Summer '06 Aboard Naknek

TyBoo

TyBoo

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Note: This and the following four posts are email accounts that Casey on Naknek was kind enough to share with me and graciously allowed me to share with all of you. Enjoy.

Naknek's Summer Adventure 1

Greetings Friends,

I know it has been a several months, but it's finally time for another chapter of Naknek's Summer Adventure.

Sandy and I recently finished a ten day trip to Lake Powell (northern Arizona and southern Utah). If anyone wants to make a note - the last two weeks of April on Lake Powell are spectacular. The weather was perfect with virtually no wind, clear sunny days and nights that were cool enough to make a sleepingbag necessary. We were part of a C-Dory cruising group (total of seven C-Dory's) that spent the time exploring many of Lake Powell's numerous canyons, and just having a relaxing good time. In the late afternoon we'd rejoin in a predetermined canyon, anchor or beach the boats by happy hour, and usually have a campfire on the beach. It was a good time with friends in a spectacular boating area. During this time of the year most of the lake seems to be boat-free so it was almost like having a 180 mile long "private" lake. That may also be a reflection of the almost $4/gallon fuel price! Ouch! Glad we have a smallish boat with a fuel-sipping 4-stroke outboard.

Summer Plan. Part of our agenda for the Powell trip was to finally determine what the boating plan was for the summer. (Nothing like waiting until the last moment, eh?) We had been all over the map with possible plans and needed to make some decisions. For a long time Sandy has been talking about wanting to have a "warm summer" in Arizona playing in her flower garden, knitting, and just enjoying the bone-penetrating heat of an Arizona summer. I, on the other hand, had been home since finishing with the army (3/31/05) and was getting itchy feet for another Adventure. Well, come to think of it, we weren't home ALL the time. There was the truck/camper trip to Alaska last spring, and the trip to the Gulf coast and Key West last winter; but we'd been home full time since February (2006) and I was getting the wanderlust itch.

As we each considered what we wanted to do it appeared Sandy was going with the "warm summer" option, and I was going boating somewhere - but "where" needed to be determined. Two of the C-Dory's on the Powell trip were headed north on Alaska's Inside Passage, and I seriously considered following them for the summer. On the otherhand, I have always been fascinated with the islands and area immediately east of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. I recently read "The Curve of Time" by Wylie Blanchet, an the whole area intrigued me. (Sixty+ years ago Blanchet spent fifteen summers exploring these waters with her five children, aboard a 25' boat. Cozy, but the story and her descriptions have become something of a cult classic.)

So...having said my good-bye's to Sandy for a little while (exact length of time yet to be determined...) I'm sitting here in Anacortes, Washington preparing for a summer afloat. The mighty "Naknek" is still on her trailer awaiting some attention (road dirt and bugs just won't do...) before launching later today or tomorrow. From Anacortes I'll head out to the Lopez Island for a weekend gathering of C-Dory's, and from there probably follow the two Alaska-bound boats as they head North. The plan, such as it is, is to follow C-Dory Halcyon and C-Dory Wanderer north to Port Hardy, BC then begin a slow solo exploration and return to Anacortes, WA. Vancouver Island is about 300 miles long with Port Hardy at the northern tip and the city of Victoria at the southern tip. The areas I hope to explore are immediately east of Vancouver Island and known as the San Juan Islands (U.S.) and Canada's Gulf Islands, Straits of Georgia, and Queen Charlotte Strait. Pull out your trusty Walmart atlas and you may see why I found it so interesting - many remote channels and areas to explore (and all within a few hundred miles Anacortes!). Stay tuned.

Observations. It seems that my travel logs wouldn't be complete without some personal observation along the way. So far the route has been the 1500+ miles of Interstate highway between Lake Montezuma and Anacortes, WA so "observations" can be pretty dismal (ie. interstate highways are great for getting somewhere, but boring...). One item that has impressed me on this drive is the relatively small number of RV's on the road. Current fuel prices are just breathtaking. So far I've seen diesel prices range from $2.93(Flagstaff, AZ) to $3.54/gallon (Cove Fort, UT) so even filling the tank with fifteen or twenty gallons makes you want to stop for the day and have a drink! I can only imagine how the folks in the large, comfy motorhomes must feel. Honestly, many of the motorhomes I observed on the highway were "driveaways" (new motorhomes being delivered from factories to dealerships). Makes me wonder where the dealers are going to park all these new rigs - and the deals they'll have to make to sell them.

Makes me feel a little guilty. Am I the cause of America's oil-plight? Maybe. Guess I'll consider doing my part ... drive slower, not go as far, maybe outfit Naknek with oars and/or sail.

Maybe stay home....(I don't think so!)

...get Real!

Casey
C-Dory Naknek

5/5/06: Friday morning update. Naknek is launched. Aside from the marina lad almost dropping her with the sling lift, yesterday was very busy but uneventful. (But seeing your boat list about 30 degrees in the slings does make one's heart get-to-beating.) Spent several hours last night getting things stowed on the boat, then to bed. All-in-all a very busy, task oriented day; maybe today will be a little more layed back!
 
