Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX — Vancouver Island’s most advanced real estate business network — since 1996, marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate. Ian has received several awards recognizing his exceptional community commitment locally, as well as awards for outstanding performance and achievement from both RE/MAX International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You’ll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Eddie Van Haddock & The Rockfish: In a little town by the sea, when the story is never done. Live, Captain David, his crew — every child’s favourite friend — with a smile as wide as the ocean and a heart that’s full of dreams. He sails the Mellow Submarine, where magic lives and breathes. Every morning at sunrise, when the world awakes anew, Captain Dave and his crew set sail in water steep and blue, through the ticking clock of time, where adventures come alive. They laugh and learn and play each day in their underwater dive. Captain Dave and the Mellow Submarine.

Dave Graham: Captain Dave stood on the deck of the Mellow Submarine, looking through his binoculars at the shore of French Creek. The morning sun sparkled on the water like a million tiny diamonds.

“Larry!” called Captain Dave. “Come up here and look at this.”

Larry the Lobster scuttled up from below deck, his bright red shell gleaming in the sunlight. “What is it, Captain?” he asked, raising one claw to shade his eyes.

“Well, there’s a huge car show happening at the French Creek Marina parking lot today,” said Captain Dave, pointing toward the shore. “I can see classic cars, hot rods, and all sorts of amazing vehicles lining up.”

Larry clicked his claws together excitedly. “Oh, Captain, I’ve always wanted to see a car show — all those shiny cars and trucks with their polished paint and chrome bumpers.”

Captain Dave scratched his beard thoughtfully. “You know, Larry, I’ve been thinking. The Mellow Submarine has something that most submarines don’t have.”

“What’s that, Captain?” asked Larry, tilting his head curiously.

“Wheels!” exclaimed Captain Dave with a big smile. “When we built the Mellow Submarine, we installed special retractable wheels so we could drive her right up onto the beach or into shallow water. What if we took her to the car show?”

Larry’s eyes grew as wide as sand dollars. “Do you really think we could, Captain? A submarine at a car show? That would be absolutely amazing!”

“Why not?” said Captain Dave. “The Mellow Submarine is just as special as any car — maybe even more special. She can travel underwater and on land. How many vehicles can do that?”

Larry danced from claw to claw with excitement. “Let’s do it, Captain! Let’s take the Mellow Submarine to the car show!”

Captain Dave hurried to the control panel and pressed the big yellow button labelled “Deploy Wheels.” Deep underneath the submarine, gears began to turn and mechanisms began to click and clack. Four sturdy wheels slowly extended from special compartments in the submarine’s hull.

“Wheels deployed and locked,” announced Captain Dave, checking all the instruments. “Larry, position yourself at the navigation station. We are going to drive the Mellow Submarine right up onto the beach.”

Larry scurried to his station and gripped the navigation wheel with both claws. “Ready, Captain!”

Captain Dave carefully steered the Mellow Submarine toward the sandy beach at French Creek. The submarine’s electric motors hummed quietly as the wheels touched the ocean floor, then the sand, and finally rolled up onto the beach with a soft crunching sound.

“We are on land, Captain!” cheered Larry. “The Mellow Submarine is driving on land!”

Families walking along the beach stopped and stared in amazement. Children pointed and jumped up and down with excitement.

“Look, Mummy — it’s a submarine with wheels!” shouted a little girl.

“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!” said a boy, running alongside the Mellow Submarine as it rolled slowly along the beach.

Captain Dave waved to all the children from the submarine’s tower. Larry opened the top hatch and waved his claws cheerfully.

The Mellow Submarine rolled smoothly along the pathway from the beach toward the marina parking lot where the car show was taking place. The submarine’s yellow hull gleamed in the sunshine and her propeller spun slowly as they drove along.

When they arrived at the entrance to the car show, a man wearing a bright orange vest and holding a clipboard looked absolutely astonished. “Is that — is that a submarine?” he stammered.

“Yes, indeed,” said Captain Dave proudly. “This is the Mellow Submarine, and we’d like to enter the car show — if that’s all right.”

The man scratched his head. “Well, I’ve never had a submarine ask to enter before. Let me check the rules.” He flipped through the pages on his clipboard. “It says here that all vehicles are welcome as long as they have wheels and can drive safely. Does your submarine have wheels?”

“Four of them,” said Captain Dave, “and we drove here very safely, all the way from the beach.”

The man smiled broadly. “Well then, welcome to the French Creek Marina Car Show! You can park right over there in the special vehicle section. I think you’re going to be quite popular.”

Captain Dave carefully drove the Mellow Submarine to the special spot and parked between a beautiful red fire truck and a vintage ice cream van. He turned off the motors and extended the submarine’s landing stabilizer to keep her level.

Larry popped out of the top hatch. “Captain, look at all these amazing vehicles!”

All around them were incredible cars and trucks of every colour and style. There were shiny muscle cars with powerful engines, elegant vintage automobiles with running boards and spoke wheels, pickup trucks lifted high on enormous tires, and even a few motorcycles with gleaming chrome. But everyone at the car show was looking at the Mellow Submarine.

A crowd quickly gathered around the yellow submarine. Children pressed close, their eyes wide with wonder. Adults took photographs and asked questions.

“Can we see inside?” asked a young boy with curly hair.

Captain Dave and Larry looked at each other and nodded. “Of course,” said Captain Dave. “We’d love to give you a tour.”

