, do you still poop?

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Wow, that's a great question, it really is.
Now I had a big old steamerabout day two, which was, you
know, just a regular thing, butafter that you would think no,
but on day 10, I had anothershit, and about half the size of

(05:51):
what it should have been.
Right, but at that point Ithought that was it.
And then on day 24, 24, 25, Ihad another one.
So after 25 days of actuallyputting nothing but really water
and lemon through me, uh, Istill went again and, um, um,

(06:16):
that was, um, that was a bit ofa revelation to me.
And the other reallyinteresting thing is uh, I've
been keeping very close track ofmy blood sugar, so my glucose
levels, my blood pressure and myweight, and there was one day

(06:37):
in that well, it was the day Ishit in, like day 24, 25,.
Right At that point your bodyreally doesn't lie to you, like
you really got to be in tunewith yourself, because I never
wanted although I saw the 40days, and that's what motivated

(06:57):
me to do it and that's the waythat I felt off the start I
never wanted my ego to get inthe way of blocking me if my
body really needed to come off40 days of not eating, because
that's a long freaking time.

(07:17):
So there was one point where Iwas watching my weight and I was
losing on average for a longtime, you know, roughly one and
three quarters to two pounds aday, and, um, um, I went on a
bit of a plateau where I lost apound a day.
And then there was one daywhere I lost three pounds and I

(07:40):
was I hadn't added, I hadn't didthe net loss daily on my chart
yet, and three or four days hadgone by and I always have notes
too about how I was feeling thatday, so I can refer back.
Anyway, I saw a three pounddrop in the day and I thought,

(08:02):
oh no, geez, that might be alittle bit, that's, that's a lot
.
Like I gotta, I gotta watch it.
And at that point I had alreadylost 25 pounds.
And then, because that one, thatone anomaly was, was sticking
out and it was bothering mebecause I felt it was too much,

(08:22):
well, about 20 minutes later Ilooked back in the notes.
That was the day I had my lastshit.
Those notes were important,right, because I was concerned
over nothing, because you takethat pound of shit that I got
rid of and my weight averageloss.

(08:43):
It brought it back down tosomething that was more
comfortable with right.
But so it's uh, it's been, uh,it's been a a journey.
So far, that's for sure, but um.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
I know where it takes to do.
That man is impressive.
I, uh, I pat you on the backfor that one.
I mean you got to get yourselfinto some special kind of
headspace to jump on thatbandwagon.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, well, I'll tell you, the first four to five
days are hell.
And you know, 40-day fasts havebeen done by Christians and
religious groups for thousandsof years, right, and their main

(09:29):
motivation is to come closer forChristians, come closer to
Jesus, right and God.
And for me, when I saw it, Iwas just at a point where I was
sick of being sick hypertensionor high blood pressure, type 2

(09:52):
diabetic state and I had all ofthe diagnostic stuff.
I've got the Freestyle Libre,which is that button on your arm
that monitors your glucose inreal time.
I've got my blood pressuremachine.

(10:14):
So when I started this, I hadthe ability right off the bat to
really monitor those mechanics,much like an engine.
Right, be watching mydiagnostics as I progress
through this.
And, um, um, that was veryimportant.

(10:35):
But coming back to thatspiritual part of it, um, you
know the demons that you have tofight and I can see why people,
when you do something like this, feel closer to we'll calls
become so much clearer becauseyou know when you give into

(10:55):
those cravings right away and Igive up caffeine, nicotine,
alcohol and food, so you seethem so much more clearly

(11:25):
because you're not giving intothem right away, whenever I you
know, whenever you're justeating whatever you want I get a
craving for a bag of chips, Ismash the bag of chips.
I don't even think about thecraving right.
But when you're not eating andyou really have to deal with
each individual way that yourmind is trying to convince you

(11:46):
to eat and you have to fightthat and all of the different
things that you go through, youreally see how these things are.
The devil, are evil, and it'sbeen a wonderful experience for
me so far and, yeah, it's beenreally tough.

(12:07):
The one thing that's funny thathas been helping me get through
it is cooking.
Believe it or not, I cook formy family most of the meals and
I've also prepared a lot ofstuff in advance, more than I

(12:27):
ever have.
I probably got 40 jars of soupsand stews and chilies and all
kinds of things that I've puttogether to kind of, on the
other end of this, help mecontinue, because this is just
the beginning of the battle,right.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
That's wild buddy.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, so enough about that.
Hey, listen, I hear it's colderthan I don't even know what up
there.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
It is.
It's actually been somewhat ofa regular winter for us.
A little late getting enoughice on the lake, but
everything's just rocking therenow.
Really nice to see we got snowthis year.
Last year we had nothing.
The entire continent waslacking some winter activity
last year, so we're getting ittenfold this year.

(13:21):
So what are your?

Speaker 2 (13:23):
snow levels like.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
You know what?
We're in a unique place, man.
We're outside of tenfold thisyear.
So what are your snow levelslike?
You know what?
We're in a unique place, man.
We're outside of a snow belt,so the Sault, ste Marie and the
Great Lakes sort of effectdoesn't occur here.
We get sort of like a kick offof the Manitoba prairies, which
really just makes it windy andcold.

Speaker 2 (13:42):
Just give the Diaries family a reminder on exactly
where you are in Ontario.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
So exactly where we are in Ontario lands us
somewhere about 50 or 60kilometers before the Manitoba
border.
Picture yourself driving fromTorontoonto 2 200 kilometers,
still within the same province,but you're at the end of the

(14:10):
road.
We talked about it last time.
The road literally ends at thelake and right now there's a
very nice ice road maintained bythe municipality that gets
people across to the island.
And yeah, it's uh.
We're in the middle of nowhere,man.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
How far does that road go?
Like does it go?
Can you get all the way toJames Bay?

Speaker 1 (14:32):
Nope, you can't from this one.
So this one doesn't take youthat far.
You've got to go north of, likePickle Lake gets you a lot
closer, which is east of hereyet, but you can go an extra.
I think it's about 250 300kilometers north of red lake, on
on the winter roads.
Wow, nice, yeah, they've justopened them up.

