An amazing voyage down Alberni Inlet

This was a day we will remember for a very long time.



 The Frances Barkley at dock.

The Frances Barkley being loaded in Port Alberni

 Some of our group of 30 who went on the day cruise to Bamfield BC. from our park.

 Logs bound for either the US or China for milling

Docking at Kildonan post office to off load supplies and mail.

 

The morning fog cleared and allowed us beautiful views as we silently motored along the inlet.

This is a mother and baby Orca whale, also known as a Killer Whale. Our captain would slow the boat down each time we saw a pod and stop so we could watch them. We saw three groups during the day, it was beautiful to watch how graceful they were.

It was an amazing day.............






Arriving at Bamfield village on      the Pacific coast.     

 

Serenity

 

The pretty little homes of the fishermen along the waterfront in Bamfield.

A close encounter with Sea Lions













 Once again the good folks at Living Forest Campground have arranged a wonderful trip for us Snowbirds. There is a pocket freighter, the Frances Barkley, that sails out of Port Alberni to Bamfield and the Broken Islands on the Pacific Ocean. With the Frances Barkley, they deliver mail and supplies to the outpost villages with little or no means of driving out for supplies. There are some "roads" out to them, but most are logging roads and very basic at best. They will also drop you off on the islands with your kayak and pick you up at an arranged date.The trip to Bamfield runs Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays and the trip to the Broken Islands and Sechart Lodge runs Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.
        The Frances Barkley is a steel pocket freighter which was built in Finland in 1958 and was in service there as a car ferry until she was purchased for the BC west coast work. She is 128 ft long, a beam of 24 ft and a draft of 9 1/2 ft. She is powered by a 400 HP 8 cylinder Bergen diesel which gives her a speed of 11knots. Her gross tonnage is 300 tons and she can carry 200 passengers and 100 tons of cargo. We had about 120 passengers that day so she was not crowded at all.
        The boat leaves from Port Alberni at 8am sharp so we left the park at 5.30 in order to drop Cassie off with some nice folks we have met at church. We arrived in lots of time to purchase our tickets and watch as they loaded the mail and supplies into the Frances Barkley for Bamfield and Kildonan, then boarded and found good seats. Not that we sat inside much, as we spent most of the day on the various decks watching the wildlife. We sailed away from Port Alberni at 8am sharp in clearing fog down the Alberni Inlet which is 35 nautical miles or 40 land miles out to Bamfield on the Pacific coast. Along the shore on both sides, the forest covered hills rose upward, some with  snow at higher elevations. The inlet is as much as 1175 ft deep.
     We noticed number cards posted along the shore and learnt that they designate parking areas for the log booms of which there were many. Unfortunately most of the logs are shipped as is to China, or the US to be milled, so almost all of the mills are closed along this coast. That is the same story for the Salmon industry, the fish is frozen and shipped elsewhere for processing and the canneries all along the coast are closed.
          The morning fog soon cleared and we enjoyed the changing scenery as we slowly sailed west along the sound. Our captain explained the history of the area and slowed down for whales and Sea Lions. There were of course many Bald Eagles.
          We docked briefly at Kildonan to drop mail and groceries at the post office which was interesting to watch. The post mistress has been there for 32 years, so she thinks she might like it and stay on. From there we sailed out to Bamfield, which is a tiny fishing village with docks all along a narrow inlet. The west side of the village faces onto the Pacific Ocean. There is a small general store, a tiny post office, a little grill where you can get your 'burger and fries fix and a few small lodges and cabins. The captain advised us that we could get off for an hour stroll along the more than 1 km long boardwalk, but please be back on board by 1pm, if not the next trip will be Saturday.

                                                  The Bamfield boardwalk

                                   Just can't get enough of the wildlife...

          As I said before, this was a most amazing and memorable little cruise in every way; the scenery, the wildlife, the history of the area that the captain shared with us and the people we chatted with during the day. The captain, a Scottish, chap made the day with his interesting and sometimes humorous comments.

Could it be Spring in Nanaimo?

With Daffodils and Crocuses and of course Snowdrops everywhere, it certainly has that Spring feeling. We have many species of birds that winter here in the park, but lately I have heard different songs floating down from the trees, so others may be joining us now. The weather channel keeps threatening us with snow but tucked away here in Nanaimo we miss out on the white stuff too bad. Up on Mount Washington where we went snow shoeing, they had 50cm on Thursday giving them at total on the ground now of 350cm; the skiers are well pleased.

Mount Washington

We met a couple at church from Australia, who are here in Nanaimo house sitting for six months. This is their fifth year here house sitting. He travels up to Mount Washington cross country skiing three days a week. At coffee after church last week he asked if we would like to join him for a day up there.......

