YAH, GERWERSTAMINER or SCHNAPPS?!

We were so tired, or least I was, from kayaking, running from snakes, rock climbing, and more kayaking when we got to the dock in Sointula on Malcomb Island.  But we both wanted to see the little town here, so tied Knotty Dog up and headed up the road to town.   The town looks so interesting from out on the water as you approach the marina.  It is said to have been originally settled by Northern European stock looking for a free society to live the way they wanted.  Some of the older buildings did have a Norwegian flare to their architecture and there certainly were a lot of blue eyed, light skinned Nordic looking people walking around and many you could over hear speaking Swedish I guess

LONG ROAD TO TOWN

So even though we were tired, we headed up the dock ramp and down the narrow shore road to the center of the village.  It’s got to have been at least a mile and a half walk and after all that we did today it was tiring.  We passed their typically simple little houses along the shore side of the road.  They all seemed to have a creative flair though and especially when it comes to the construction of their fences, which they all have by the way.  Everything is fenced to define their individual property lines.  There’s no openness between properties in this remote place.  Many of these clever fences are made out of found objects like driftwood, all shapes and sizes and combinations.  They also seem to like to decorate their gates and fences with wood carved fish plaques, mostly the salmon and other symbolic images of the ocean and their livelihood.  It’s a darn long walk to town so you have plenty of time to contemplate their property lines and fences as you can surmise by reading this. 

ISLAND FERRY

As we got closer to the village we could see one of the small island ferries heading this way across the Queen Charlotte Sound.  I love those little ferries, just small enough to look cute but just big enough to carry a couple cars and a few foot passengers.  There were a lot of cars and people in the village waiting to get on the ferry.  I have a feeling that life and activity in the village totally depends on the ferry schedule. 

CO-OPS

We passed a hardware store at the road near the docks.  It had a huge sign almost as big as the little building painted across the top that said in big bold upper case letters:  CO-HARDWARE STORE.  We also noticed another building in town, the biggest and busiest also had a sign out front that said CO-OP STORE.  That’s the local grocery store where the residents get their produce, meat and dry goods.  We read that this was originally a Finnish settlement and that though their original scheme of a ideal society didn’t succeed, there still are descendants of the original people living here and they still hang on to their own way of living and that is to share the cost of everything and to keep prices down and to do that they have developed the Co-Op systems of buying and selling products they need and fish that the catch and sell.  Seems like an affordable way for people living in remote areas like this to survive.  I think it also encourages the town’s people to get along with each other.  Seems like a good thing.

MMMM BAKERY AND ICE CREAM

We immediately headed across the street though to the sign that said “Bakery” and bought some fresh baked bread for Larry.  I needed a boost of energy and saw a little shack that had a big ice cream cone painted on the side of it.  We headed over to the ice cream shack and plopped our weary bones down in some big patio chairs and enjoyed consuming some delicious ice cream cones while we watched the ferry land and people coming and going on and off the ferry.

FINNISH ON THIS ISLAND AND FIRST NATIONS NEXT ISLAND OVER

There’s not much here really for the cruiser, just a pub, a bakery, snack shop, a little gift shop, a sprout shop, and the Co-OP but it was an interesting stop to see the Finnish people when just an island over is Alert Bay and first nations people.  We loved to see the blond blue eyed people and occasionally you’d hear them chattering away in their Finnish language.  They all seem to be friendly and polite and their faces light up when they say hello and they always make eye contact with you and you can get a glimpse of their pure blue eyes. 

We barely made out way back to the docks and got dinner on and hit then hit the sack.  We were really tired.  We’ll be heading out tomorrow for Port Hardy near the top east side of Vancouver Island.

 

SOINTULA TO PORT HARDY

We awoke early and there was not a lick of wind in the air.  Overhead, creepy fog clouds were slowly rolling in, crawling our way like a big ugly serpent.   It’s the perfect kind of day to make the crossing of Queen Charlotte Sound.  As usual we’re not in position.  We’re hoping it will still be good to cross in the next couple days so we don’t have to wait long at Port Hardy our next stop.  We’ve decided to head on to Port Hardy to do our last provisioning as that will be it for a long time until we make the crossing to Queen Charlotte Islands, well that is unless we decide to go up to Prince Rupert which is another 250 miles before another grocery store.

