The Storm Rider series aims to celebrate the strength of our industry while highlighting some of the many ways businesses have overcome the challenges resulting from COVID-19. We are proud to showcase how the following businesses have adapted while celebrating the people who are at the heart of what we do. In this post, we hear from Adventure Quest in Campbell River.
Why do you do what you do?
After years spent working jobs that had me tied to the land and very busy and chaotic, we now have a company that (although chaotic at times), allows me to get out into extremely remote and beautiful areas, as well as to do and experience things that not many people get a chance to see or experience. Being successful at something that not many people on earth can be successful at is an extremely rewarding experience.
What do you most want people to know about your business?
VERSATILITY…Leigh has prior experience as an equipment operator, commercial bush pilot and boat captain. This allows our company to not only offer quality marine tours (whale watching, grizzly tours), but also a variety of other marine services. A typical day for us in the summer may include a whale watching tour in the morning, then a beach drop for a group of campers or paddleboarders on a remote island, and then we may find ourselves in a mainland inlet later in the day using an excavator to unload boom chain from our landing craft for a forestry company…all in one day! We were helping to pull huge tires off a beach a few weeks ago as well!
The spark to own/work in this business must motivate you each day. – what are some of your past experiences that have contributed to this spark?
Every day is different. On every trip we do, whether it is tourism-based, or water taxi based, we are always faced with new challenges and decisions. This keeps our job interesting. Continuing to operate in remote areas is a motivator for me, as well as the fact that we have a family-based business. Our kids will be working here when they are ready, and we are looking forward to meeting many young people over the coming years that may have an interest in this type of work, and the ability to train them properly so that they may be out there and be as safe as possible, while also enjoying the fact that the job itself get you into amazing places to see amazing things!