(14:54):
Actually, that's making uh,that's making my, my time right
now extremely busy.
We have such a great customerbase north of uh.
You know that isn't normallyroad accessible.
So everything that they use,everything that they break,
everything they want to maintain, all has about a four or five
week window to come out, getfixed and go back up.

(15:14):
So we're hopping into what thelodge owners would feel like is
May for us right now.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
No shit.
Talk about all of thosecommunities up there, because I
had no idea that there was thatcommerce north of the end of the
road.
I had no idea and I think a lot, of a lot of the people
listening would have neverthought like when I heard you
know end of the road, you go.

(15:41):
Yeah, you know end of your roadends at a you know end of your
road ends at a lake.
I thought you know what, that'sthe end of the road.
But that really isn't the endof the road.
There's this 300-kilometer iceroad that runs further north and
it's full of communities upthere.
So talk a little bit about thecommunities that are there and

(16:04):
just any stories, uh, anystories that you've heard about
those places.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
I mean, the winter is really the time that the
stories all sort of happen, thatthe travel on winter roads.
I mean, you've seen the, the,the show ice road truckers and,
um, my father-in-law ran abusiness, uh, in town here,
still does and still does, andhe did a lot of ice road
trucking and again, like mostthings, it's not the same as you
see on TV but it comes prettyclose.

(16:34):
Local company here, far NorthContracting, they put in the
bulk of the winter roads thatlead north to Red Lake and it's
quite the effort to get thesethings created.
I mean, these guys started out,um, in december when we had the
first ice taking snowmobiles.
They do the run withsnowmobiles in order to pack

(16:57):
snow, to push the frost into theground so that they can get
equipment out on it when it getscold enough.
And then and it's the equipmentto move the snow, you got to
build ice bridges to get overwater flows.
You got to find lakes that holdenough ice and stay away from
flow.
Once all of that comes togetherand happens, they move a big
camp up there and then they workout of that as their home base

(17:20):
and then they can create theroads that go into these
communities.
Some of the communities havetheir own programs where they
build the sections of their road.
It's impressive to see sort ofthe teamwork environment that
happens there to make all ofthat network happen.
And then the traffic starts.
Everybody that needs to get out.

(17:40):
You can picture being in acommunity where the only access
you have to um like uh, the themarket economy to get out and go
do your shopping for clothesand go to the city.
I mean, this is the only timeof year for anywhere from four
to eight weeks.
I guess that these, that thesefirst nations people can come

(18:02):
out and do that stuff.
Now, all of a sudden they haveaccess to it.
So it's just everybody flocksout and they're coming out with
all of their broken stuff andhauling trailers.
You can just picture, I mean,one day you go to start your
truck and you get an enginelight, yeah, and it won't turn
over, it won't start.

(18:22):
Where do they go?
They don't have the facilitiesthat we do here and it makes it
really tricky for them to to beable to.
I mean, I I sold the guy atruck up there a little while
ago.
You know, six, eight monthsafter he's used it now won't
turn over.
And he's like well, what do Ido?
And I said can you get it here?
Yeah, and then he goes Nope,it's a 20 kilometer barge ride

(18:49):
that you can just imagine theexpense and the cost that has to
.
Oh my god yes, so many flightshappen all year long, but it's
uh, it's.
This time is the time thatthese guys can actually get out,
get their stuff repaired, buynew product, and it's a great
time for our community.
Lots of dollars flowing throughthis time of year.

(19:13):
It gets busy all the way around.
The hotels are booked solid.
It's a great thing for ourcommunity and we service the
road network here runs us likeeight or nine reserves and, yeah
, the people are steady flow.
We've got a lot of really greatfriends and good customers up
there.
It's nice to be able to seethem, because you really only

(19:33):
ever get to talk to them on thephone mostly.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
Yeah, yeah.
That is crazy and I can justimagine you almost need to have
a festival when these peoplecome.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
You know it's happening this weekend we got
our Red Lake Winter Carnival isthis weekend.
We didn't get enough ice earlythis year to be able to do all
the things that we normally doout on the lake.
There's a pond hockeytournament they got curling on
the ice, they do bike races andboat races.

(20:09):
There's all kinds of stuff thatnormally happens.
Unfortunately, it was such alate start to the good ice this
year they weren't able to prepthe lake, but we still I'm going
to plug one here.
We still got the Red LakeDistrict Trail Masters, which is
our OFsc club, is having theirpoker derby this weekend and and
I again I mean that this isprobably we're not going to fall

(20:31):
in the dateline, but uh, thisyear, uh, brp, uh, lakeside and
the club came together and we'veactually, uh, we got a brand
new snowmobile up for for firstplace.
So, oh, wow, that's awesome man.
Yeah, it's gonna be.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
It should be a wild day, is that the day that I
brought the kids out to lastyear, remember, I brought Holton
and them and I think it wasthat event, and then they did
some dragging after.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
No, the drag races.
They're a different weekend.
They're in a couple weeks.
March 1st this year is the dragraces out on the bay Another
great event.
They've got an association herethat runs it.
These guys travel all aroundit's.

Speaker 3 (21:08):
Uh, it's a wild time too, those little kids on there,
andrew, there was kids steve.
They were like man.
They had to be three years oldand they were just like the
parents would like almost tapetheir hands to the handle and
it's like no one two threefucking go and these buddy,
these sleds are doing like 40mile an hour and those little
kids like waving like a necktieout your window On the back of

(21:33):
the flag and then they get tothe end and they let off and
they just kindly coast to a stopand, oh man, it was so great to
see them, it was funny.
I mean me and Holton, I think,went up there for the day.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
That so great to see them.
It was funny.
I mean me and holton, I think,went up there for the day.
That's awesome.
Yeah, that would be anothergreat event to watch the drags.
Like I mean, uh, how long isthe uh?
Is the track on the uh on thelake, like what's the official
uh length that they run?

Speaker 1 (21:56):
they run the race at 660 feet 660 feet.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
And uh, what's?
Uh, what's an average?
Uh, what's the faster sleds?

