Thursday 30 November 2017

2018 BCO Calendar

This is the third year we have had a custom calendar made. The process doesn't get any easier though - sorting out which photos to choose from the thousands we take every year is daunting! How do we showcase the best of the coastal areas we market?!

Through the year Kate keeps copies of some of the best photos in a separate folder. Then starting in September she looks through and starts adding in photos taken on road trips, property visits and excursions taken by team members. When she has about 30 photos they are given to the team. Each person in the office selects their top 13 photos and marks them on the back (with no peeking at other people's choices until you're done!). This year with three of us choosing we had at least 9 that we all selected and a number of others that at least two of us chose, so it was clear which ones we were going to use.

We work with RH Printing here in Campbell River who designed the original calendar for us, and send them our artwork.

This year's calendars have gone out in the mail and the day they were delivered we received two emails.

"Thank you for the beautiful calendar that arrived in the mail today.  It makes me want to venture out and see some of those amazing places that I haven't visited."

"Having been lucky enough to get one from you over the last couple of years, I would like to share my opinion that the pictures and the quality of the photos on the final product is simply exquisite."

We love the coast, we live the coastal lifestyle and we are so fortunate to be able to share that through the properties we market. Putting the calendar together every year is a reminder of the magnitude and beauty of this coast - from the grand coastline to the green forest, from the rivers to the lakes, from small remote islands to urban centres  - there is nowhere better to be.

It's a Coastal Lifestyle ... Live It!

Thursday 23 November 2017

BCO Coastal Gems: Jervis Inlet

Jervis Inlet is the principal inlet of the British Columbia Coast.  It slices through the Coastal Mountain range, narrowly zigzagging over 80 km through stunning granite-walled cliffs and forested mountains. This inlet is the deepest of British Columbia’s Inlets reaching depths of over 720 meters or 2,400 ft. and is located about 95 km northwest of Vancouver The inlet was named by George Vancouver after Rear Admiral Sir John Jervis.

Like much of the rugged BC Coast, Jervis Inlet was an area of extensive logging and fishing in the 19th and 20th centuries. It also has a history as a seasonal settlement for local First Nations.
Access points and service centers include Egmont providing access to Sechelt and Vancouver as well as Saltry Bay providing access to the Northern Sunshine Coast and Powell River. Both of these locations are approx. 25miles travel by boat. There are no roadways into Jervis Inlet, this is another of the water access only areas of the coast. The remote location and breath-taking beauty make it a location for outdoor enthusiasts.
It's a Coastal Lifestyle ... Live It!

Thursday 16 November 2017

Communicating from Remote Properties

Twenty years ago, or even ten years ago, communication on a remote recreational or residential property was a non-issue. If the phone company didn't go there, you didn't have service and that was that. People who lived or vacationed on these properties did so knowing they were cutting themselves off from the rest of the world when it came to day to day communications.

Today, with smart phones and cell service and high speed internet filling every part of our lives, fewer people are willing to accept a complete cut off from their daily lives of communication. While there are still some who simply want to get away from it all, for many people getting away from it all no longer means being completely out of touch. While they want the peace and serenity and sense of getting away that these types of properties provide, they don't want to be cut off from the world at large.

Today there are options for those wanting to stay in touch. 
~Satellite phones provide phone service where cell phones can't. Sat-fi devices even allow you to use your wi-fi enabled devices to text, call and email over satellite networks. For example: http://ca.globalstar.com/sat-fi/lander.php 
~There are some internet companies that specialize in providing service to places no other company reaches. Xplornet specializes in providing reliable high speed internet to rural locations in Canada.
~Satellite TV companies such as Shaw Direct can provide service in many remote recreational locations.
~Some smaller communities in places where regular service doesn't always work (such as Sayward on northern Vancouver Island) are providing their own internet services. 

Communications services can allow people the freedom to escape to a remote recreational or even remote residential property while still being able to connect with their lives when needed. For some people it may mean longer vacations, or the ability to work from a home that is not in an urban centre. 

Of course, you can still go with no communication. It's all about choosing how your coastal lifestyle will look and work for you.

It's a Coastal Lifestyle ... Live It!

Thursday 2 November 2017

BCO Fly Day - Office on the Wing

Before the weather changed this week Shelley had the opportunity to go flying for about three hours. The pilot was able to cover a lot of the waterways and islands in Discovery Passage and up to the northern end of Vancouver Island. The water was calm, the sun shining and the fall colours spectacular!

 

These flights are valuable both to provide aerial photos of properties and to give Shelley or Ed, whoever has gone out on the flight, a better perspective of the location, size and siting of the properties.
(398 Smelt Bay Rd, Cortes Island. Great perspective of the size and location of this property.)

Before heading out on a flight a lot of pre-flight work is done in the office so that the time in air is used well. We first create a list of properties we would like aerial photos of, and then we group them according to location. At that point a rough idea of a route can be created (in cooperation with the pilot). The properties are laid out on a large map.

Each property then needs to have mapping and reference photos if they help so that the properties can be identified from the air. As Shelley says, there are no nice lines on the actual ground and the plane moves pretty quickly!

Taking photos from a small float plane is a challenge, both in getting the photo and with being able to focus while flying in a small plane. You never know when the pilot will bank to get you the best shot.

(To get the photo of this Bones Bay lease tucked against a steep shoreline, the plane is banked almost sideways as Shelley clicks away!)

When the photos come back to the office it takes time to download, sort them into the correct property files, and then update as needed throughout our marketing materials.


Just another aspect of BCO business that sets us apart.

It's a Coastal Lifestyle ... Live It!