HOUSE MANUAL
(Everything you need to know, plus..)
Kitchen - food, water, utensils,
etc
Where to find - switches, keys, tools,
warmth, etc
Power outages? (read
this beforehand)
Water - quality, quantity and the
septic system
Misc. - wood stove, music, phone,
toilet, insects, etc
Outdoors - our plants, pond and
some sports stuff
The Island - beaches, activities,
eating, etc
The
house may have a smell. Air it well the first day.
If
the house has been vacant for a while you probably need to turn some things on.
Check these things on arrival - they may or may not need doing:
ELECTRICAL - Go
to the circuit panel, which is located behind a wood covering above the toilet.
If they are not on, turn on the water pump (#13) and the hot water heater (#10
& #11).
WATER - In
winter months we often drain the pipes to prevent freezing. Open a tap - if water comes out there’s
nothing to do. If not, then proceed as follows: Go to the water tank room (door on your right as you go from
living room to large bedroom). Look
down and see the control handle in the line at your feet. Open it. Go outside
and locate the tap beneath the kitchen window. It should be running. Shut it.
Go back inside and shut all taps in kitchen and bathrooms.
We observe a
basic Jewish Kosher food policy - please do not bring into the house any pork
products or shellfish.
All
the appliances work as you would expect. Use washing
machine sparingly (two loads in one day chokes the treatment system). The microwave is rather low
powered. The fridge is cold - keep
the dial lined up with the green dot.
We
use tap water for general washing purposes and bottled water for drinking,
coffee, etc. Use the water you
find - but please replace it before you leave. (You can buy different sizes at
the co-op - the best is to take back the big blue empty and get another).
Eat
any open packages or perishables that you find. Use the spices, etc that you need. Replace any cans or
packages you consume.
Don’t
use metal spoons or spatulas on the teflon
frypans.
Because
we’re on a septic system, be careful what goes down the drain. Large amounts of
grease are bad. Coffee grounds go into compost.
There
are mice sometimes, so it's a good idea to keep things in sealed containers or
up high. There’s an ultra-sonic mouse zapper (small white round thing) plugged
into a wall outlet - keep it there. Don’t pile dishes in front of it or you block the ultra-sonic
waves.
Clean
the floor with water only. Sweep
(don't vacuum) wooden floors.
WHERE TO FIND….
In
the kitchen the far left drawer (below the microwave) contains a lot of papers
and stuff. There you will find the
instruction manuals for various appliances, fireplace, etc. There are envelopes with info about Hornby
itself and surrounding areas. There’s a ring of keys to the sheds and second
storage room. Also there’s a supply of emergency candles and matches.
Between
the living room and large bedroom is a storage room. In it are extra blankets,
folding chairs, warm clothing, vacuum cleaner and extra bags, light bulbs,
battery radio and other supplies for power outages (see below), etc. We also keep some tools there in case
something breaks on you.
Along
the side of the house is a second storage room. Keys are in the drawer. More tools here, but also the hammock.
(Hammock hooks are on the sides of the trees in the deck. Rain coming? - store it by hanging on the two nails on the outside wall.)
The
mud room outside the kitchen has seasonal outdoor
stuff - citronella oil and table cloths in summer, shovel & salt in winter.
The
switch for the outdoor path light (it gets dark in the country) is on the far
wall of the living room. The
switch for the dining room track lighting is where the cord enters the wall
outlet.
Phone
books (the coloured Hornby one is especially useful)
are in the drawers beside the couch.
POWER OUTAGES
The
island suffers from unpredictable blackouts, though mostly in winter. It’s good
to know where things are before that happens. Check now.
Candles
are all over, with extras in the kitchen drawer and inside store
room. Matches are in the kitchen drawer and dining room dresser drawer.
There
should be small flashlights beside each bed. A large flashlight hangs just beside the outer door to the
kitchen. Headlamp hangs in storage room. Please don’t waste these flashlights -
if you go out at night and wear down the batteries, please put in fresh
batteries. Then buy some replacements.
There's
a combo flashlight/radio on the dining room window ledge. There's another battery operated radio hanging on a nail in the storage room.
The
storage room also has a Coleman stove and a 2
lanterns. The lanterns use batteries.
The stove operates on camping fuel - there is some there. (If you need to refill, do it outdoors
or in the mud room. And do it by flashlight, not candle light!!!)
Don’t
use the sinks or flush the toilet.
The pump to the septic will be out. Water can be gotten from the taps (the pressure tank will continue to work) but dump waste water in the woods.
Cold?
Light the fireplace.
WATER
Water
is a problem on Hornby both in terms of quantity and quality.
Quantity-
Hornby Island sits in the rainshadow of the Vancouver
Island mountains. Summers are often very dry. We get our water from a well on the property
which, while adequate for our needs, needs to be used carefully. Observe the common precautions against
waste - don’t let extra water run when washing dishes, kleenex
in garbage not the toilet, “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush
it down”, keep showers short, etc.