Naknek's Summer Adventure 2

May 13th - Squirrel Cove, BC

Hi Friends,

Squirrel Cove is approximately 155 miles NW of Anacortes, WA in "Desolation Sound" area northwest of Powell River, BC. Believe it or not Squirrel Cove is actually shown on the BC map in the Walmart atlas (p118). ...no, I'm not using Walmart's atlas as my navigation chart; but it is handy.

So far we're nine days and 350 enroute miles into the trip. Bill and El (aboard Halcyon) and George and Penny (aboard Wanderer) are great traveling companions. As mentioned in the previous email, Halcyon and Wanderer will continue up the Inside Passage and I will drop-off somewhere near the north end of Vancouver Island and begin the (slower) return leg of my solo exploration back to Anacortes.

The C-Dory Gathering at Lopez Island brought in about 32 boats (I'm not sure of the final count). The weather ranged from spectacular (sunny, warm, calm...) to UNspectacular (high winds, cloudy, rainy, Cold). Take my word for it: Spectacular is Better. Weather the first day of the Gathering was enjoyable but that night the wind began and blew-like-hell all night. The next morning we noticed that "Sophia" a small commercial fishing vessel built in 1912 had sunk in her adjacent slip during the night. Sad, but after 94 years at least she went down on her own hull and didn't face the ignominy of becoming a planter in front of a seafood restaurant somewhere. The weather turned cold and most of us were wearing virtually all the clothes we'd brought. However this tough expedition lifestyle was tempered somewhat with nightly forays to the hottub. If you're going to do this sort of stuff remember: Survive in Style.

So, the next thing I knew we-were-off. Halcyon and Naknek were a day ahead of Wanderer on our voyage north. After clearing Canadian Custom's (...they actually inspected both boats!) we all rejoined in Nanaimo, BC and made non-plans for the next day. Wanderer caught-up with us and was sporting a new auxiliary motor for the trip North. We learned the Canadian military wasn't using the torpedo testing area we needed to transit the next day, so at 5:15AM we were headed for what has been called the "most beautiful place in the World."

Folk's could be right. Princess Louisa Inlet is almost beyond words. Even as a somewhat jaded former Park Ranger I've got to confess, Princess Louisa is spectacular. Hmmm...how to describe? Imagine Yosemite Valley with about 500-1000 feet of water in it (...not a bad idea, come to think of it) and you'd come close. Countless waterfalls along the entire four miles to the end of the glacial valley (fjord?) at "Chatterbox Falls." Pretty impressive. The Canadian Park Service has an 850' dock (free for three days...) right at the Falls. Again, the weather was picture perfect. By late afternoon the dock was mostly full with y-a-c-h-t-s (they're a little different from C-Dory's...), but we had them outnumbered if not outsized. I tried my hand at spaghetti that night (a first for me...) and nobody got sick which is a good thing. Actually, it was from a jar and fortified with hamburger Sandy sent with me, but don't tell Wanderer or Halcyon. They think I cooked it; heh, heh, heh.

Picture this. With three small boats (22-foot C-Dory's are small boats) you can't really "entertain" dinner guests on your boat like the big guys. The alternative is to take your folding lawn chair (all C-Dory's are required to have folding lawn/dock chairs onboard) out on to the dock and have a dinner-dock-picnic complete with wine and spaghetti (or whatever). It's fun, and the looks you get from other boaters are priceless. Some of your dock neighbors come outside and join right in. Others watch you from inside the smoked windows of their "salon" (that's what you call a living room on a yacht), and either secretly wish they were outside; or fondly remember the fun days before they had an image to maintain. Anyway we, and several of our dock neighbors, had a great evening. ...all with a couple bottles of wine and a jar of spaghetti, and good friends. Amazing.

Squirrel Cove. Well, not really that much to say about Squirrel Cove really. It's just your run-of-the-mill cove along the British Columbia coast. Tree covered rocky shores amid a totally protected cove that is probably 800m by 300m. Oh yea, there is the obligatory creek running into the cove about 50 yards from Naknek, and a total of nine boats (including three C-Dory's) at anchor. Sunny with a gentle breeze. I suppose it could be nicer; but I don't know how.... The only sound are ripples as they meet the hull. A person could get to like this place.

Observation. Even though I'm still new in this particular trip, traveling alone (this time) is interesting and thought provoking. For better-or-worse without anyone else along you have endless opportunity to think about things you might not otherwise give attention-to. Little things like the simple appreciation of a good shower after a few days without, electricity, finding a good bakery, and sitting in the sun with a good book. Smaltzy, I know; but what the heck....

Plans for tomorrow? None really ... we'll just go where we go, and see what we see. Boring, eh?

This is a good trip.

Casey
C-Dory Naknek

May 16th - Gorge Harbor, BC

I haven't found a WiFi yet so will update this email somewhat.

Nothing major to report, just more mountain's majesty, calm (as in Flat calm) water, and typical BC scenery...ho hum. Not too many boats out yet - it seems the season doesn't really get cooking up here until later in June; things are still pretty sleepy at the moment.