Speaker 1 (22:05):
uh, getting up to in 660 feet well, you got these
guys running these modifiedunits where, uh, they're on the,
they're on the go all the timeand I mean they're, they're.
You know you're creeping over100 miles an hour and that's,
that's an awfully short distanceto make that happen.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
So oh my god.
So talk a little bit about theengines in those things and what
are they doing with themthey're doing.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
They're doing everything under the sun.
They're doing completemodifications with uh.
You know these guys are runningrace fuel and they're all
programmed, they're, they'repumping.
You know some of them arecreeping on that 700 horse type
of craziness and holy, yeah,it's.
Uh, it's pretty wild to watchman at uh, it's so fun to go.
See, we set up a little kioskthere and have some product out

(22:52):
and yeah, we I think we had thecornhole out on the ice there
last year and people coming byand yeah, it was uh, it was a
really fun day I can imaginethat just the sound from those
sleds must be crazy.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
Oh, I'm fucking stupid sitting there.
Yeah, and you know, the coolthing too, stevie, is to have
like the drag strip.
They actually plow out eitherside of it for like half a
kilometer.
I would say you know what Imean.
So so the cars and the kids andeverybody has a long area where
you can park and sit there.
If you're cold, you can sitthere and watch it, you can get

(23:27):
back in your vehicle and watch.
You know they have a reallygood setup for it.
I was super impressed actually.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
That's awesome, that is, that's great.
So, um, your season is justfiring up, which is wonderful.
I would have never guessed that, I would have thought that this
was your downtime and summerwas your busiest time, with all
the lodges and everything else.
But that's fantastic and Iwould like I mean just having

(23:58):
the different people comingthrough the town and seeing you,
like you were saying, thatwould be wonderful, it would be
truly great, and I can justimagine being part of those
communities, how important thoseice roads are.
So let's just, I'm still reallyintrigued with the ice roads

(24:22):
and and listening like we've allseen ice road truckers and and
all the stuff.
You know the.
The guys are hanging out withthe door open because they're
feeling it crack and this andthat and and uh.
But I'm really intrigued withwhat you were talking about and
how it's built, because 300kilometers of road of any type

(24:47):
is a crazy amount ofinfrastructure to build and
these guys are all doing it inlike a matter of what.
Two and a half months, threemonths.

Speaker 1 (24:59):
Absolutely.
It's really doesn't even takethem that long, it's, uh, the
beauty part of the way theyconstruct is it's all done with.
You know, mother nature'sblessing right is that?
Yeah, they have to have theright conditions in order for
these roads to even, you know,be a be a pipe dream.
So, yeah, the the equipmentthat goes into to constructing

(25:22):
and maintaining these roads isimpressive.
When you see them up there withthese big groomers and they're
moving snow and packing thingsdown the swamps makes it one of
the most difficult becausethere's so much natural heat
there all year long.

Speaker 3 (25:40):
Yeah, the muskeg would be tough yeah, the muskeg
is is nearly.

Speaker 1 (25:44):
Especially for the types of of trucks that have to
travel on this, like the, thehalf-ton traffic sort of becomes
an afterthought.
Uh, when you see the types ofmaterial that that are trucking
up this road, there's thousandsof loads of semi-trucks that

(26:04):
haul fuel, because, I mean,that's how these people get
power is for years and years andyears it was all diesel fuel
generators that then they havethem in mass stockpiles and it's
just not cost effective to flythat fuel in there, so they haul
an absolute ridiculous amountof fuel up there.

(26:25):
In the winter months, when theroads are open, they'll start
with half loads so that they canactually start the process.
If they don't start half loadswith less ice, they're just not
going to get enough material upthere.
They're just not going to getenough material up there.
It's, um, yeah, it's.
It's extra neat to to see allof the, all of the conditions

(26:47):
being right to make it happenand then all of the work that
goes into it and then all thework to maintain it for the for
such a short period of time.
It's, uh, it's it.
It's almost like the lodgeowner owner season.
You know, you're, you'reabsolutely crazy.
Balls out in may.
You know, get everything readyfor opener.

(27:09):
Then you work into the to togetting everybody happy for the
first you craziest busy time andthen you sort of put it on
cruise control and maintain yourseason.
It's very much the same forthese guys and in a really tight
window, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
Now my next question how often does Mother Nature not
cooperate, like do you alwaysget a road for a certain period
of time, or are there yearswhere that road just doesn't
happen?

Speaker 1 (27:38):
I don't think, in the 20 years that I've been here,
that we haven't had a road.
It has.
I mean, some seasons have beenreally short.
Last one, last year, wasdefinitely short because we had
such terrible weather in Januarywith the rain and the above
zero temps and then gettingsuper cold and making everything

(28:01):
icy it.
Just.
It was a lot harder for themlast year, but, um, typically
it's always we get, we get aseason out of it.
It just depends on how long itlasts and and the crystal ball
doesn't exist where you get thatopportunity to know how long
the season's going to last.

(28:22):
So when the road opens up,she's on her baby, he's full on.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
Oh yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
So many, so many times as a, as a business owner
here, like with Lakeside, we'reservicing snowmobiles and ATVs
and and vehicles and trailersand then all of a sudden, you
know it comes to the beginningof March and it's and it's 14
degrees out, so then they startclosing the road for any daytime
travel and then when it dropsdown below zero, they'll open it
up in the evenings again forfor the you know that that 10 PM

(28:55):
to 6 AM type of range, but alot of these trips that these
guys are making, it takes themeight hours to get where they're
going.
10 hours, 14 hours.
So you're driving in but yougot to stay there for the day
and then make your way back outand, uh, the end of the ice road
season is is really theprobably the time where it's the

(29:17):
sketchiest, because you're, yougot those warm temps and people
are getting stuck andequipment's getting buried and
the guys that are up theremaintaining the roads, or you
know, there's always thosepeople that just don't like to
listen and then they're wreckingthe road for everybody else.
It's, yeah, it's it's wild man?

Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, no doubt I can't.
And that would be thesketchiest is when the ice is
melting, because when do you sayenough is enough?
I'm sure that they take coresamples and there's certain
parameters with the ice and onceit hits this parameter, that's
it.
The other side of the coin,when you've got these

(29:59):
communities that need this shitand you're you're pushing really
hard to try and get that getthem their supplies and it comes
down to the wire.
I bet you, for a lot of thoseguys it comes down to the wire
every year, no matter how longthe season is every single year
exact same thing.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
It's push, push, push , push, push right till the end.
And for that thing I mean I've,I've stored, I've stored, guys,
stuff for for eight months, six, eight months.
Right, it sits here becausewhen that road goes, you're done
.
Yeah, what else do you do withit?

Speaker 2 (30:34):
yeah, yeah, yeah now.
Has there been any talk aboutum amongst the communities, in
your community, about globalwarming and the worry that maybe
there might be a year comingwhere there's no road, or is
that just something that youhaven't really talked about or
heard people?

Speaker 1 (30:54):
talk about.
We really don't.
I mean, we don't, I guess, seeit really as much.
I mean, last winter was alittle bit of a weird one.
We had some record temperaturesin january, but, um, it's
really not a hot topic up here.
Um, what's the?
What is happening, though andit appears as though things are
getting the ball rolling isthey're starting to to push for,

(31:17):
uh, all season roads.
There's a couple of communitieslocally there that have round
Lake is one of them that theyactually put an all season road
in so that these guys can cantravel out, in and out all the
time.
They have accessibility, I mean, for everything it it improves
healthcare, it improves accessto water treatment, chemicals,

(31:38):
to, you know, all those thingsthat that are Even their mental
health aspect being up there inthe bush right Absolutely and
being able to get the servicesthat they need.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
And yeah, there's so much that comes with
accessibility like that, andrew.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
So they're looking at putting a bridge in over the
Barrens River sometime in thenext couple of years.
That would then give access toa few communities that are
relatively close to that, forthe potential of that
all-weather road, pikangikumbeing the first one.
And then they're talking aboutwhat to do with the road network
after that.

(32:10):
But I mean that's going to beseveral, several years trying to
expand that road network.
But I mean I think it's adouble-edged sword.
There's a lot of people in thecommunities that value their
tradition and think that theaccessibility may, you know, may
hinder those traditionalactivities and things like that.

(32:32):
But I mean, progress is nevertruly bad in a lot of ways and
hopefully the benefits outweighthe the.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
you know the negatives, the negatives and and
you can uh, like, I mean um,logically looking at it, I can
see both sides of that coin.
I can see people who aretraditional and this is the way
that it's been done, um, andthis is how our, our culture is.
I can see them being worriedabout losing some of that

(33:07):
culture, um, um.
But again, you know, it'spretty hard to resist um, um,
development and and you know, um, at some point I think it does,
it will it obviously it's, it'strending that way and it's
going to outweigh that and andhopefully, uh, they can, uh,

(33:31):
they can deal with that and theonly people that can deal with
that is the communitiesthemselves and trying to
maintain their, their cultureand and uh, and hold onto it.
So, um, but again, I think um,uh, it's not, that's just not a
cultural thing.
With uh, with um, um, with uh,those, uh, those groups, it's um

(33:55):
, it's a cultural thing witheverybody.
And I see it in a lot ofgenerations.
Like, I know that both of myparents, their grandparents,
moved in and lived with themuntil they passed, and that's
kind of the way that things go.
You know, my mom took mygrandma in and my aunt took my

(34:17):
other grandma in.
But so many times in today'sday and age you don't really see
a lot of that family lookingafter each other and it's that
breakdown in the chain where youstart to lose your tradition.
You start looking at how yourgrandmother cooked for you when

(34:39):
you were a kid, at how yourgrandmother cooked for you when
you were a kid, and can you, oranybody in your family, recreate
some of those things that shedid?
And you know, I certainly wouldlove to think that everybody
could say, oh yeah, I knoweverything, but I know I don't.
And I'm at a point in my lifewhere I'm kind of looking for

(35:00):
things like that, looking for,you know, my grandma's recipes
and things like that.
So I think that's more of awidespread issue.
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(35:21):
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Speaker 4 (36:23):
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Speaker 2 (37:07):
So you're servicing a ton of sleds and side-by-sides
and track machines and all kindsof different things, and that's
basically one of the servicesyou provide.
And that's basically one of theservices you provide At this

(37:40):
point in the winter.
Let's talk about how ourDiaries, family and all the
listeners out there should betreating their equipment and
what we should be looking for asfar as maintenance goes.
You know, the beginning of thewinter we talked about
winterizing things andeverything else, and now let's
talk about maintaining whatwe've got going right now.

Speaker 1 (37:53):
I mean when it comes into the ATV world.
I mean lots of stuff gets usedup here all year long.
People plow their drivewaysWe've got lots of the
side-by-side world with tracksis really opening up.
And snowmobiles is, I mean, foraccessibility and recreation up
here.
There's a pile of them runningaround everywhere.

(38:14):
So maintenance is, I mean, is,critical and we talked about the
outboards in the last session.
We did and snowmobiles isreally no different.
You get into the fall time whenyou're getting your equipment
out and ready to go.
The best time to service asnowmobile is in the spring.
When you're done using it forthe season, you get fresh oil in

(38:34):
the engine.
You make sure you go throughcharge up that charge up and
disconnect your battery fuelstabilizer up that charge up and
disconnect your battery fuelstabilizer.
Um, there are some uh,different brands have different
recommendations about how tostore your engine two-stroke
versus four-stroke but uh, itreally comes down to having the
appropriate maintenance andchecks done in the spring when

(38:56):
you're when you're when you'repackaging that unit up.
Batteries is probably thebiggest frustration point for
the majority of my customers.
Lots of people have thisthought process where they want
to go and start their snowmobileonce a month for the entire
summer, just to make sureeverything's happy.
Well, your snowmobile hates youfor that.