Well we drove up monday morning, about 1 1/2 hours to Raven Lodge, which is for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. Higher up is the Alpine Lodge for the down hill skiing. We rented the snowshoes, fastened them to our hiking boots and headed out. The snow was well packed on the trails and the studs on the bottom of the shoes dig firmly into any ice patches. The trail was quite steep and was three km around. I think we climbed about 150 ft or about 15 flights of stairs up. Quite invigorating, but the views on that sunny day were spectacular. Never possible to capture in a picture.

We climbed up to the highest piont on the trail, stopping often to breath, partly due to the altitude. On the trail down, which was of course just as steep, I was following Bev and noticed one of the straps on her snowshoe was loose. I said, stop there and I will fix it. So I bent over, facing down the hill, and as I bent over, continued right over, so that I slid down the hill on my back. We both laughed so hard, I could hardly get back up. All was well and we carried on down the hill without further mishaps.

This is a scene from the back seat of our friend's car. The straight cut snow is from the snow blowers that clear the snow from the road. there is far to much snow to use a plow. The mountains, not too clear in the mist, are on the main land. The lodge we went to is 1050 ft altitude.

Bev and Rod, our friend, at Raven Lodge

Top of the hill!!

View down to the lodge

The goal at the top

Up hill climb

Lil' G

carefully down

Keeping busy in nanaimo

I think I mentioned previously that we have been going with another couple from the park to enjoy an evening with the Nanaimo Song Writers Circle. There are usually 10 or 12 of them, and they take turns singing and playing their music. The instruments are as varied as the performers, from 6 to 12 string guitars, banjo, mandolin, piano to haunting flutes. They play mainly for their own enjoyment but we, the only audience, enjoy the music and the banter between them.

                           For a change of pace, 8 or 10 of us from the park volunteer at The Farm at Cedar Point. It is a small 26 acre farm where mentally challenged people, mostly young adults go for a days outing. Our "chores" last week were from picking stones from a newly cleared field to pulling nails from recycled boards. The work was taxing in a physical way, but the fun we had was worth it. Besides they fed us a wonderful chicken al king lunch. The animals there are for the pleasure of the visiting young people; goats, Lamas, donkeys and the usual chickens,ducks etc.

                                                            Goats

Lamas

                                          Stone picking in the fog
                                      

                                              Cutting nail free boards

                             I think we will need a holiday when we get home

Crabs "n things

            Several of the guys in the park have taken up crabbing. We have been down to the fishing/crabbing pier in the harbour, several times to watch. They catch lots of Dungeness crabs in the small traps, but the crab must be at least 61/2 inches across, so most go back into the water. A special measuring tool is used. The 18 inch trap is made from a 1/8 inch steel rim with the net attached. The trap folds in half for throwing and has lines attached. In the center of the trap is a mesh basket into which you put the bait, usually chicken necks or backs. So once the trap is loaded you lift it up with the line and the trap closes. Swing the trap and throw it as far out into the water as one can. The trap opens on the sandy bottom and the crabs come for the feast. Sometimes leaving it for just five minutes is enough before pulling it in and up onto the dock. About my fifth throw I pulled in a 7 jnch beauty.

First the swing....

                                     
                                                    Then haul it in

              To clean them everyone has a different method it seems. My friend simply cuts it in half through the back shell. Next he pulled off the back shell then held the legs and gave it a good shake and all the, shall we say none usable parts, fly out. You scrape it to be sure it is clean and pop it into a pot of boiling water for 8 minutes. I was surprised at the amount of meat we had from one crab. Bev and I had it for happy hour with crackers and cheese, it was delicious. Oh yes and some wine.

     Now my friend thought he had a net full of crabs when he hauled his net in, but he had a surprise instead. He pulled in a large starfish. We saw lots of these when we were in the Bahamas, but I did not know they were this far north. I went on line and found that they roam all the oceans and these are called Sun starfish. This one was much larger than what I found on the web. They can have up to 40 arms and if they lose one they simply grow another one.  

Anyway I think I will invest the $11 for a license and $13 for the trap. Not a bad deal since the stores sell the Dungeness crabs for $12 each. Actually I guess the one I caught was illegal and it is worth the $24 not to take the chance of being caught.

Crabbing in Nanaimo

Yes I have a license and trap now, so we are really into crabbing. These Dungeness crabs sell for $12 each in the supermarket, so the $11 for the license and $13 for the trap are good value. So far I have caught six keepers, so I am ahead of the game. Two hours will usually net me two keepers and it is only two miles from the park in the Nanaimo Harbour.

We cooked and shelled five this time, it took us about 1hour and  Bev made small crab cakes which we took for appetizers when we went to friends for dinner. Delicious!!

                                  The job can get a little messy though.......