bcbUsiNEss.ca JUNE 2016 BCBusiness 43
Tarah sTaffOrD,
her husband, doug, and
their three kids have a
unique commute in the
lower mainland.
every time they
head to school or work,
they walk down to the
dock of the 15-acre
island they live on and
hop onto their barge or
their rowboat to make
the trip across the 90
feet of water to the
mainland. they, along
with 30 other families
on eagle island, use a
dock that's maintained
by the district of west
vancouver and keep
their vehicles in a
parking lot there. once
safely on the mainland,
people who live on the
island—stockbrokers,
artists, architects, pro-
fessors—then switch to
their cars for the rest of
the commute.
"it's kind of fun to
see the guys in their
really nice suits and
galoshes in the row-
boat," says stafford.
stafford's husband
works in film and his
schedule is erratic, so
he has the benefit of
not having to join the
morning rush-hour
flotilla. their three chil-
dren, however, are all in
west van schools, so
stafford, a writer who
sometimes has meet-
ings downtown, is on
her motor-driven mini-
barge every weekday
morning that he's not
available.
the family has
been on the island for
a decade, after having
built on a lot that came
up after many years of
waiting. the commute,
says stafford, is often
the best part of their
day. it's about 20 quick
rowboat paddles across
(everyone stands up in
their rowboats so as not
to muss their business
attire)—except the days
when it's a little choppy
or windy.
"you get in and you
leave the traffic. sud-
denly it's like you're in
the countryside."
ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT
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