Alaskan Adventure: North of Bella Bella

All the pictures will follow the text, so bear with me. It is hard to mix the pictures into the text, so here goes....

The people you meet are incredible! As Christy says… “they become your whole world”, since there is only the interaction between the elements, the boat, the adventure, and those you meet. You should see the Q&A’s as they occur. For those heading in the same direction, asking about earlier experiences and the accuracy (or lack of) in predicting helps in trying to plan for the next day. Also, everyone has varying skill sets, levels of confidence, and experience. There is this continuous learning and planning, all in a very friendly “we’re all in this together” atmosphere.

Last night at Shearwater, Dick and Sharon spread the word to gather at the Pub around 6:00. He is a cancer survivor, and she runs a PR firm in LA. They have lived aboard a 47 ft Catalina sailboat for the past year, and will for another year before heading across the Atlantic. What great people, and what knowledge they have acquired. Around 4:00, the three Nordhavn’s we had seen a week ago at Lagoon Cove arrived. We had not gotten to know them then, but we did this time. One is owned by Scott and Terry Strickly (boat’s name Strickly for Fun). He has crossed the Atantic twice, and been written up in Passage Maker Magazine 3 times, most famously when he took on bad fuel at Gilbralter and had incredible difficulties with his filters and engine heading to the US. He was part of a fleet of 18 Nordhavn’s doing the crossing. Needless to say, he “knows a lot”.

Carol and Steven are on a 55 ft Nordhavn and Linda and Marty Ellison (married for only a year) a 51 foot. These boats are true displacement hull boats, so are absolutely limited to 7.5 kts, but what beautiful boats! The most revealing couple was Mark and Autumn, who are about 30 years old. They both quit their jobs and headed out 2 months ago for Alaska. They have no plans other than to have fun and ultimately get to the Virgin Islands. What free spirits they are, living on a small sailboat, probably 30 feet, with very small space inside. Every day is an exciting day for them, and they are typical of the spirit most of these “live-a-boards” exhibit.

Cosmo Place is the Nordic Tug (42’) that we have traveled with for the past 3 days. They realized that their plotter chart data (data on the monitors used to navigate with) did not include areas further north than current position. This could be a catastrophe, since they must now rely on only the paper charts, and navigate by dead-reckoning. They asked if they could travel with us for the next three days into Prince Rupert, where they would be able to receive by mail the current data cartridge. We are having a great time with them! They recently sold a software company that specialized in server storage and database management. They are both glider pilots, she teaching regularly. We arrived today in Klemtu, an old First Nation village, which is the Canadian name for native Americans. Like most of the Indian villages, the fishing industry has died down, and the economy is suffering. Unemployment is high, since both fishing and logging are in desperate straights. The US housing market affects their logging decline, and who knows why the fish are not as abundant as before. Fish farming is a new industry along the B.C. coast, but not popular among fishermen.

We head toward Prince Rupert in the AM, but will only make it about half way, since Hartley Bay calls.

Now in Hartley Bay, which is historically important because of a Ferry Crash. In February of 2007, a ferry moving from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy exited the Grenville Channel. Visibility was zero, and the crew had turned off the “irritating” alarm which was the reminder to enter the next waypoint. The next waypoint required a 12 degree turn to port, but absent that turn, the ferry ran aground on Gill Island, sinking quickly. The citizens of Hartley Bay were called to action, and saved most of the passengers and crew, losing only 10 or so to the waters. For this heroism, British Columbia and the ferry company built a huge breakwater and marina for Hartley. This small village of 200 is so neat, tidy, and unusual. The houses are all built well, and stand on mostly solid ground. But since the area is a “bog”, the streets are all wooden, having the appearance of docks or piers. I’ve never seen anything like this.

Christy and I toured their Salmon Hatchery, begun and managed by Danny (pictured here with Christy). He has done this for 30 years, hatching and releasing 250,000 per year. They fish during the month of Sept, and harvest the eggs from the catch. They incubate for 7 months in his hatchery, before being nursed after hatching in a special incubator. Then they are placed in the tanks where they are fed 20 times per day. After only 6 to 8 weeks, they are ready for release, which is always into the lakes around the area. Thus they are fresh-water until they migrate down stream into the ocean, where they slowly adapt to salt water. Then each year, they migrate back to where they were released (not where they were hatched!!) to try their own hand at reproduction without Danny’s help.

The route to Prince Rupert is via the Grenville Channel. It is fed from the ocean from both directions, so the currents are opposite directions at either end, and reverse after the flood tides, also in opposite directions. Thus it is possible to enter at a flood with a “push” just before slack, and get another push from the ebb after the half-way point. We’ll see how it works tomorrow morning, but we need to depart early, around 6 AM and may be too early for the reversal.

Next post will be from Prince Rupert..

Low fog along the way

We passed this sail boat on her maiden voyage. I called the skipper and told him I had the picture and would email it to him.....

This is the First Nation town of Klemtu. Very small and quaint, but obviously poor.

This is the "Long House" in Klemtu. The ceremonies, parties, and all official tribe (they are called "bands") business is conducted inside..

A lighthouse along the way north of Bella Bella, heading to Hartley Bay

In Shearwater, Chris tried to steal the dock dog, Misty...

The most interesting viewing along the way are the waterfalls. There are millions of them.

The inside of the Long House.

Francis gave us the tour of the Long House...

Seaplanes were in and out every 15 minutes or so at Klemtu.

Poor attempt to get in the pictures...

The fresh water lakes are everywhere, and they must eventually get to the ocean. So every mile or so there is another waterfall from the inland lakes.

Chris wanted me to watch out better for logs floating down the channels. She left the pilothouse and I saw this peculiar log that looked like a bear. After watching it "float" for a minute, the head turned around to check me out. A big Grizzley was swimming across the mile-wide channel...very exciting.

The town of Hartley was incredible. A sunny warm day, and the town streets are all wooden. The village of 300 is built on a bog, so the streets are like piers. They cover the entire village..

Talk about coincidences...pulling out of the water as we docked was Denis Dwyer. As soon as he opened his mouth, we knew we were at home. He is from New Orleans and is kayaking from Seattle to Glacier Bay, Alaska. Last summer he made it to Port Hardy, and he is already another 300 miles north of that this year. He sold his outdoor adventure guide company, and is retired to experience everything. What a guy. Traveling alone, Chris cooked up a meal of Halibut for him, and we had him over for the evening. Great stories he has!!

More of the streets of Hartley Bay...

The big industry in Hartley Bay is a Salmon hatchery. Here are the fingerlings during the 2 months of growth before placing them in fresh water lakes.

Danny began the hatchery 30 years ago, and gave us the tour..

This is the marina the ferry company built for the town in repayment for the heroism of the citizens after the ferry crash...

Great to be warm and in the sun...

Eagles are everywhere, but this one was looking over at ZuZu, the cat, on our traveling companions and friends, Ron and Kap..they are on Cosmo Place, a 42 ft Nordic Tug..