(39:16):
The batteries it's really hotout.
The battery gets started,there's a big draw on it, and
then, as your snowmobile sitsthere and idles, it's not
replacing the charge that you'reconsuming when you start it up.
So then you're getting all theoils flowing and the fuels

(39:38):
flowing and then everything hasto settle back out and then you
don't give it enough time to toheat up and and get heat soaked
properly it.
It just doesn't like you forthat.
Um, I strongly recommend notdoing it.
Um, because you're going to belooking at me.
At the first minus 30 day,you're going to walk out and
press your button just to see ifyour snowmobile starts, which

(39:59):
is also a really fun one for adealership.
Hey, it's minus 35.
I wonder if my sled will start.
It also hates you for that.
And if you're going out for a100-kilometer ride and you want
to rip around in minus 35, twothumbs up more power to you.
But don't press the button justbecause, because you're going

(40:21):
to get frustrated when it won'tstart.
Um, but you'll go out and yourbattle will be frozen solid
because you drew.
You just draw it down allsummer long and now you're like,
well, what the hell's going on?
So then you got to replace yourbattery and they don't give
those away anymore, soeverything's expensive.
But if you can charge yourbattery in the spring,
disconnect it, it's going tosave you a lot of heartache

(40:43):
because there's no potential fora draw on the battery Cable's
off.
Hook it up in the fall, hit thebutton and away you go.
Drive it like you stole it.
Fuel stabilizing we're into adifferent world now where
carburetors are a thing of thepast.
I'm a BRP dealer.
I sell Skidoo snowmobiles.
They actually don't make a unitanymore that has carburetors.

(41:07):
They've gone purely fuelinjected and there's no more fan
cooled.
You're into that world whereeverything is liquid cooled,
two-stroke or into thefour-stroke world.
So we're gone away from thecarburetors and draining the
bowls and getting them cleanedonce a season.
That has all disappeared.
You're in that fuel injected.

(41:27):
It's really efficient, sort ofgetting.
With the times they don'tconsume as much fuel.
It's really important you putthat fuel stabilizer in in the
spring so that the gas sitsduring the summer.
Fuel stabilizer in in thespring so that the gas sits
during the summer, top it upwith fresh.
When you start out the seasonaway, you go.
Regular maintenance I can't sayenough about it.

(41:49):
You actually can tell whenpeople bring their equipment in
whether it's regularlymaintained by somebody that has
experience doing it.
And it really comes down to theother big failure point we see
is clutches.
The snowmobile belt drives theunit.
If you're not got a regularchange schedule on your belt so

(42:13):
that it stays fresh, it's goingto blow.
And if you've ever snowmobiledand if you've ever run down the
lake and you start to hear ithappen, the slap, slap, clap,
boom, there it's gone.
Now you're out in the middle ofnowhere, it's cold.
You got to change your belt.
When belts do grenade like that, they can cause damage in your
unit and break plastics andeverything else.

(42:35):
So, um, you know, we've got ageneral rule of thumb in the
two-stroke world if you hit 2500miles, change your belt for for
the cost of the belt.
I-stroke world if you hit 2,500miles, change your belt For the
cost of the belt.
I mean, if you're running thatmany miles in one season, sure,
try and stretch it a little bitlonger, but it will do you
nothing but favors.
Clutches getting cleaned isanother one.

(42:55):
There's serviceable partswithin a clutch that really
regularly need to get inspectedto make sure that they're
functioning properly, becausewhen they fail, they can cause a
lot of really grumbly damage inthere.
Um, it's just.
It just comes down to to if, ifyou have a product and you
don't want to maintain ityourself, get it looked at by

(43:16):
somebody else, becausecomplacency is just going to get
you frustrated.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
That is wonderful tips, brother, like I mean the
first one that you talked about,and I'm not going to say that
I'm guilty, but the battery andyou know starting it, and I know
that there are so many peopleout there that always say you

(43:48):
know, just start it for a littlebit, let her run.
You know it's good for theengine, this and that, but what
you're saying totally makessense.
Like I'm driving around a 1992F-250 with an old 7.3 IDI in it
and it's got an alternator in itand the voltage regulator is

(44:11):
separate from the alternator.
It's bolted onto the side, soit's a 1G alternator and they're
not very reliable.
And I have a new one on orderthat's a 3G with an internal
regulator.
But I've really had to baby thissituation that I'm in right now
because I traded my 2022 for a1992, right, so no, he gave me a

(44:38):
little bit of cash on top of it.
But my truck right now, the onethat I drive every day, is a
1992 F-250 with a 7.3 IDI in itand it's only got it just turned
60,000 kilometers on it.
So it's a brand new truck.
It's just 33 years old.

(44:59):
But when you were talking aboutthe strain on the battery and on
your electrical system and theamount of draw that that battery
takes when you start it.
I had no idea that each startand especially on a 1992 IDI

(45:22):
diesel when you've got to cyclethe glow plugs twice because
it's really cold and dumbassforgot to plug it in last night
how much power that a start candraw out of your batteries.
And I think that that one pieceof information that I've never

(45:43):
heard will save frustration overfrustration, and not only for
the sledding family and thepeople in Kenora and in your
area who, it's a necessity halfof the time, like I mean, I bet
you there's more sleds runningaround up there, right now than
there are vehicles I'vedefinitely been guilty of what

(46:05):
you just said.

Speaker 3 (46:06):
Like for sure I've done that, for sure.
I went out and like, yeah, it'sa cool day, I'll just fire up
my sled, let it run for just twominutes, fire it down 100 and
then I have to charge my fuckingbattery.
Yeah, come spring, you knowwhat I mean.
Like, and I've done it withboats too.
Yeah, you've got, you'velearned, but I've become sprint
you know what I mean, Like andI've done it with boats- too.

Speaker 2 (46:22):
Yeah, you've learned, but Well, and that's what I'm
saying it's like not just forthe people that own the
snowmobiles and sleds, it's guyslike me down south.
I've not.
The last sled I owned was andit was my dad's, it was a 1976

(46:43):
Alouette.
So I'm not a I'm not asnowmobiler by any means,
because by the time I couldafford one, our winters were not
that good and you had to travelnorth anyway to use it.
So I've never been a snowmachine guy.
But it works the same with yourquad, with your boat.
I'm terrible with my boat.

