Thursday, August 29, 2002 -- Khutze to Lady Douglas Island

On the way down towards Bella Bella, we stopped by a beautiful First Nations village called Klemtu. This is one of those spots on earth that just feels special. It is in a fairly narrow channel, and well protected from the elements. The salmon were literally jumping out of the water. It's hard to explain, but I am very glad I got to spend a little time there.

We had a nice sail today. Actually, in places, it was blowing like snot! Our speed over ground got up over 8 knots, and that was with a reef in the jib.

Dave found a west-facing beach on Lady Douglas island and sailed to anchor. We then took a lot of provisions ashore and had a nice bonfire and picnic dinner while watching the sun set. A very nice ending to the day and to the trip.

Mom, in a moment of sun

Friday, August 30 to Sunday, September 1, 2002 -- Lady Douglas to Bella Bella to Port Hardy to Seattle

It was a short hop to Bella Bella from Lady Douglas. Deb needed to pick up supplies for the folks who were returning to Orcas. Mom and I were flying out of Bella Bella in the afternoon, and Michael was flying out the following morning. We had decided to try to send word to the dog owners at Butedale, so I wrote them a postcard addressed to "Dog Owners, Butedale, Princess Royal Island, B.C." When we arrived in Bella Bella, they were sorting the mail, so not available, but we gave the postcard to Deb in hopes that she would be there when the PO was open. Even if that works, they are going to have to know where the folks at Butedale would pick up their mail, and then would need to send it there. I'm not holding my breath, but I did include my address, so maybe sometime they will drop me a line to let us know if the dog is okay.

Our flight from Bella Bella to Port Hardy was beautiful, although it made me nervous, and dad and the three doggies met us in Port Hardy. They were all happy to see us, none more so than Haida to see her mom. What a baby!

Edgar is a big boy!

It turns out that the place where dad had rented a cabin is the same place where I had camped with Haida and Shrimpy a few years ago: Cluxewe Resort. They have three little cabins there, and it is a gorgeous spot, right on the water. At one point, I walked Shrimpy and Edgar into the woods, and we disturbed a couple of bald eagles. Edgar was quite taken aback when they yelled at him!

On Saturday, we took the ferry from Port MacNeill to Alert Bay, a Kwakwaka'wakw settlement on a small island. I have wanted to visit there ever since reading I Heard The Owl Call My Name in seventh grade (and rereading it almost annually ever since). There are some beautiful poles in the cemetery, which you can see from the road (photos on my dad's camera, so not available here), including one for Mungo Martin. It turns out there is also a neat ecological park, with a boardwalk running through it. It is in an area that flooded so bad that all the trees died, so you walk out of thick forest into a relatively open, marshy area. It was raining, and we couldn't see any signs prohibiting it, so we let the dogs run off-leash (you try handling all three of those dogs on leashes, especially when Shrimpy and Edgar can (and do) walk under Haida). As we got to the boardwalk, I had to stop to admire a metal garbage can. It had these huge, regular slashes through it, and was completely battered. Either someone went to a lot of trouble to play a practical joke with a very big knife, or a very big bear got darned mad at the garbage can. Haida didn't indicate that there were bears around while we were walking, so I guess it was okay.

Alert Bay also has a very nice Big House and what is or was the world's tallest totem pole (reports differ). We were there on the last day they were doing dance demonstrations, but unfortunately didn't really have enough time to watch them.

Detail on the Alert Bay totem pole

I bought a pair of earrings from a shop in town, and had a nice talk with the woman there. She told me that she didn't know until she was a teenager that she wasn't "Kwakutl". The Kwagutl are one band of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribe (the word means "people who speak the same language" or "people who speak Kwakwala"), who share a language and artwork with the other bands, but who are nonetheless distinct. Na'walak is a Kwakwala word meaning (loosely) "spirit of nature."

We spent the night near Nanaimo (in Parksville), in the VIP Motel. I expected it to be pretty bad, based on the photo on their web site and the impression that it was a TraveLodge sort of place, but it turned out to be quite nice. The owners had won awards for "motel of the year" for the last few years. The next day, it was off to the Nanaimo ferry, across the border, and back home.

 

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last modified: September 6, 2002