After seeing a number of houses on various islands my impression is there are a lot of Canadians up here living a the good life. Most, that we've met, seem quite nice and very intent to enjoy those indefinable aspects of quality-of-Life. Understandably, the houses you see from the water are pretty high-dollar with a dock (and usually a boat/yacht...). These folks know how to live; but many of the homes appear vacant. My guess is many owners are in Victoria/Vancouver/Chicago earning the big bucks to maintain this parttime lifestyle. Met a couple over on Cortes Island who "caretake" a 100acre estate on a (private) island. That may be the perfect solution - let someone else buy it, then you live there yearound to maintain it, and enjoy the lifestyle! The owner provides them a salary, nice cabin, utilities (with telephone and internet!), vehicle, boat to use, and a month-off for vacation each year. Pretty good deal all things considered. Sounded like the owners principle interest is in making sure their investment is secure.

Yesterday Wanderer and Naknek spent the day motoring s-l-o-w-l-y (about 6mph) up the Homfray Channel. I wanted to see a backcountry lodge that had caught my attention and George and Penny joined me on the trip. About noon I radioed them and suggested that it was picnic-time. We "rafted" the two boats together in the middle of the 1.5 mile side channel and had ham sandwiches, chips, and wine. According to chart the water depth was over 450 feet. We floated there for over an hour, and probably didn't drift more than 50 yards. Flat calm, not even a ripple. The lodge itself was anticlimactic but the trip was enjoyable.

We rejoined Halcyon at a predetermined cove (Roscoe Cove, if anyone's keeping track) had a happy hour drink then listened to Bush's immigration speech on XM radio. The weather forecast was calling for "small craft warnings" for today so we decided to motor 24 miles to Gorge Harbor in the evening calm. As it turned-out the weather today is even better than yesterday, but we've adjusted. We're in shorts, have the suntan lotion and sunscreens out, and purchased more ice. Several folks have mentioned the "halibut and chips" at the Gorge Harbor Marina is as good as you can find anywhere. We'll investigate tonight and provide a full report.

Sorry, no special incidents or events - just Life cruising along the BC coast. Looks like tomorrow (if we depart Gorge Harbor) may include up to three tidal "rapids" so maybe there'll be something to report then. Stay tuned.

Telephones seem to be more abundant than online hookups up here so I don't know when these email's will actually get sent. In the meantime, if you want to send me an email, send it to sandyc@pocketmail.com . Sandy let me bring her pocketmail gizmo along on the trip, and it works like a charm for written messages (no photos, etc.).

Best to All,
Casey
C-Dory Naknek
...enduring life on the Frontier. (...tough job, but somebody ... you know the rest)
 
Naknek's Summer Adventure 3

May 18th - Boughey Bay, BC

Hi Friends,

...gee's, beginning email #3 and I haven't even sent #2 yet. Oh well...there'll be a WiFi somewhere that I can access. (On that - I seem to have marginal luck with WiFi. George (Wanderer) has been online several times, but not me. I probably need a copy of WiFi For Dummies [they have (Gardening/Wine/Religion/etc) For Dummies," maybe there's one for WiFi]. I need to buy it. Failing that I need my computer guru Steve Oldaker or Bob Matthews onboard.)

Yesterday's travel through three "rapids" was a bit of a nonevent. Halcyon and Wanderer spent quite a lot of time consulting the tidetables, charts, moon phases, and tea-leaves to determine the best time to pass through. It worked very well; but I must confess, checking the tidetables really removes a lot of the excitement from going through rapids. Oh well, I'll be on-my-own pretty soon and can be as haphazard as I want (...just kidding Sandy).

Yesterday, before approaching Yaculta Rapids we were spaced-out a couple of miles motoring along slowly. All of a sudden there was a commotion on both sides of the bow and I noticed several (my guess was atleast six) dolphins playing in my bow wake. As far as I know they were Pacific Whiteside dolphins - quite pretty, and they appeared to be having a fun diving from one side of the hull to the other. They hung around for about twenty-five minutes and put on a continuous show. It appeared they were usually less then five feet from the hull, and would dive beneath the boat then resurface and surf for a moment on the small bow wave. Talk about powerful, fast, and nimble; very impressive.

When we reached our anchorage last night in Beaver Inlet, El (Halcyon) mentioned that she thought the back of the inlet (where we anchored) looked like good bear habitat. About twenty minutes later El's black bear came down to the shoreline to see if dinner had washed-up. Impressive. (Actually, I think she'd been making bear sounds on the way in, and knew it was lurking behind that tree just waiting to put on a show for us.)

This morning we encountered our first moderately choppy water of the trip. As we entered the Johnstone Strait near Port Neville the wind was causing a few bumps but the C-Dory's did well; we just slow down to about 8-9mph in the rough stuff and plowed-through. During such conditions the autopilot doesn't really give good control so you need so hand-steer.

With all that hand steering effort we found it necessary to have an early lunch/naptime here in Boughey Bay. We saw three more black bears as we motored in. In fact, there is a bear on the beach right now, slowly working it's way down the down the beach looking for lunch.