WHARFINGER

We walk over to the other docks at Sointula to pay the harbor master.  $45 for one night’s stay is pretty darn good compared to the outrageous dock fees we were paying on the East Coast of the US last summer.  Too bad we didn’t have some more sun for some nice pictures here as there are some great old Finnish buildings, interesting fishing boats, and old wooden wrecks  beached on the shore that are great subjects for some good pictures.   We took advantage of some of the views to get some shots. 

It’s so peaceful and quiet here and the people are extremely nice and polite.  They really do look Finnish and we can hear the fisherman speaking in their native language and then quickly switch to English to say “hello” to you and politely make small talk about the weather or whatever.  This was a really nice stop just to have the opportunity to meet these people and poke around the picturesque harbor.  It’s a long walk to town though.

MEMORIAL FOR THOSE LOST AT SEA

We noticed a memorial by the dock parking lot.  It has several plaques mounted on a large rock listing the names of local fishermen and boats that have been lost to the sea.   This is a seafaring community and their livelihood depends on the harvest of the seas.  It’s always a sobering sight to see something like that. 

PUTNEY POINT LIGHT

We head out the harbor, and there’s no current or wind.  It’s so flat it’s almost eerie.  We pass Putney Point Light.  The lighthouse building complex is neat and tidy, fresh white paint and bright red roofs and perfectly groomed lawns.  There are some amazingly big trees that have been beached along the shore nearby proof of the many strong storms they have up this way.  They have weathered to a sliver grey.  Their big knarled roots and stumps are still intact.  Imagine running into one of those things floating out here during some rough seas.

Right after we passed the light, the fog slowly came in and got thicker and thicker.  It’s just a cold whiteness out now, quiet and lonely.  Makes you wonder why you’re heading north into this dreary weather after experiencing the bright warm sun shine of the cruising areas south of us. 

We see an image on the radar.  It turns out to be a sailboat.  He seems confused going one way and then the next.  We thought maybe he was fishing at first but once he becomes visible we don’t see a line. 

HEADING IN PORT HARDY CHANNEL

As we are just south of the cluster of little islands and rocks that hug the south side channel entrance to Port Hardy.  The fog lifts a little and we can see the dark silhouettes of the islands and trees.  The water is flat like glass.  We get a little mesmerized by the white and grayness of the area.  It’s so still and flat.  We see several little grouse birds flying a few inches off the water.  They are very fast and lift off in perfect formation.

We also see what looks like a fish packer ahead and then a couple dolphins breaking the surface of the flat silver water. 

We head up the channel and watch the markers carefully remembering the last time we were here a large motor yacht took a wrong turn and found herself high and dry on the rocks, waiting a whole embarrassing day for the tide to come back in again so she could be towed in to the marina by the local tugboat. 

We called the marina on the radio and they said to come in to B Dock.  I think it’s the same place we were when we were here the first time headed for Alaska. 

Larry had a challenging docking as they made him work his way around a sailboat that was blocking the entrance and another fish boat across the way.  There was not much room to come in and he had to turn completely around and back her down with the current running.  In the midst of it all a small sports fishing boat tried to cut him off as we were backing down.  The dock master yelled a few spicy words at the guy to “back off” while we got into our slip. 

We’re in the slip and time to get settled and begin the wait for a weather window to cross Queen Charlotte.

PORT HARDY, THE LAST STOP

Port Hardy is kind of like the last out post before heading north.  It’s the last stop of protected water before making the right of passage to the waters of Northern British Columbia and farther depending on your time and spirit of adventure.  It’s the place where you provision for the last time.  It can be a place for some where you face many personal realities.  It could be the fear of taking on the great Pacific ocean without the protection of your past constant companion, the Inside Passage or it can be the fear of facing all that she can throw at you and it can just simply be facing a challenge filled with the anticipation and excitement of all that lies ahead.  It can be many different things depending on who you are and what surfaces in your mind as you wait for the right weather window. 

END OF THE ROAD

 It’s the last main place where the roads meet the water, the last grocery store, the last services, and it’s where you study the weather and take your chances and bet the odds before gathering the courage to head out facing the great Pacific Ocean on your own without lee of land. It’s the place where you will feel swells that have made a long journey to reach the Pacific shores.  They’ve come from faraway places, as far away and exotic as Japan and others.  So your timing to cross Queen Charlotte Sound must be right.  The savvy ones leave at the crack of dawn to optimize their odds of having a calmer crossing before the afternoon winds have time to get wise and chaise you picking up momentum to build their seas and ruin your day giving them great pleasure and laughter.  So you can see, it’s a stop of anticipation, sometimes anxiety, contemplation, and a place that may test your skills and experience.  It’s a place where you face yourself and the forces of nature in unison and hope that you have figured them right. 

