Archive for the ‘teenage-experience’ Tag

Teenage Swimming Adventure!   2 comments

Stories on the news often stimulate memories, particularly for seniors. Tonight there was a mention of the ‘False Creek’ waterway between West end Vancouver and West side Vancouver. By water it’s about 1.2 kilometers according to A.I.

My friend and I were regular Crystal Pool* swimmers in the 1950’s, not more than 13 years old at the time. After swimming in the Crystal Pool we were still filled with youthful vigor.

For no particular reason one of us, probably me, got the so-called ‘bright idea’ to boldly swim across to Kitsilano Beach (i.e. related Vanier park). It was barely in sight after sunset, directly across from the old Crystal Pool, an area known as Sunset Beach.

 

Since we had donned our street clothes after our swim at the pool, we had to determine how to do this challenging feat. Again we had a bright idea, namely, we would undress (possibly with swim suits on) and place our clothes on some scavenged beach wood in order to keep it dry as we pushed it ahead of us right across the harbor! Of course it also served as extra buoyancy as we hung onto it.

Indeed we did exactly that, keeping our clothes above water as we swam. I have no idea how clean the water was in those days, all I know is it was quite cool compared to the Crystal pool salt water, but not really cold either as this was in summer. Currents, and/or tides, didn’t cause us any problems, perhaps just out of good fortune. In fact as I recall we laughed about our bold endeavor as we kept in contact swimming across False Creek adjacent English Bay.

 

Now when we got across to a rocky beach area, it dawned on us it was going to be an unfamiliar and perhaps distant walk to the bus line needed to return to our homes in Southeast Vancouver!

Since we were flushed with success and feeling somewhat over-confident it seemed only natural we could just swim back to Sunset beach and that’s exactly what we did!

This episode in my young life has remained secret from that day to this as far as I can recall. And please note; I do not recommend it for youths, or anyone today, especially considering the great possibility of a far more polluted False Creek today than in the ’50’s and ’60’s, though I have no specific information.

* Vancouver Crystal Pool history..

 

 

 

 

Posted September 22, 2025 by New2view in Adventure, adventure, Environment, Human relations, life, Uncategorized

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My first car!   Leave a comment

Most likely everyone at least in North America, if not the world, will remember their first car.

In my case, I managed to buy my first car as a bold teen, under the legal age for a driver’s license. It began when I joined an RCAF Air Cadet summer program located at the former Vanier Park station located in Vancouver Kitsilano district. There were several different programs scheduled, but when we began, the Intelligence course, I had chosen had been deleted. Cadets for that course were redirected to the Secretarial course!

My disappointment resulted in short stay, after some friction with instructors.

Before a rather tumultuous departure, I had made a few teenage friends, and managed to convince them to invest in my plan to buy a car! Surprisingly, they agreed to contribute some of their early Air Cadet paychecks, in return for my promise to provide regular transportation from the base to their homes during the summer course. This actually did make a certain amount of sense given the travel distance they had to travel daily, with limited bus transportation in the 1950’s.

I think I had already identified an Vancouver Sun classified ad for the 1937 Plymouth I bought. And thanks to my older sibling brothers I was already quite competent to handle a four speed transmission stick shifter. Hence the deal was done!

Having then departed company with the RCAF, I was free to show up at the base as the cadets were marched military style, in uniform, to the main gate of the base each day where I picked up investor friends in my ‘new’ prize. Although it was only a three passenger coupe (as shown), however many we were somehow crammed in. Therefore I fulfilled my promise to deliver them to their homes daily. The fact I was unlicensed was simply no obstacle.

Yet another memorable teenage experience in 1950’s Vancouver.

Posted August 10, 2025 by New2view in Uncategorized

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