If you’re looking for some ideas for things to get your favourite North Shore dad for Father’s Day, Seabus Memes has you covered.
Don’t know about Seabus Memes? It’s an Instagram account that started out in 2018 poking fun at the “people’s yacht,” and has since grown to be a bit of a local cultural icon with more than 140,000 followers. Just about every other Friday a new batch of memes appears on the account, skewering all of the funny little quirks of Metro Vancouver lifestyle, taking shots at any and all local inhabitants who deserve a little skewering, as well as many who don’t.
Vancouver Is Awesome tracked down the man behind the account last year and found that he is a North Vancouver resident who, for fairly obvious reasons, wishes to remain anonymous.
The memes are really pretty great, although not all are 100-per-cent suitable for work. Once you start looking through them though you better be careful, or you might end up on your phone for three straight hours.
The latest batch of memes caused quite a stir around the office of the North Shore News. We were in there! The post in question was a delightful little graphic offering a “North Van Dad Starter Pack” (scroll through the images below to find the right graphic).
The North Shore News made the cut as essential reading for a North Van dad, and one of our Deep Cove Daze vintage T-shirts was in there too.
The rest of the offerings were equally perfect. There were the favourite North Van dad brands: Boston Pizza, Dick’s Lumber, Thrifty Foods, Rock 101, Kin’s Farm Market and Bean Around the World.
There was a kayak, a dog in a bike trailer, a recumbent bicycle. There was a fleece vest, Tilley hat, Birkenstocks, hiking shoes, a headlamp.
There was Whey-ah-Wichen/Cates Park, Northlands Golf Course and Pemberton Station Pub. There were two absolute beauty North Shore dad pursuits: playing pickleball, and putting Griffins Boxing stickers on things.
There were even dead-on snippets of North Van dad conversations.
“Uncle Gord just bought a place in Ravenwoods and he absolutely loves it.” This one is absolutely killer for anyone who knows someone who lives in Ravenwoods. The love is real.
Other snippets: “Heads up, there was a bear sighting in Lynn Canyon.”
“Me and your mom are going to take the dogs up Seymour this Saturday.”
“They have to do something about this darn traffic.”
As a North Van dad myself, I can confirm that these are all spot on.
The only miss on the whole list is that Sleeman beers appear not once, but twice on the North Van Dad meme. Maybe I don’t know the history because I’ve only been a North Van dad for about 11 years, but a North Van dad beer should be something like a Bourbon Blood Orange, or just more coffee.
Other than that though, it’s pure gold, and makes you think about what other things could be added to the list.
“Pulled the kids out of school for the afternoon to get in a few extra turns on Grouse” could be on there, as could the Mexican Meatloaf sandwich at Meat At O’Neill’s. There’s bragging to out-of-town relatives about how fast the drive-thru Timmie’s in the Esso station is.
There’s “You know kids, our tap water is some of the best in the world.”
There’s a Toyota Tacoma with rigging by North Shore Racks, and Vessis somehow keeping your feet dry while you watch soccer in the rain for the 12th straight Saturday.
There’s a Sharky’s Chophouse daily special plate piled with four pounds of meat and perogies for $9. There’s telling people that you love the Sons of Vancouver chilli vodka while secretly really loving the special Amaretto they make in whiskey barrels.
There’s, “Why would I take a crowded boring hike when there’s an empty nice one right next to it?” And, for some reason, there’s that one friend who built a motorcycle from scrap parts.
The North Van Dad Starter Pack is a great conversation starter as well. I’d love to hear if you have other items to add to the mix. And don’t forget to give Seabus Memes a follow on Instagram. Oh, and get your dad something nice for Father’s Day too.
It doesn’t need to be expensive. Any little thing will show him how much he memes to you.
Correction: The North Vancouver man behind Seabus Memes often goes by the nickname "Daddy," but is not, in fact, a dad, as was indicated in a previous version of this column.
Andy Prest is the sports and features editor of the North Shore News. His lifestyle/humour column runs biweekly. aprest@nsnews.com
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