It's 2PM, and at this point we don't really know (or care...) if we'll remain anchored here for the night, or move over to the marina at Lagoon Cove, about 12-13 miles away. In any case, rumor has it Lagoon Cove has an internet connection so...maybe I'll be able to send this out.

All for Now,
Casey
C-Dory Naknek
...napping in Boughey Bay

UPDATE: 5/21/06
I Finally found an internet connection (even if it's a borrowed one..._). The folks at Pierre's Bay ( www.pierresbay.com ) were good enough to let me use their access for a few minutes. More details later!
Casey
 
Naknek's Summer Adventure 4

May 25, 2006

Hi Friends,

Seems like a lot has changed since the last email a few days ago.

First and foremost, the plan for the remainder of the summer has been revamped. I will not be returning south among the islands as planned; but will be proceeding North with the Halcyon and Wanderer to Alaska!

On Monday (5/22) I had an opportunity to "chat" with Sandy on the Internet while at Echo Bay, BC. During the conversation she mentioned that she was sort of missing me (…that's a good thing) and wondered when I might begin heading southbound. Hmmm… Honestly, I am missing her too and while I had not planned to make this trip any longer; I wasn't really ready to turn southbound either. We discussed the options and came up with the idea of having her fly to Ketchikan, AK on June 15th and meet me there. That seems like a perfect solution. Sandy gets about three more weeks of "warm summer" in Arizona, I get to continue boating (northbound); and best of all, I get to have her onboard from June 15th for more exploration in Alaska and the trip home! And, having her here will open up the schedule and permit us to take whatever time we want wandering and exploring. We do well together.

Although it will cost no more having Sandy on board, the only glitch I see in that scenario is the overall cost of the trip … Lordy, will Casey have to go back to work????? Oh well; Life is Expensive (probably my epitaph…). Yesterday we filled-up at a place called Duncanby Landing & Marina (N 51 23.45 W 127 42.40 in case you want to do a Google World flyby). The fuel price was $1.60CD per Liter (which equates to about $5.45 per gallon in US dollars). That makes the per mile cost of this little boat … well, no, we don't want to go there. With costs like that, spending $15-$20 a day for in a marina (…hopefully with electricity [electricity is a good thing]) is a good buy! Seriously, by October I may be saying: "Welcome to WalMart" for $5/hour. (…well, maybe not too seriously). Hmmm…I wonder if WalMart gives you that spiffy blue vest, or do you have to buy it?

Yesterday, one of the "big crossings" has been accomplished - getting around Cape Caution. On a trip like this you often run into "weather" (bad stuff like rain and wind). From time to time you also have to make largish crossings of open water. When you're in a small boat (most boats that fit on a trailer qualify…) crossing big water is exciting even when it goes well. If the big water leads directly to something like the Pacific ocean it can be particularly interesting. As ocean's come and go (sort of a tidal pun) they create currents. Throw in wind and it can get real interesting. …oh, did I mention logs? This is logging country, and I was surprised to see how many logs have escaped captivity and are floating around up here. Yesterday I observed more logs floating-free than I've seen in all my Alaskan boating combined; maybe a fluke, maybe not. Logs and boats don't mix (hopefully). This is not an area where I'd want to go night boating.

There are certainly other open-to-the-sea passages we will make on our route, but the next major passage is Dixon Entrance forty miles north of Prince Rupert, and that's still several days away. This sort of thing weighs on you a little, but I guess that's also part of the fun. You've got to listen to the weather forecasts, plan your route, have faith in your ability and equipment, and realize that the ocean (aka: Mother Nature) doesn't really give a damn if you succeed or not. She's not malevolent, she's just busy; and won't take care of You. Nowadays we live amid so many controls and safeguards to our Lives the challenge is somewhat missing. Our lives are comfortable and secure. Blah, blah, blah…. Now I'm not one who needs overt danger to feel recharged (some do - I'm not one of them), but it is invigorating to be challenged sometimes. …I mean, at this point I honestly do not know where we will find ice, or internet service again. In today's World maybe that's being in the wild! …and you thought I was being serious. Heh, heh, heh…. (oh, by the way I did bring plenty of Scotch and soda). Priorities.

It's about time to weigh anchor (that's a nautical term for getting underway) so I'll bring this to a temporary close. …maybe add more later, from down (up?) the waterway.

Update: Saturday, May 27th - Shearwater, BC

(350 mi North of Anacortes, WA; 175 mi South of Prince Rupert, BC)

It has been a few days since being in a community with amenities; Shearwater is a boating crossroad with virtually all the important items (restaurant, showers, laundry, ice). (Ice is good.) We've gorged ourselves at the restaurant, showered (:02/Loony […that's a Canadian dollar]), and bought ice. Now if I could just get the Shearwater internet service to connect.

No luck on getting the Shearwater connection, nor connecting to the WiFi signal from one of the yacht's at the dock. Interesting, several of the boat's we've seen have satellite telephones, internet, television - you can usually see what they have by the antenna array atop the vessel. Not everybody travels in a 22 foot C-Dory. Their loss.

