The morning of August 8 we headed for Shearwater working our way around half-dozen gill-netters patrolling their nets. The Canadian government only allows these guys to fish on Mondays and Tuesdays during their short season. And sometimes they have to wait til the following Sunday for the fish buyers to come, as we found out in Namu further on in our trip.
We arrived at Shearwater Marine Resort to find the docks full of very large motor yachts. After our visit to the fuel dock, we worked out a spot with Caroline, the Harbor Master. She put us at the commercial dock without power.
We were looking at the probability of having to stay another day just to recharge our batteries. While walking the dock to stretch our legs we came across the M/V Mist Approach and Emerald Sea that we had met at Duncanby Landing. And Brian and Patti on Mist Approach offered to let us raft to them. A very considerate gesture. We appreciated the visit and the chance to charge our batteries at the same time.
We tried to post the blog, but our very slow $7.50 an hour card ran out before we were able to finish. The wireless doesn’t necessarily work as advertised in these remote northern harbors. We were told Ocean Harbor had free internet so we opted to do it there rather than buy another card. We bought necessary groceries, propane. mailed a few post cards and called home from the pay phone. I did learn from a fellow boater that Verizon gives cell service as far as Shearwater at least and that’s pretty far north. We also did some research on Satellite phones and email from folks docked there. Next year things should be different in the communication arena for us.
Again we met the families from Port McNeill, doing laundry, shopping, and the kids running around the docks.
The next day most all the boats had left leaving the harbormaster wandering around wondering what she was going to do with all the dock space. She told us that the southeast winds the previous day blew all the big boats into Shearwater.
After leaving Shearwater, we worked our way through tricky Gunboat Passage.
Then on to Ocean Falls.
On the way we passed Teal Island which coincidentally is across from Georgie Point.
We really liked Ocean Falls, an old Crown Zellerbach company town which is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1906 and thrived as a bustling community of 5,000 people, until when in 1972, the paper company pulled up stakes and left them pretty much to fend for themselves. The government stepped in and prolonged the agony until 1980, when they too pulled out. The little ghost town is inhabited by 35 year-round residents now living in nearby Martin Valley, the population is gauged by how many show up for the annual Christmas party.
Most of the original buildings are gone. But at one time it boasted the largest hotel north of San Francisco.
Their community spirit supported many organizations, cultural events (ie, plays, art etc), and sent swim champions to the Olympics. As we walked around the deserted, crumbling buildings, the energy that was once a thriving town could be felt.
The tag line for Ocean Falls is “Best Coastal Town by a Dam Sight”
The highlight of the area is the natural waterfall below the dam, which was the big draw for the paper company to build their paper mill there back at the turn of the century.
There is so much hard earned equipment left behind.
The harbor master, Sally Isaksen is very friendly and upbeat, as are most of the residents we met. Sally is the local artist and we saw her artistic touch in many areas of town. She reminded us of our friend Barbara Frese in Los Gatos, who paints on white walls and any blank surfaces she encounters. Sally has painted some very colorful water scenes on the electrical box covers at the docks. She told us that people have actually stolen those covers.We ate lunch at the old Catholic Church, which houses the restaurant Eva’s Holy Grill. Her dinners are excellent we are told. The hamburger we had for lunch was a 7 layer deal, messy but great!
When we were leaving we ran into “Nearly Normal Norman”, the town celebrity (featured in the travel guide most folks use up here) who lives in a abandon building (which he calls a museum – it’s really old junk left behind) and walks around with a wine glass in hand hoping for a refill. He tells people what they want to know about Ocean Falls, much to the consternation of some of the original residents Who told us no to pay any attention to him, “he is full of it”, he has only been there 21 years. (Which dates to after it’s demise.)
"The Port McNeill Bunch" made the scene and unloaded their ATV and motorcycle on the road with the lifting spar on Western Cloud. We ran into them several times during our walks around Ocean Falls and at the dam and lake where the kids motored up on the ATV and took a swim. They were really enjoying their time at every place they went. Perfect stops for active kids to play with all their toys.
Our last night at the docks, about 8:00 PM, after the wind calmed, we took Teal out to the old warehouse site which is renown for good crabbing.We set our crab trap.
The next morning on our way out, we hauled in 14 large crabs. We kept the six largest - all over seven inches, with the biggest one at 9 inches.
The 20 miles to Codville Lagoon was Teal-lightful, and we fished unsuccessfully the last couple of miles, then set our Prawn trap before we went into the lagoon
As we approached the anchorage there was a fawn swimming across the lagoon right in front of us.
As we rounded the island, we saw just two boats already in the anchorage. The night was quiet and the next morning we motored out to our prawn trap, which seemed to have drifted a way out into the inlet. A miss calculation on the depth. The buoy supported the trap, and when we hauled it, we had just one large prawn. He went back over the side and back to his home in the deep.
Next time, Namu to Port Hardy.George & JoAnne
© 2006 George Benson. Reproduction of any of the material on this log without written permission from George Benson is prohibited.
