Cortes Cruiser_ A New Way To Explore The Island

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Eric Denis grew up in Quebec and is the technical operator of machines at Island Sea Farms. Melissa Steblyk comes from Alberta, is a substitute teacher at the Cortes Island School, and also manages the Gorge Marina. Last May, they launched a moped rental business called Cortes Cruiser in the Gorge. It didn’t start out that way. Melissa Steblyk: “Eric’s got three kids, and his oldest is almost 16. We were thinking a scooter would be a great option for him when he gets his license.” Eric Denis: “In March, we bought that first bike. It was one of those Yamaha BWS—just a little bit of a beater. It was for my kids, so it was like, ‘We’ll fix it up.’” The Vision for Cortes Cruiser Melissa Steblyk: “We bought one, and then we were like, ‘Why don’t we buy another one? Maybe we could rent them out.’ People are constantly asking, ‘How do we get around the island? We want to see Cortes. We want to experience this.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know what you can do. You can hitchhike, if you’d like.’ Then the idea dawned on us. We’re at the Gorge—we have a setup here. I work at the marina, I can promote it through word of mouth right there, and we can really see it going somewhere.” Cortes Currents: They approached Marco Bedetti, manager of The Gorge Harbour Marina, with the idea of renting out their mopeds at the resort. Eric Denis: “Marco’s a good friend. I’ve known Marco since I moved here, when he was working under Bill Dougan and Tammy Allwork back in the day. I worked at Island Sea Farms as well. I’m a liveaboard—I've been living here at the Gorge for the winters. I’m out of the dock for the summer, but I come back for the winter.” Melissa Steblyk: “I’ve been working at the Gorge. I’ve been at the marina for the last two years—this is going to be my third year. I have a good working relationship and friendship with Marco, and I understand the need people have, especially coming in on a boat. “He said, ‘Okay, if you guys want to do this, you need to come up with a business plan. You have to sell me on this a little bit if we’re going to bring you into it.’” Eric Denis: “For people who come by boat, it gives them a good opportunity to visit the rest of the island.” Melissa Steblyk: “Go to Squirrel Cove, check out the food truck there. Drive over to Manson’s, enjoy the beach, check out the lake, and then go to the co-op—Bertha’s—and have a snack. And maybe take that down to Smelt Bay. Those are the main things we recommend.” Eric Denis: “So we came up with a good plan, and he set me up really well at the Gorge.” Melissa Steblyk: “I’m not saying we’re tied to the Gorge—we’re still a separate entity—but we’re located here.” Getting Started Cortes Currents: They decided to purchase five mopeds. Eric Denis: “We started researching, and we went for some 49cc automatic Honda Ruckus scooters. They’ve got Honda reliability.” Melissa Steblyk: “We wanted something that still looked great, ran well, and we knew it could handle the island.” Eric Denis: “We set up a trailer close by the Gorge staff area. I have the five bikes over there and a little bit of a shop so I can maintain them.” Cortes Currents: When did you rent the first moped out? Eric Denis: “The May long weekend during Seafest. A couple from Campbell River came by jet ski, wanted to do some house hunting. They just went, ‘Oh, this is easy.’ Then they went on a cruise for a couple of hours.” Melissa Steblyk: “We hadn’t even posted yet—we were still trying to figure out how they found us. They might have just been walking by. We didn’t have everything fully organized, but we were close enough. They saw us, and that was our first rental.”