CRUISING NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA’S INSIDE PASSAGE
When we awoke to Alyssa’s gentle voice over the intercom this morning, we got ready with our morning ritual and headed down to the lounge for a little breakfast and coffee. The seas were calm with barely a ripple on them. The skies above were clear and cloud free. It was another beautiful day!
As we passed Gil Island through Whale Channel we were greeted by more humpbacks! These were a very playful pod and were rolling and fin slapping along with diving and showing us their beautiful tails. At one point, one of the larger fins came up out of the water along with a very small one – it was a baby! The Captain was not able to stay for any longer than a few minutes because we had to make sure we got through a certain part of one of the channels south of us before the tide went out – so we had to keep moving. Even though we weren’t there long, it was still another fabulous “whale tale” for us to tell from this cruise.
After we cruised past the whales we entered Princess Royal Channel and traveled along the eastern side of Princess Royal Island. David, our Exploration Leader, had told us to be on the lookout for the elusive Kirmode bear – also known as the “spirit bear”. One in 20 black bears are born white; and there are between 35 and 40 Kirmode bears on Princess Royal Island. While we all sat in the lounge looking at the thick forest, salmon were jumping out of the calm, glassy waters – but no one spotted a Kirmode.
There is no logging permitted in this area and so the forests are thick and plush because of all the rainfall. There were people up on the sun deck enjoying the peacefulness of the beautiful scenery while they read their books, knitted or crocheted or stood at the railings taking pictures. Word passed quickly when someone said they saw either a bear or a moose swimming in the waters behind us – but neither of us saw anything. I did see a harbor seal basking in the sun all alone on a huge knotted and gnarled log just floating along the channel waters. It seemed very content and had no intention of deserting its comfortable ride. A bald eagle was spotted in a tree along the shore; and several more humpbacks were seen in the distance. This was extremely relaxing and enjoyable just enjoying this incredible scenery.
After lunch David announced that we would be coming into an abandoned cannery called Butedale where a caretaker lived alone amongst the dilapidated and weathered buildings. The Yorktown sounded her whistle several times to send a signal to the caretaker to come down to the dock to receive a small care package from us. Unfortunately, no one ever showed up. We all commented that we hoped he was just out for a walk and was safe. Soon after leaving Butedale the weather changed. The clouds thickened and became darker and soon it began raining. It was rather nice being warm and cozy inside The Yorktown in the lounge. Several of us indulged in a warm “adult” beverage of Kahlua, Baileys Irish Crème and coffee – topped with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles, of course! Yummy!
As the afternoon passed on, we passed several more abandoned canneries. There was one where only a rusted smoke stack remained. This was a very relaxing day. After dinner¸ there was a talk about salmon and the different varieties found in the waters of British Columbia and Alaska. We passed Ivory Pt. Lighthouse and were treated to a full moon rising at sunset.
EXPLORING VANCOUVER ISLAND AND THE SUNSHINE COAST
When we woke on Monday morning, we were almost at the northern tip of Vancouver Island. The Yorktown cruised into Johnstone Strait and continued south towards the Strait of Georgia. The skies above us were a bright blue with a thin cloud cover hiding the sun. It was cool and very “brisk” outside with a gentle wind blowing north as we cruised south. In the lounge after breakfast the passengers and crew began to gather in hopes of seeing some of the northern resident orcas.
There were more pleasure craft and private boats in this area as opposed to all of the fishing boats we saw up north. The salmon continued to jump high out of the calm waters all around us. Vancouver Island is 300 miles long and 80 miles wide. In 1792, George Vancouver and Peter Puget mapped this area by canoe looking for the Northwest Passage. We traveled into the Nodales Channel and to an area called Big Bay. The Big Bay area was populated with very large homes overlooking the waters of the channel. There were several large resorts in the area including the Sonora Resort where President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev supposedly met once during their summit meetings during The Cold War.
We were treated to a visit by a another small pod of orcas and some white sided dolphins along with several Dall’s porpoises who enjoyed swimming quickly in the waters as The Yorktown broke water and moved south. We were not permitted to stop in this area, so we had to take our pictures quickly if we saw something. I was leaning so far over the railing at the bow of the boat trying to get a picture of the porpoises that my ribs hurt – but I got the picture! It was well worth it!
The Yorktown continued south through Discovery Passage and Seymour Narrows. This is where the tide currents change swiftly and safe passage is only possible every six hours. The Captain navigated us safely through the narrow passage passed all of the small islands dotting the landscape in the Desolation Sound.
Though we did not see any more whales or much marine life from this point south, it was still another beautiful day. We will arrive at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island just after noon tomorrow. The sunset tonight was incredible. I cannot honestly ever remember seeing the sky so yellow before. It was as if it was on fire.
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