(47:04):
I've got two batteries in itthat run, because the one goes
dead half the time and that'sprobably because I just go down,
I start it just to see if it'llstart, and then shut her back
down, and so wonderful,wonderful tip.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
And, contrary to popular belief, batteries don't
dislike cold weather.
Bad batteries hate it.
If you don't have a full, happycharge and a good battery, it's
going to freeze.

Speaker 3 (47:38):
If your battery is in good shape, well-maintained and
has a full charge it can sit inthe minus 30 volt Like your
boat batteries.

Speaker 1 (47:42):
as long as you put them away properly and
disconnect them, they can sit inyour boat.
They don't have to go into yourbasement on cardboard or wood
and get topped up all the time.
They are more than happy to sitoutside during the winter, as
long as they're in good shapeand stored properly.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
And stored properly is disconnect, disconnect,
disconnect, yes, yeah, yeah,because those little draws, you
just don't know how, you don'tknow where they come from.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
So disconnect one little bare wire touching a
piece of metal and all that doesis just draw your battery down
and she's pooched yeah, shedoesn't take long either right
like it's just, and you're right.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
It just takes the smallest little dial left on or
a backlight in a dash.
That doesn't click off andmight not even be your fault.
You're right.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
The other big thing that I picked up on, for me too,
is the fact that you emphasized, do all this work in the spring
, when you're done with it, makesure it's maintained and ready
to go.
Because I can totally see itpsychologically when you're like
when I'm in the fall and I hangup the fishing rod and you know

(48:55):
winter comes, I'm good with it.
You know I've I've had a wholeseason and and I'm good to to
hang that rod up.
But you know, come this time ofyear, you know February and
March, when you know things arestarting to get a little closer
to soft water times, I'mstarting to itch Right.

(49:15):
And I can totally see how, ifyou don't do that in the spring,
by the time the snow comes,because when the first day that
you can get on that sled and go,you're getting on the sled and
you're going to go and ratherthan having to deal with your

(49:36):
oil being changed and you knowdoing all of those things,
changing the belt on your clutch, which is another key one at
2500, uh, 100 kilometers, um,you, you will end up um driving
your sled with shit oil and abad belt if you do it in the

(49:58):
fall and you'll get stuck rightbecause you don't give yourself
the opportunity to do that.

Speaker 1 (50:04):
You always need it before it's ready to go.
So if you do it in the spring,you have it all dialed in, hook
up the battery, everybody'shappy.
And and there's nothing thatmakes an engine happier than
sitting, when it's going to sitfor a long period of time, of
having fresh fluids in it,because you take all those
impurities that that get intothere from from the engine

(50:27):
running and and that not youknow, perfect combustion and the
soot, and there's a reason youroil gets black when it's used,
the heat that gets generated inthere.
Having fresh fluids in there isjust going to make it much
happier and make it last a lotlonger for you.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
For sure, because all that soot and the carbon and
the shit that's left over fromall the heat and everything else
, I can totally see with the newfluid in there, that fluid for
four to six months is working onall of that shit that's stuck
to either your oil pan, thebottom of your crank, all of

(51:07):
those areas that are exposed,all of the oil passages and
jackets and everywhere where itsits.
It's working on cleaning thatengine as well and that's all
great, great advice.
So, going forward, you knowwe've talked about what we're

(51:32):
looking to do and maintain rightnow.
At the end of the season, whatdo things look like for andrew
at lakeside marina?

Speaker 1 (51:44):
they're.
They're a bit sad becausebecause, as you can imagine, at
the end of my snow season youyou know what I'm starting on
already right, both is april andmay are are that that time up
here?
I mean, the ice out in the lastseveral years has gone.
You know, it's in may, it's inthe month I mean the ice out in
the last several years has gone,it's in May.
It's in the month of May whenthe ice is leaving.

(52:07):
So now we're getting all thesesnowmobiles coming in for their
year-end service and get thatall sorted out, and you know
there's a pile of people thatare waiting to the last minute
because we got to get that lastride, the last ice fish, and
then you've got this massiveworkload coming for what we have

(52:27):
to get prepped for the May longweekend.
We've got all of these campowners and lodge owners coming
up and it is full on.
These guys are in their moststressful time of year and we
have to juggle both.
So I always say and theprevious owner said the same
thing if we could double ourstaff for the months of April

(52:49):
and May, we could definitelyfill their time, no doubt.
It's valuable, no doubt, andwe're so often.
I mean I have such a great teamthat works at Lakeside.
They're so dedicated, so proudof what they do, they're nothing
but extremely professional andwe definitely ask a lot of them

(53:12):
and and they deliver.

Speaker 3 (53:14):
You know, we're putting in days, sometimes 16,
18 hours, and it it's just, it'sa necessity for us, but it uh,
it definitely it's appreciatedby our uh, our lodges and well,
I was just gonna say that I was,you know, as a guy who's been,
this would have been my thirdseason here coming in, you know,
and that, uh, being a guythat's been there the last two

(53:36):
years with you, in that seasonbuddy it was it was impressive
watching your teamwork.
You know the, the long days atthe shop, then the after hours,
you know, at my place till sixor seven at night, the four in
the morning, five in themornings, dropping off boats to
and from work.
I think we've been in all thosescenarios, you know.
So, uh, dealing in our dealings, andrew.

(53:56):
So thank you very much for thatand I can second, I can vote
for that for sure I appreciatethat a lot really.

Speaker 1 (54:02):
It definitely uh, it's definitely an interesting
time of year.
Every, uh, every april 1st weall sit down in the shop and we
have that talk, it's that, it'sthat coffee time meeting where
we sit and all sort of just lookat each other and know what the
next three months is going tobring.
And you know everybody's youget, you get mildly excited

(54:24):
about about the challenge, butyou know the workload it takes
and it is absolutely nonstop.
And and then and then inamongst amongst all that, the
winter road season closes up too, right.
So we're, we're getting, we'rescrambling to get everybody's
stuff uh, completed and and getit out the door so that these,
so that the community stuff whenthey need it in the fall.