Talked to Sandy on the phone, and it sounds like she's as happy to be coming North as I am to have her back on board. June 15th…bet I'll be in Ketchikan with bells on, as-they-say.

This was an easy boating day. We traveled about 65 miles, with a little sightseeing thrown-in, and still had plenty of time at Shearwater. Mid-morning we were in a place called Codville Lagoon that was really pretty (of course most of this country is breathtaking). Halcyon and Wanderer went off to explore around a nearby island and I just shut-off the engine and floated on the glassy calm bay for short of an hour. It was nice to fix a cup of tea and sit in the sunshine on the back deck of the boat reading my book, being surrounded by miles and miles of Quiet. When the other two boats returned we were underway again, but I can't think of a nicer way to spend a coffee(tea) break.

…oh well, back to "work."

Best to All,

Casey

Aboard Naknek, "working" his way North….
 
Naknek's Summer Adventure 5

May 30, 2006

Hi Friends,

…back in Shearwater, BC and thinking seriously about their halibut & chips for dinner. If it was any fresher it would be flopping around on the plate.

The three intrepid C-Dory's spent the last two days at Ocean Falls, BC about 25 boat miles from Shearwater. Interesting place, and possibly my favorite spot on the trip so far. Gee … where to begin.

The scenery is simply beyond words. Mix-in mountains, snow, a saltwater inlet and you get the idea; but that's normal for this area. Oh yea, there are some fish and crabs in the bay but you have to take your skiff upwards of 500 yards to the really good crabbing.

Ocean Falls (pop. 40) is celebrating it's Centennial this year. This happy little almost-a-ghost town is the site of a rather significant privately run hydroelectric plant that provides electric power for Bella Bella and Shearwater. Interestingly enough their electricity is .08/KW (we pay .11/KW in Lake Montezuma). Oddly enough the power plant seems to employ less than a dozen workers (automation). I had morning coffee yesterday with them (they're big on coffee breaks there) and enjoyed talking to the workmen; particularly the fellow with the stainless steel boat shackle earring and the arm's full of tattoo's. There are interesting, and very individual folks out here; but to a person, they were all friendly and welcomed me to their picnic table for coffee-break stories. Lots of hunting, fishing, crabbing stories. (Side note: Later in the day I also talked to a commercial prawner. He related that it's not uncommon for them to get "13 count" prawns … that's thirteen prawns to the kilo [2.2 pounds…]. You figure it out. The largest prawn they've gotten so far this year was reportedly 32 ounces.) "...hi, I'd like a half-of-prawn dinner please...."

Construction of Ocean Falls began in 1906 with a Crown Zellerback pulp/paper mill that employed a few thousand workers. The "mill" closed in 1980. Earlier, in 1910 they built a hotel with 369 rooms - which made it the "largest hotel on the west coast north of San Francisco." As you can see, at one point this was a thriving place. Remote ... but thriving (Ocean Falls is not on the road system). They've had a succession of booms, the most recent was the saw mill. …but it, too, is now closed. You can see some pictures on the web at: www.traveloceanfalls.com

With only forty residents (there are also forty streetlights - I counted them…) it’s a real quiet place. I met several expat-American retirees who think they've found the Promised Land. Everybody seems to have at least an aluminum skiff, and everybody fish's and crab's. The marina is small, well run, and cheap (22' C-Dory, $10.50/night + $4 for electricity. That's cheap.) Fuel is sold on Monday at the power plant (between 8-9AM), and costs $5/Imperial gallon, but with only two miles of road - your tank of gas will last a while. Oh, by the way, the "store" is open M-W-F from 3-5PM.

During two days at Ocean Falls we must have met a significant number of the residents. If you're walking the 1.5 miles to "Martin Valley" (the residential area) from the marina you will invariably be offered a ride … if anyone drives by. Now for some specifics.

We had read about Eva's Holy Grill situated in the back room of St. Mary's Catholic Church (church closed - I'm told the last catholic moved out several years ago). We figured "what the heck…we're up for an adventure meal, I mean how bad can it really be (eh?)" [that's Canadian] so we sent to "Eva's." Wow, talk about blown away. This woman has cooked in Vancouver & Victoria, and other cities. She attended chef training in France. Her "grill" is simple but damn classy for Ocean Falls. …notice the china on the tables, and the ring of the crystal wine glasses, the soft jazz in the background; and we haven't even gotten to the food yet! I ordered the $10 three egg omelet (you can have whatever you want in your omelet). Fantastic - probably as good or better than I have ever eaten anywhere. Bill Fiero had the eggs benedict as I recall. Everybody cleaned their plates (except for the cut wildflower garnish on each plate). Food presentation ... and we're in the boonies! While we were there Eva was decanting some Joe's Hooch, a locally made blackberry wine. Eva doesn't drink, and since she doesn't have a liquor license our wine was complimentary, for friends. I don't usually drink wine with breakfast, but by the time we'd finished (breakfast) it was almost 2PM - so, what-the-hell? It was very good, and I'm told that by the second or third glass it's real good! We stopped at one. Eva's was worth the trip to Ocean Falls even if there was nothing else of note. But there is. (I'm told Eva's 'filet mignon is to die-for.)