Quality
- Much of the water on Hornby is sulphurous. Ours isn’t too bad, but you’ll still
notice it. Use the tap water for
all washing of dishes and selves.
Take off your silver jewelry while you’re here - the sulphur
will darken it. We use bottled
water for drinking purposes. There’s a bottle in the bathroom for brushing
teeth (not for washing) - refill it from the kitchen jug. Just use what you see and replace
before you leave.
Septic -
All
our waste water goes to a septic system. (It’s on your left as you brought the
car up the driveway) You shouldn’t
have to worry about it at all (unless you do too many showers or laundry
loads), though if something terrible goes wrong (or the septic's
boxes buzz or the red light goes on) call Daniel Siegel. But you should be aware not to put any
bleach, excessive soaps or detergents, coffee grounds, excess grease or other
funny stuff into the system. In
fact, gentlemen on antibiotics are requested to pee in the woods rather than
into the system. Please use the
minimum of toilet paper. Put kleenex, dental floss etc. into
the garbage, not the toilet.
Bathrooms -
The
toilet in the main bathroom is a low-flush device - less water used. Push
handle for light flush - push & hold for heavier flush. The drawback to
this is that sometimes it plugs instead of flushing. Don't feel guilty - just grab the nearby plunger and get
busy. You can reduce the likelihood
of this by going easy on the toilet paper. And remember, no dental floss, kleenex, etc.
The toilet in
the second bathroom is even fussier - it's designed to chop everything up
first. Body wastes & paper only! For hot water in this bathroom, plug in the heater
under the sink (black cord).
Unplug when leaving us.
GARBAGE,
COMPOST & RECYCLE
There
is NO garbage collection on Hornby.
The locals must pay for each bag they leave at the recycle centre. Visitors take their garbage off island
with them. So plan what you’re going to do with each thing.
Hornby
has a very active recycle depot. (It’s actually one of the local highlights and
worth a visit. In summer it’s open Thurs- Sunday, 9AM - 1PM. There’s a free store there too.) We recycle here. In one of the sheds you’ll find several
boxes for recycle collection.
CLEAN your stuff, sort it into paper, plastic,
metal, free store, etc. You can
either leave it in the shed for us to take, or take it to the depot yourself
and get the Hornby experience.
In
the enclosure behind the sheds is the compost bin. Put in it all vegetable matter - but no meats, greasy foods,
etc.
The
remainder goes into a garbage bag, then into your trunk! Take it to the depot
(and pay the fee) or take it off the island.
MISCELLANEOUS
This
is a no-smoking house. If you smoke, please do it outdoors, (ashtrays are in
the mud room) and throw all butts into the garbage.
Please
close all ground-floor windows if you leave the house- even Hornby has
break-ins. Screens are optional
during the day, but beware - in summer mosquitos come
out a few hours before sunset.
Please
don't wear shoes indoors. Leave
wet clothing in the mud room before you come in. In winter you may hang stuff above the
woodstove to dry it. (There’s a lifting tool hanging on the wall)
The washer and dryer work. But remember: don't waste water, and no excess detergents in
the septic. Be prudent.
Treat
the stereo system in the dining room gently. If you use our cassettes or CD's,
put them back into the cases immediately after use.
We
have some night-lights around. Put one in the dining room wall outlet. It will
illuminate a safe descent from the second floor to the bathroom.
The second
floor deck is safe - but not for young children.
The
top floor can get hot in summer - use the fan. It gets cold in winter, so we usually seal it off with styrofoam. If you remove the styrofoam, note the pattern first for easy
re-assembly.
The wood stove in the living room throws a lot of heat. You probably
don’t want to bother with it in summer unless the weather is wretched. A detailed instruction book is in the
kitchen drawer. Basic idea: pull the damper rod all the way out to
get the fire going (a bed of crumpled paper, a layer of kindling, then bigger
stuff), then shove it all the way in once the wood is all caught. Open it every
time before opening the door to feed more wood, and close it right after. Air is regulated by
the sliding valve above the door - maximum open is to the left, but
leaving it in the middle is usually right. Put cold ashes in compost or in the woods (where we won't
see it). There’s glass cleaner
under the sink. Kindling (& hatchet) is in the standalone shed. Don’t waste kindling.
The phone number is 335-1955. All Hornby phones begin 335- and are
local calls. You are in area code 250. Do not charge long-distance calls to us. Bill long distance to your own number
or else don’t phone!!
Answering machine instructions are somewhere.
OUTDOORS
You
don’t need to do anything more with the outdoors than enjoy it. Be careful where
you walk and you won’t damage any plants.