(54:48):
So it's, uh, it's superexciting and challenging.
I mean, uh, I mean I neverthought that that time of year
would be as crazy as it is, butthen it's fun.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
That's very cool.
Well, listen, the backbone ofyour business is that staff into
them just a little bit and tellme about the people you have
working for you and how many andyou know.
Get a little bit into your team, because I didn't realize how

(55:25):
big your business is and howextensive it is and the
different dynamics that you'vegot going on.
So talk a little bit about yourteam.

Speaker 1 (55:36):
I mean it doesn't.
It takes a lot to run themachine right?
I mean, we've got some officestaff.
We float between nine and 11staff depending on the time of
year and between students andnot, you know, right at the
front desk.
Uh, I don't have my own office.
I am the guy that sits up frontwith uh, with my, with my parts

(55:58):
clerk, uh, Sherry, we, uh, weare the two at the front of the
counter.
Um, we take all the phone calls, we deal with the staff coming
in and out and we also worktogether to run the shop and
keep the wheels turning thereHer job.
And there's not anybody that'sever done it in the world that

(56:19):
would tell you that.
It's simple, anybody that'sbeen a parts person, which was
the deal I had with the previousowner.
I had to learn the parts jobbefore I was allowed to sit in
the seat, in the big boy seat.
So the parts job is the one jobwithin the building that can
bankrupt a company.
It is 100% stressful.

(56:39):
You are nonstop, from theminute you get there to the
minute you go home.
The number of work, orders andparts receiving, and all of that
stuff happens with very minimalstaff at Lakeside, because we
like to run light and efficient,but we really look for people
that are motivated to work andwant to be there.

(57:02):
If you don't, then it doesn'twork out, and Sherry has been
nothing but amazing for Lakeside.
She's had a lot of experiencein the industry over the last 15
years and she's just nothingbut fantastic in the office.
You know all the stuff that youdon't see out front with the
accounts, receivables andpayables.
Carol has been at Lakeside.

(57:23):
She's one of our longeststanding employees.
She shows up every single dayand just does whatever she's
asked and she's.
She's been extremely reliablefor us.
Uh, can't say enough greatthings about that.
My wife also works in theoffice.
We won't run the businesstogether.
She's doing the payroll, allthe government reporting and

(57:45):
taxes and all the wonderfulthings that go along with that.
Oh man, um job boy, it's alwaysfun and then you know, then we
jump into the shop.
So we currently have twofull-time certified mechanics,
we've got two apprentices andthen we've got one laborer and

(58:07):
two students For years and years.
I mean Lakeside's longeststanding employee is a guy named
Ian Chuhai.
He works out of the localHarmony Centre for disabled
folks and he's worked atLakeside God, I think it's got
to be close to 35 years and hecomes in every Wednesday for a

(58:29):
couple hours.
He absolutely loves it.
He's just such a great,cheerful guy to see every
Wednesday and everybody in theshop loves it.
Now we get into the guys thatare boots on the ground and out
in the field.
My mechanics, the two with themost experience, are Arthur
Valiant and Riley Fulton.
These guys, I ask probably toomuch of them and they just don't

(58:54):
stop delivering for me.
These guys are so knowledgeableand I don't like an avenue
where I try to make my mechanicsor get my mechanics to be
absolutely good at only onething.
These guys cover the spectrum.
Absolutely good at only onething.

(59:15):
These guys cover the spectrum.
They're working on 400 horseoutboards down to nine, nines to
chainsaws to eight, 50snowmobiles to the.
They put their hands on.
All of it is if I have a guythat's only good at one thing
and that's all he works on.
If he leaves or gets sick or ason holidays, and I got nobody
to cover that, I'm in a bad way.
So these guys, these guys justcover the spectrum and man, oh

(59:38):
man, do they?
They just show up every day andwork their asses off.
Can't say enough about them areyou sending these guys?

Speaker 3 (59:45):
I know yourself, I know you go down to Georgia and
Cali and do all the trainingwith the Yamahas and the BRPs.
Do you send your guys away todo that stuff too?
And if you do, what do you sendthem away for, like what kind
of training do they get?

Speaker 1 (59:58):
So there are different OEMs run programs.
I mean, covid really changedthe game on things, so much of
everything has gone online now.
So they have access to all ofthese vast training tools.
Probably the Sh shining starsland between yamaha and brp
these online sessions that they,that they have the.

(01:00:20):
They dump dollars into thesethings because they're so
valuable for the, for the staffand and employees to like the
mechanics, to actually see whyand how they develop changes in
the product and and thedifferent uh maintenance
strategies.
It's, it's all done online forthese guys and it uh it's not

(01:00:42):
for the faint of heart man,that's.
A lot of hours go into thesethings.
There's for sure, piles andpiles and piles of training
videos and they uh that, yeah,it's great.
Um.
So the other, the other two, theapprentices, uh, brian bailey
and uh and aiden mountain.
These guys are um relativelynew to the power sports game.
Um, brian's been away to hisfirst term of school and uh,

(01:01:07):
they just they're just grindingevery day, man, it's our shop is
full every single day of theweek and they're turning out
work.
It's tough for Sherry and I tokeep up.
They're handing in partsrequests, their work orders are
completed, the product's gettingdone and it's just.
Then you've got to do all theother stuff with you Invoice it

(01:01:30):
out, order the parts, get theparts received, get them tossed
into the shop and and schedulethe work.
It's just, it's.
It's a wheel that doesn't stopturning and you have to have
your finger on the pulse of it,or it should just the wheels
fall right off.
An inefficient shop just meansyou have people pissed off and I

(01:01:50):
will be the first person tostand up and say I'm not perfect
, I forget shit.
Every day, every single day,there's something.
I go, oh man, and I don't carehow good your notes are and how
organized you are, it's just.
There's such a volume for usthat we try and do our absolute
best to make sure everybody'staken care of and serviced and

(01:02:11):
happy.
But man, oh man, you willdefinitely let people down from
time to time, and it's not aneasy pill to swallow.
And as a business owner that isproud of what we do, man, it
just feels like crap whensomebody's frustrated at you.
It's a tough pill to swallow,especially when it's something
that's out of your hands, butwhen it's something you could

(01:02:32):
have controlled and made it good, ouch it hurts.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
Those are the best learning pros.
That's the learning process,right.
Every good business person hasbeen there, like I mean.
I've been there, you know, andthat's how you learn.