When we got back to the marina, "Nearly Normal Norman" who is older than I am, and was about finished with his bathroom repainting. He'd done a good job, and considering the pinpoint pupils he has, it may have been challenging. Norm Smokes; and happily told me Ocean Falls doesn't have any police. NNNorman has lived in Ocean Falls for over twenty happy years and seems to be pretty well known amongst the boating community. I'm told his eccentric behavior is mostly limited to taking a small bouquet of wildflowers to ladies traveling through on visiting boats. Would that we could all be a happy as Nearly Normal Norman.

Then there's Herb Carpenter. Herb and two partners are retired and rent the marine ways building from the Province (a "marine way" is a railway system for bringing large boats from the water and doing dry-dock work on them). They don't repair vessels, but having the large facility (over 20, 000 square feet on each floor…) provide Herb and his partners a place to do woodworking "…and stuff" in the winter when it's raining. Everybody has a hobby, and his is a doozy. This building is massive, and built in the early forties. The structural timbers are probably 16 x16 for the most part, and the entire second floor (remember 20K square feet per floor…) is constructed of 2x4's layed on edge, with no spacing between. This is a very stout place, for sure. Herb's only been in Ocean Falls for ten or fifteen years or so - before Ocean Falls he was a crab fisherman in Kodiak, AK working the Bering Sea king crab fishery. (The Discovery channel calls Bering Sea crabbing the most dangerous occupation in the world.) He likes being retired and making sawdust in his little shop. He's also the marina manager, and takes care of the water system.

You're probably bored with Ocean Falls stuff by now, but suffice to say I think it's a neat, quiet place (barely) populated with nice, interesting, and colorful people. The community is on the BC Ferry system (ferry arrives on Wednesday "…but they forgot us three times last winter then the crew got drunk partying in Bella Bella…"). I asked about medical assistance (retiree's are interested in that sort of stuff…). A doctor visits once a month, and several of the locals are skilled first-aiders. For anything serious, a medivac helicopter out of Bella Bella "…takes about fifteen to eighteen minutes" and delivers the patient directly to the "Anglican" (not government) hospital in Bella Bella. Of course, Canadian healthcare takes care of the bill and the helicopter.

They have no school. Eva's daughter (now eleven) was home schooled up to this year, and was the only kid in town for years. She's now living with relatives over on Vancouver Island and Eva invents new ways to visit her each month or so.

Happy Hours are a tradition amongst the boating community, and Ocean Falls is no exception. Both afternoon's we had Happy Hour in "The Shack" an informal rec room on the dock. A sign on the (dutch) door asks boaters to keep the bottom half of the door closed when not using the room. Seems the river otters and sea otters like the room as well but never pick up after themselves. During the first happy hour (Monday) I nearly tripped over a sea otter on the dock while headed to the bathroom. I don't know who was more surprised Otter or Casey? …but he was a good 3-4 feet away, so there was plenty of room for everybody!

As you can see, I was rather taken with Ocean Falls. There are several houses for sale, with prices ranging from $40K to $75K. Of course there is one for $200K but that includes the dock (but not the 45 foot boat at the dock - that's another $300K).

On the downside - you've got to tolerate, even enjoy rain. All these trees, and the resulting rain forest, didn't get here without lots of precipitation. In fact the motto for the Ocean Falls centennial is "One Hundred Years of Rain") One fellow mentioned that it only rains a couple times a year, but the rain may last for weeks/months.

But it sure makes the flowers grow!

Tomorrow, when Halcyon and Wanderer return to Shearwater we'll refuel and head for a place called Fjordland and then on to Klemtu and Hartley Bay. Who knows what we'll find.

Best to All,

Casey

Aboard C-Dory Naknek…looking for something interesting to write about.
 
That is pretty amazing. And thinking we may very well be in some of those places in the next month is even better.
Wish I could write like that.
 
Yep... Have gotten these from Casey;....... way better than any paperback on the shelves reading our fellow C-Dory travel logs.... Now I can't wait for some of George's pictures. This man takes some great shots for sure.
 
Just sort of a p.s.

And just around the corner from Bella Bella take a short hike up a hillside. An old canvas ex-sail hangs over a crude doorway in a rock. Inside there is an old iron tub, the top at rock-floor level, with HOT water streaming into the tub from a crack in the rock cavern. Want a hot-tub bath? Just stuff a sock in the drain and the tub is full quicker than you can drink a martini. Hate the place! :wink:

Dusty
 
Bah, humbug!!!! I sit here and work and you guys play. But really, I am excited to read about the adventure. Just what I would expect when you are touring one of the prettiest places on earth. I My turn is coming.
 
Naknek's Summer Adventure 6

June 3, 2006

Hi Friends,

The adventure continues … but still no online services. At the moment I have part 4, 5, and now 6 to send out when the opportunity presents itself. It is beginning to look like Prince Rupert may the next opportunity. Oh well….