Captain Dave opened the main hatch and welcomed small groups of visitors inside the Mellow Submarine. Larry served as tour guide, showing everyone around with great enthusiasm.

“This is our control panel,” explained Larry, gesturing with his claws. “These dials show us how deep we are underwater. This screen shows us what’s around us with sonar, and these levers control our speed and direction.”

A little girl with pigtails raised her hand. “Mr. Lobster, how does the submarine stay underwater without sinking to the bottom?”

“That’s a wonderful question!” said Larry. “We have special tanks called ballast tanks. When we want to dive, we fill them with water, which makes us heavier, so we sink. When we want to come back up, we blow air into the tanks, pushing the water out. That makes us lighter, and we float back to the surface.”

“Oh!” said all the children together, nodding their heads.

“And where do you breathe from when you’re underwater?” asked a boy with glasses.

“Another excellent question,” said Captain Dave. “We have special machines that clean the air inside the submarine and add fresh oxygen. It’s a bit like how plants give us oxygen to breathe, except we use machines to do it.”

Throughout the day, Captain Dave and Larry gave tours to dozens of excited visitors. Children ran around, looked out through portholes, and even peered through the periscope.

A group of car enthusiasts gathered around the Mellow Submarine to admire her engineering.

“Look at how those wheels retract into the hull,” said one man with a grey beard. “That’s brilliant design work.”

“And the submarine is electric,” added Captain Dave. “Our motors run on special batteries that we recharge using solar panels on the deck. That means we don’t pollute the ocean with oil or exhaust fumes.”

“That’s incredible!” said a woman with a camera. “So you’re not just unique — you’re environmentally friendly too.”

Larry nodded proudly. “Captain Dave always says we need to take care of the ocean and all the creatures that live in it. The Mellow Submarine was built to explore the underwater world without harming it.”

The car enthusiasts were impressed. They asked Captain Dave all sorts of technical questions about the submarine’s motors, steering system, and how the wheels could handle both land and underwater travel.

“The wheels are made from a special rubber compound that works in both salt water and on roads,” explained Captain Dave. “And we have independent suspension on each wheel, so we can drive smoothly over sand, rocks, or pavement.”

Around lunchtime, the car show organizers announced that they would be giving out awards for different categories. There were awards for best classic car, best custom paint job, most original engine, and many more.

Then the head organizer made a special announcement over the loudspeaker. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special award to present today. We’ve never given this award before, because we’ve never had a vehicle quite like this one. The award for Most Unique Vehicle goes to Captain Dave and the Mellow Submarine!”

Everyone at the car show clapped and cheered. Captain Dave and Larry climbed up to the tower of the Mellow Submarine and waved. The organizer brought over a big golden trophy shaped like a steering wheel.

“Thank you so much,” said Captain Dave, accepting the trophy. “Larry and I are honoured to be here with all these wonderful vehicles and wonderful people.”

Larry clicked his claws together happily. “This is the best day ever, Captain!”

As the afternoon sun began to lower in the sky, it was time for the car show to end. Families started heading home and the other vehicles began driving away. Captain Dave and Larry said goodbye to all their new friends.

“Will you come back next year?” asked the little girl with pigtails.

“We’d love to,” said Captain Dave. “The Mellow Submarine had such a wonderful time at the car show — and so did I. Didn’t she, Larry?”

“She did, Captain! And I learned that submarines and cars have a lot in common. We both have engines, we both need someone to steer us, and we both take people on amazing adventures.”

Captain Dave started the submarine’s motors and carefully drove the Mellow Submarine back toward the beach. Children and their families waved goodbye as the yellow submarine rolled past on its four wheels.

When they reached the sandy beach, Captain Dave pressed the button to retract the wheels, and they slowly folded back up into their special compartments in the submarine’s hull. The Mellow Submarine rolled into the shallow water, then deeper water, until she was floating freely once again.

Captain Dave pressed the button to fill the ballast tanks with water, and the submarine gently descended beneath the waves.

“Well, Larry,” said Captain Dave, as they cruised through the clear water of the Strait of Georgia, “that was quite an adventure.”

Larry looked at the golden trophy they’d won, now mounted proudly on the control panel. “It really was, Captain. Who knew a submarine could go to a car show?”

“The Mellow Submarine can go anywhere,” said Captain Dave with a smile. “On the water, under the water, and even on land with our special wheels. That’s what makes her so special.”

Larry settled into his favourite spot by the porthole, watching schools of fish swim by in the golden afternoon light.

“Captain, do you think other submarines have wheels?”

“Some military submarines have special treads or wheels for moving along the ocean floor,” said Captain Dave, “but I don’t think many submarines drive right up onto the beach and go to car shows.”

“We really are one of a kind,” said Larry proudly.

As the sun set over Vancouver Island, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink, the Mellow Submarine cruised peacefully back to Nanoose Bay. Captain Dave and Larry were already planning their next adventure. Maybe next time they’d drive to a farmer’s market, or visit a school playground, or explore the forest paths near Qualicum Beach.

With wheels on the Mellow Submarine, the possibilities were endless.

Eddie Van Haddock & The Rockfish: When the nightfall comes softly and stars light up the sky, Captain Dave tucks his crew in with a gentle lullaby. Dreams of whales and mermaids, of treasures lush and green, await each little sailor aboard the Mellow Submarine.

Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX — Vancouver Island’s most advanced real estate business network — since 1996, marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate. Ian has received several awards recognizing his exceptional community commitment locally, as well as awards for outstanding performance and achievement from both RE/MAX International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You’ll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.