FIRST TIME HERE

Our first time stop here, as inexperienced as we were, was a monumental moment in our lives.  It was the start of a journey of a life time for us.  We were lucky to have hooked up with two other boats to keep us company and one who was a veteran of these waters and in the beginning we follow like baby ducks following mama duck.  This time though we’ll be heading out on our own, just Larry and I.  Of course, we’ve come a long way the past few years but I always like to give the sea the rspect and mystery that it deserves.  So a little fear the night before is well deserved for the repect she commands.   We feel very comfortable this time though having a better understanding of weather patterns and more technology on the boat to receive weather up dates and buoy information and most important of all we have a very sea worthy boat.  And this time we have the added advantage of having done it before so it’s not like facing the unknown.  I’m not sure exactly how Larry feels about it but this is my view.  It’s a special place that makes you examine things in great microscopicly that you normally take for granted. 

We chat a bit around the dock but no one is heading out north.  Most of the boats at the dock are here for part time storage while owners have flown home.  Either we’re late in the season or the fuel prices are keeping many cruisers away.   The first time here, the docks were busy with cruisers, fueling up, filling water tanks, provisioning, battening down, and bonding on with other cruisers and exchanging weather opinions.  It was a place where people found other with common interests and goals.  Some of those bonds lasted for weeks and months. Some became constant traveling companions.  This time we were alone and on our own. 

WHIP LASH VOLVO

First off we borrowed the marina’s Volvo station wagon that gives you whip lash every time you put your foot to the etal.  It did the trick though and that was to jerk us to the store and back loaded with our last fresh produce, bread and milk.  Not much else was open in the town, just a couple stores.  The grocery had lots of stuff and for some reason most of it is sold in big bins even the pudding.   

I cleaned the boat inside and Larry checked the engine room, transferred fuel, checked the charts and plotted the course for tomorrow.  The weather looks OK.  The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the activity near the dock office where the sports fishermen brought in and cleaned their catch and listening to the neighborhood eagles.  Their quirky screeches are a welcome sound.  I love to hear them. 

SAGA OF THE MAGNIFICENT SALMON

We watched the fisherman clean and filet their catch for the day at the metal surgical looking cutting tables and watched sadly as the salmon eggs swirled down the drains with all the other bloody guts and fish heads and tails.  Later we would see all these decapitated salmon heads and fish parts floating on the other side of the breakwater in the flotsam, trash and filth.  It’s such an undignified end to a magnificent creature that traveled an amazing journey only to return to its birthplace unsuccessfully completing its mission in life and to end up decapitated and floating in garbage of some drainage ditch.  What a sad commentary on a magnificent being. 

FOG BANK

We watch from the pilot house as the weather changed from a windy afternoon with white caps in the harbor and channel to flat calm waters that allowed the hugest fog bank I’ve ever seen to head this way.  It seemed to cover the whole coast line as far as you could see.  We can see the snow peaked mountain tops barely sticking their heads above the fog and the sun glistening on the alumInum fishing boats. It’s a beautiful sight.   Every once in awhile a boat punctures its way through the bank and heads into the harbor. 

PUB

We had a dinner of logging proportions in the marina/hotel restaurant and suffered through the smoke in the No Smoking Section.  Our attention span was short on conversation as we were drawn to the three continous running TV screens surrounding us. One was plaing animated horse race betting, one had boxing matches and the other ran the local weather non-stop.  You could also bet on Keno if you had the urge as if all the other stuff going on wasn’t enough.  It’s a fun and somehow weirdly cozy place and always busy. This place is a tradition among cruisers not to be missed.

PREDICTIONS

The marina owner predicted it will be flat calm tomorrow for our crossing.  Larry told him we are thinking about going on the Westside of Vancouver Island on the way back.  He said the weather can get pretty bad over there and you’re likely to get stuck in some of those towns for weeks waiting for weather to get out.  He said those places aren’t any place he’d like to be for a couple weeks.  We laughed and thought it was a valid opinion.

This time in Port Hardy it is so different.  We are the only ones headed north.  It’s a lonely here with all these empty boats and owners gone.  There’s not the same excitement when everyone was rushing to fill their water tanks, lash down stuff on the outside of their boats expecting rough seas, talking on the docks, having drinks and food with complete strangers who bonded immediately having finally found other people like them with this crazy idea to head north with a sea full of challenges ahead.  There was excitement in the air. 

This time we are on our own. 

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On to the North Coast