We are currently at "Bishop Bay Hot Springs" which is 427 statute miles north of Anacortes, and 85 statute miles south of Prince Rupert. According to my log we have "wandered" 1076 statute miles since leaving Anacortes on May 4th . As you can see, we're doing a lot of sightseeing as we wander north. It has been fun, and we've generally had a lot of good weather, but for the past couple days it has turned rainy and cold. …and when it get's rainy/cold here it's bone-chilling. We arrived at Bishop Bay around 10AM and were headed to the hot spring by 10:30. An hour later (and warm again) it was time to think about some lunch. On a day like today grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and hot soup were perfect.

Wanderer and Naknek are traveling on our own for a while. Halcyon decided to take a slightly different route closer to the coast, so my guess is we may not see them again until up near Prince Rupert near the eleventh. With the generally scuzzy (that's a professional sea-faring term I think) we decided to just lay-over at Bishop Bay. There are no facilities, but they do have a small floating dock. Currently there are four boats here, our 2 C-Dory's and two larger boats (for that matter, virtually all cruiser's are larger than C-Dory's!). The hot spring is about a :03 walk away. Very convenient, in fact I suspect there will be a before-happy-hour soak followed by a before-bedtime soak.

Yesterday, on the trip north we stopped in "Klemtu," a First Nation (native) village with a decent gas dock and grocery store. It was a good opportunity to replenish fuel and food items. The store was surprisingly well stocked for a bush-community, and the prices were about what you'd expect as well. My impression was that virtually everything began at $5.xx or more. My bill came to a little over $42 and easily fit into two regular plastic grocery bags, and the 128liters of fuel came to $160.87 (!), but it beats rowing. Such is the cost of travel in the north country. The one good buy we found was halibut and chips at the café, for nine dollars! I guess having the café right next to the fish processing plant allows them to get fish at a good price; I know the processing plant certainly adds something to the ambience! But anyway - the fish and chips were quite good.

Last night we stayed at a broken down (literally, broken down and falling into the sea…) place called Butedale. At one time it was a fish packing site but is now biodegrading its way back to "nature." There is only one fellow (Lou) who lives at Butedale. In fact, I'm told that he is the only person living on all of Princess Royal Island. That in itself is not too surprising unless you realize that Princess Royal Island is 51 miles long and upwards of 28 miles wide. Now that's room to roam, eh? (…more Canadian speak) This is not a resort by any stretch of imagination, just a place to go ashore and take pictures of the ramshackle buildings in various states of decay. Interestingly enough, they present a kind of charm and were interesting to explore - just be careful where you step. Lots of loose boards and rotten wood. There were a couple of other cruising boats at Butedale when we arrived. All were friendly and didn't let the drizzle dampen their spirits. About 9:30PM I was sitting in the boat reading and heard someone shouting. I looked up and all eight (or so…) folks were leaning over the railing calling me to join their group up on the landing. Off I went. When I arrived they all got a real hoot out of my large golf umbrella. Everyone was standing around a campfire, in the rain. Everybody wanted to make friendly comments about their warm Southern neighbor and his golf umbrella. Within five minutes there were three other folks sharing my umbrella. These are fun loving folks, and they certainly don't let a little rain ruin their travel or fun…eh?

I just checked the daily schedule. It's 4PM and I just have enough time to get-in a nice soak before happy hour. Guess I'd better keep on schedule.

Best to All,

Casey

Aboard C-Dory Naknek

…looking for a sunny day to dry-out!
 
Naknek's Summer Adventure 7

June 13, 2006 / Ketchikan



Hi Friends,

Goodness … it has been ten days since "Part 6," maybe Casey's getting Lazy, eh?

On the 5th the rain stopped and we had a short/pleasant 30 mile ride to Hartley Bay, BC. Hartley Bay is a native village of around 200 people. As native villages go this is a pretty nice one - most of the houses look reasonably well built and maintained (a rarity in many villages…). There are no roads or vehicles in Hartley Bay, but they have more boardwalks then I've ever seen! Very well constructed boardwalks go everywhere. These 10' wide, elevated boardwalks are laid-out much like streets, and residents walk or sometimes use ATV's, and other scooter-type vehicles to get around. I even saw one fellow with a golf cart (…didn't see any golf course though).

Another rarity at Hartley Bay was the general lack of trash. Residents actually use trash receptacles at their houses and there are built-in containers along the boardwalk. Once or twice a day a fellow comes along on an ATV (with a trailer) to collect. That doesn't sound exceptional until you've seen other villages. Trust me; trash collection is a novelty.

As we walked through the village we learned that one fellow "…sort of has a store" - but it was closed. He had gone fishing. Further down the boardwalk we came to the school. There are about six teachers, both native and non-native. The "Anglo" teacher we talked to had been there for three years and enjoys the village lifestyle and the teaching challenges in a remote environment. The "K - 12" school is quite proud to be graduating seven high school students this year, the largest class yet. As we rounded the corner we looked in a classroom and were greeted by a bunch of smiling faces - several missing their front teeth. The Tooth Fairy has been busy at Hartley Bay! We learned there are only a few phones in the village, so everyone uses Channel 6 on the marine VHF radio for village wide communications. Several folks seem happy that Hartley Bay is getting a payphone this July. Maybe modern conveniences, slowly acquired, is a good thing, eh?