If you're here for a week or more during dry weather, you might feel
inclined to water them. I’d appreciate that. There are jugs of water for that
purpose behind the house. (I bet
you were wondering about those)
Keep
the gate closed so deer don’t enter and eat the garden.
Don't
use the outdoor chairs indoors.
(There are indoor folding chairs in the storage room)
The
fish don’t need to be fed - it’s amazing how well they do on their own. In fact,
overfeeding adds to the algae growth and is a bad idea. But in case you want to
treat them, you’ll find fish food in the “Pond” box in the storage room. Never feed them in the cold months.
There
are bikes in the shed (keys in kitchen drawer), though we've locked up our
personal bikes. The brakes on the blue bike are bad in wet weather. There are
helmets and bike locks there, too - use them! There are some fishing and water sport items in the
same shed.
THE ISLAND
You
can easily walk to the beach access at Grassy Point. A great
spot for viewing sunsets. Swimming is good there when the tide is high
(possible currents off the point). But for sandy beaches you want Whaling
Station Bay or Tribune Bay. Whaling Station is a favorite of families with very
young kids. Tribune Bay is a provincial park and has parking lots, toilets,
lots of sand and people. Little
Tribune is the clothing-optional, quieter undeveloped beach accessible from
Little Trib Road near the Co-op.
The
Co-op is the hub of island activity. You can buy almost anything there. You
don’t need a membership to shop there, but if you tell them ours (#1863) we
will earn some minimal rebate on the purchase. Around the Co-op are bookstores, bike repair, ice cream, two
restaurants and more.
Aside
from those restaurants, you can eat at the bakery on Central Road - good pizza
(try the Popeye or the Spring Fever) many nights in summer. The restaurant near the ferry is decent
- the pub is next door - but financial troubles may mean they're not
functioning. Seabreeze Lodge has a fancy dinner -
call to get the menu and book. In
late summer the island abounds in blackberries.
Helliwell Park is an easy walk past magnificent views. Plan
two hours and carry water. Mount Geoffry has hiking trails (enter from Strachan Rd) and
biking trails (enter from behind the fire hall). Maps available at the bike
shop near the co-op. Kids fish off
the docks at Ford Cove and Shingle Spit.
There are fossils and petroglyphs at low tide
if you know where to look. On moonless nights look at the bioluminescence at
Phipps Point. Renting kayaks is fun. The newsletter “The Island Grapevine”
lists tides and general goings on. Read the notice boards around the co-op to
find out what’s happening on the island. Saturday there’s a food & crafts
market near The Community Hall - and frequently a movie in the evening - check
to see what else during the week.
There’s a medical centre near the Community Hall. In summer the RCMP
have a detachment next door.
Across the road is Community Access computers
in case you can't live without your email. Visit the Free Store at the
Recycling Center. Buy some local
pottery and art. There's an ATM at the Thatch and at the Co-op.
ON DEPARTURE
Do
you have any comments or suggestions for us? We’d love to hear them. Please leave us a note in our visitors
book which should be on the dining room dresser.
Don’t
leave us your garbage! We don’t
want it! Put all the (cleaned)
recycle stuff in the shed. Put the
compost in its bin. Anything else
goes into a garbage bag and you take it off the island or to the depot.
All
kitchen food items should be in sealed containers so the mice won’t get them
after you’re gone. Don't leave
perishables in the fridge.
Are
all baseboard heaters turned off? (In winter leave the dining room thermostat
set to 5°)
Did
you close the fireplace damper and reload the wood boxes?
Lights
off? Appliances off? Mouse zapper plugged in?
Bathroom and kitchen all clean?
Are
the shed and outside storage room locked?
All
taps closed tight? In winter, you
may need to drain the pipes. If so, go to the water tank room (see "On
Arrival" section) and close the tap at your feet. Then open some inside
taps. Finally, go outside and find the tap below the kitchen window. Open it to
drain.
If
no one is going to be here in the next few days you need to turn some
electrical circuits off. Go to the circuit panel above the toilet. Turn off the
hot water heater (#10 & #11) and (in winter only) the water pump (#13). In
the second bathroom, if you plugged in the hot water before then unplug it
now.
If
someone is coming here soon, or if you know the property manager will be doing
this (quite likely), you can skip all this switches and faucets stuff.
If
you are a summer renter, then we have a cleaning person coming in after you to
do floors, bathrooms, etc. Even so, you still must empty the fridge, clean your
dishes, put recycles in the shed and dispose of your garbage.
CONTACT NUMBERS
The
little Hornby phone book (esp. page 2) is very useful.
Our
number in Vancouver is (604) 879-4466.
But you shouldn't need to call.
Your
first line of help is to call Daniel Siegel. His number is 335-3020. He's our property managers- so he has keys, knows the
building, and is authorized to contact any repair people as needed.
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