Speaker 1 (01:02:49):
And there's truth to you.
Learn the hard way and I wasalways taught in this industry
is learning only costs you onething, and that's money.
And unfortunately, it costsmoney to learn, and it's a
process that I you know what I?
I, we gotta just be smart aboutthe way we do things.
And again I it's it, and againit's a beast.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
Well, on that note, I got to admit I've done a lot of
learning then, because it'scost me.

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
Likewise, likewise.

Speaker 2 (01:03:24):
Anyway, listen, andrew, thank you so much for
joining us again.
We really appreciate you andLakeside Marina and, uh,
everything that you do up there.
And folks, uh, for anybody umthat's listening, that's down
South here with me and you'reconsidering a, uh, a sledding

(01:03:47):
trip, um, you gotta head up thatdirection and check out, andrew
, and really, the intrigue ofwhat goes on with the different
festivals and everything.
I had no idea and that'ssomething that I've got to come

(01:04:09):
and see one of these days.
So, thanks for shedding somelight on that stuff and folks,
thank you for listening to thispoint, andrew, we will talk
again.

Speaker 1 (01:04:22):
Sounds great.
Guys.
Thanks so much for the inviteand again love what you guys are
doing here.
This podcast is amazing.
I just I get all jazzed upabout coming here and talking to
you guys because it's unique.
It's something that we haven'tseen before.
Big shout out to all the lodgesand and everything that that
use our services.
You guys are amazing.

(01:04:42):
Thanks a lot again, will Steve.
This is it's been wild man.
Thanks so much.

Speaker 3 (01:04:47):
Brother, I appreciate you having you on here every,
every time.
You know thanks for coming onboard with me and Stevie and the
Diaries family and you know,the Outdoor Journal Radio
Network.
We appreciate it and you knoweverybody in northwestern
Ontario.
It's a big place up here.
Get up to Andrew's.
I've sent Browey up there.
We've sent lots of people upthere already.
Go and see Andrew.

(01:05:07):
You know you buy a sled fromKenora.
You buy a sled from DrydenThunder Bay.
You know he's willing to meetyou.
So give him a call, get upthere and see him.
It's worth it.
His customer service is worthit.

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
And on that note, folks, thank you very much again
for getting to this point inthe podcast.
And go on over tofishincanadacom and get in on
the giveaways, get that name ofyours in the box as many times

(01:05:40):
as you can and increase yourodds, and on taking home a
beautiful garmin unit, uh, we'vealways got different things on
the go there, so so check thatout.
And uh, for anybody out there,any lodge owners who uh want to
tell their story, feel free toreach out to will and I, um,
y'all know our, uh, our emailaddresses.

(01:06:00):
I'm steven at fishing canadacomand we've got uh willie at.
Uh, what are you will?

Speaker 3 (01:06:09):
uh walleye drilling.
Walleye drilling at gmailcomsince my yes, yes, sir walleye
the fish drilling at gmailcom.
Let's reach out that way and,uh, we'll help you out there you
go.

Speaker 2 (01:06:22):
and for anybody, uh uh, interested in our, our deck
uh, we've got a wonderful deckand look to partner with
wonderful people.
Uh, just like, and Thanks again, brother.
And thus brings us to theconclusion of another episode of
Diaries of a Lodge OwnerStories of the North.

(01:06:43):
I'm a good old boy.

Speaker 1 (01:06:48):
Never mean to no harm .
I'll be all you ever saw, beenrailing in the hog since the day
I was born, Bending my rockstretching my line.

Speaker 3 (01:07:04):
Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine.
I'll be making my way.

Speaker 1 (01:07:13):
The only way, I know how, working hard and sharing
the north.

Speaker 3 (01:07:19):
With all of my pals.
Well, I'm a good old boy.

Speaker 6 (01:07:26):
I bought a lodge and lived my dream, and now I'm here
talking about how life can beas good as it seems, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:07:41):
Back in 2016,.
Frank and I had a vision toamass the single largest
database of muskie anglingeducation material anywhere in
the world.

Speaker 7 (01:07:49):
Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this
amazing community and share itwith passionate anglers just
like you.

Speaker 4 (01:07:56):
Thus the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly
grew to become one of the topfishing podcasts in North
America.

Speaker 7 (01:08:03):
Step into the world of angling adventures and
embrace the thrill of the catchwith the Ugly Pike Podcast.
Join us on our quest tounderstand what makes us
different as anglers and touncover what it takes to go
after the infamous fish of10,000 casts.

Speaker 4 (01:08:17):
The Ugly Pike podcast isn't just about fishing.
It's about creating atight-knit community of
passionate anglers who share thesame love for the sport.
Through laughter, throughcamaraderie and an unwavering
spirit of adventure.
This podcast will bring peopletogether.

Speaker 7 (01:08:31):
Subscribe now and never miss a moment of our
angling adventures.
Tight lines everyone.

Speaker 4 (01:08:36):
Find Ugly Pike now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.

Speaker 5 (01:08:46):
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons
of our natural world becomeharder and harder to hear, but
they are still available tothose who know where to listen.
I'm Jerry Ouellette and I washonoured to serve as Ontario's
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.

(01:09:08):
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced tothe birch-hungry fungus known as
chaga, a tree conch withcenturies of medicinal use by
Indigenous peoples all over theglobe.

(01:09:35):
After nearly a decade of harvestuse, testimonials and research,
my skepticism has faded toobsession and I now spend my
life dedicated to improving thelives of others through natural
means.
But that's not what the show isabout.
My pursuit of the strangemushroom and my passion for the
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.
On Outdoor Journal Radio'sUnder the Canopy podcast, I'm
going to take you along with meto see the places, meet the

(01:09:58):
people that will help you findyour outdoor passion and help
you live a life close to natureand under the canopy.
Find Under the Canopy now onSpotify, apple Podcasts or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.