Farther down the boardwalk we came upon two women ("elders") who were busily preparing a sizeable halibut for smoking in the adjacent smokehouse. Both women were quite chatty and seemed to enjoy telling us what they were doing, and how they prepare the fish for smoking. George got some great pictures, I'm sure. They had a collection of very sharp knives but the preferred item was a native knife called an ulu. I have seen a variety of ulu's, but this was the first time I had actually seen anyone using one. The lady would slowly slice-off the meat into ¼" thick slabs that were 6-8" wide, then begin another cut. Trying to explain what she was doing it sounds easy, but the cuts she was making were so precise she had obviously been doing this for a very long time. When she finished a slab there weren't any holes in the thin meat, and their weren't any ragged or mangled edges. By comparison, ask me to clean a fish sometime and I'll demonstrate mangled. As she worked we chatted about a number of aspects surrounding village life. Both ladies lamented that they were unable to go to fish camp this year "…there were just too many things going on in Hartley Bay." At happy hour that night George, Penny, and I wondered what all was going-on to keep these friendly people in town. Summer "fish camp" is a traditional lifestyle activity enjoyed by Native people's throughout the North; to give it up, there must be some big doing's in town. Hmmm … I wonder if it has to do with the upcoming high school graduation? Guess I should have asked.

I don't think we met a resident at Hartley Bay who failed to give us a friendly "hello" (and maybe even a smile if we were lucky). Both moorage and electricity on the dock were free. My impression is the First Nation council at Hartley Bay did a good job establishing the village infrastructure and keeping it running. They have good water an electricity, and even have a fuel distribution system for piping fuel-oil throughout the village. Pretty impressive; but it was time for us to move on.

Prince Rupert was still about 110 boat miles away and we were getting charged-up for a restaurant dinner, showers, and ice, so the next day, away we went.

Prince Rupert is a comfortable town of about 12,000, with an increasingly busy port. This was my sixth visit to Prince Rupert and I must say - the city makes a genuine effort to attract tourism. They currently have two cruise ships per week, so haven't become completely inundated by cruise liner tourism. (For those of you who may have read some of my earlier opinions regarding mega-cruise liners, you may recall that I'm not exactly a proponent.) …oh, did I mention that we had three consecutive days of warm, sunny weather in Prince Rupert. I can see the headlines in the paper (if they had a paper…):

"Heat Wave Hits Prince Rupert - Provincial government sending sun lotion!"

The next major segment of the trip was crossing the exposed "Dixon Entrance," and we decided to get an early start. Up here, traveling early in the day often avoids some of the windy conditions that often come up around midday. We had a decent weather forecast and made the 60 miles to Foggy Bay, Alaska by mid-morning. Foggy Bay is just about the most perfect anchorage a person could want. It is what boaters often call a "bomb-proof" anchorage meaning you are safe from any bad weather outside the bay. Nice place, and a total of six boats Saturday night. Frank and Penny reported seeing a brown bear on the beach late that evening … but your reporter had already gone to bed. My loss.

On Sunday, the 40 miles into Ketchikan, AK (Alaska…yea!) ranged from nearly flat calm to uncomfortably bumpy but we made it and were cleared by U.S. Customs by mid-morning. At this point we have traveled approximately 1312 miles from Anacortes (but only 610 miles as the crow flies).

I will be in Ketchikan until Sandy arrives on Thursday (6/15). Due to their schedule George and Penny decided to press onward … but we may see them somewhere down the way. In any case I'm certain we can all say it was fun traveling together, and it will be fun following our own paths for a bit.

It's nice having friends like Wanderer and Halcyon to share these experiences with; in fact, we even saw Shawn Ogimachi aboard the C-Dory Tonie-O cruise into Prince Rupert. Shawn will meet his wife Tonie in Juneau in a week or so, then travel to Pelican, AK for ten days before heading to Craig, AK. Meanwhile, David aboard Anna Leigh, and Pat & Patty aboard Daydream are steaming North at flank speed. They have matching C-Dory 25's - so clearly we're preparing for some serious action when the heavy cruisers come North.

Lordy - It's a C-Dory invasion of Alaska!

Best to All,

Casey

Aboard C-Dory Naknek

…anxious to meet Sandy on Thursday!
 
Great story Casey.

In the beginning you wondered what or where you were going this summer. Why don't you join us on the Erie Canal this September. Just ask El and Bill about it. Great cruising, and great food.

Keep the story coming.

Fred
 
All - Thanks for the kind words!

Fred - I doubt that we'll make the Erie Canal trip in September, but we're giving it some thought for next summer. (After this trip it may be necessary to stay home and rebuild the Travel Kitty a bit!)

Best to All,
Casey
C-Dory Naknek
 
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