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.