Ocean Falls

It’s an easy run from Shearwater to Ocean Falls, but we don’t often visit here (link). We tend to rush north to Alaska, vowing to slow down and spend more time in B.C. on the way south… and then we don’t. This year we did slow down, stayed below 53 degrees N latitude, and ignored Alaska completely. 

From Shearwater we traveled east through Gunboat Pass, turned left into Fisher Channel and continued on up Cousins Inlet to Ocean Falls. A big bonus was sighting 4 humpback whales on our way up the inlet. The small group, including at least one baby, zig-zagged across the channel as they surface cruised, feeding along a rip line. There were no big leaps or fin displays to impress us, but whales do make an impact with their presence alone.

Very impressive was the sight of a B.C. ferry appearing close, w-a-a-y too close, off our port side as it cruised toward the Ocean Falls ferry dock. Hello there!

Ocean Falls has quite a history, dating back to the early 1900s, as a pulp and paper center, but today it resembles a ghost town. The settlement still boasts a ferry landing, post office, hotel of sorts, café at a sport fishing lodge and gift shop, but few residents. Most of the small, local population live in nearby Martin Valley, where year-round residents number close to 30. A sign near the ferry landing claims Ocean Falls is the home of the Rain People, a believable label for a location that receives close to 173 inches of rain each year. 

Photo: Ocean Falls Post Office and City Hall in the foreground, deserted ruins of a dormitory or residence hall in the background.

Crabbing was good, as always, and kept many of the visiting boat crews busy catching and cooking. My big hurrah came when I found fast, free wi-fi access available at the dock. Wi-fi, abundant fresh water and 30-amp power while moored in a lovely location with good crabbing, now that’s a good thing! What’s not so good? no bear sightings yet. No black bear, no grizzly bear. Sigh! We moved on to explore Dean Channel, returning again the following week. Then the wind came up… and the local wi-fi went down… and the rain began. This is the raincoast, once again. 

Photo: Ocean Falls Mermaid waves goodbye

Photo: local seals laze about quietly during the day, but vocalize loudly throughout the night

Shearwater

We treated ourselves to a few days at the dock in Shearwater, and yes, it was a treat even though we did a little rocking and rolling moored on the outside of the T-dock along a busy channel. RL did the happy dance when Jean at the hardware store loaned him a ladder tall enough to access the anchor light that needed repair. Can't you just picture the ride he had... on top of the ladder... up on the top deck... when a thoughtless boater or two roared past?! 

I especially loved the small, well-stocked grocery store, the pub that offered great burgers and halibut tacos on a sunny deck overlooking the harbor, and Mika the hair stylist who rescued me from a bad summer haircut. I was not too impressed with the s-l-o-w, reminds-me-of-the-old-dialup-days internet access and 2-bar cellphone reception available intermittently at the dock. Oops, I sound like such a city girl, it must be time to get moving again.

Shearwater was crowded with scores of gill netters, fifty or more, running about, coming and going or stopping to raft up at the commercial dock. They hang out between openings, fish Monday dawn to Tuesday noon, then hang out again until the next week's 30-hour opening. This was the only area open to gillnetting at the time, so boats from all along the coast flocked to fish here. The coho fishing is HOT and more and more big kings/springs are caught each day, so sport fishermen are also flocking to this area. Oh yes, we have a lot of company lately, here at the dock and out on anchor.

Discovery Cove, Troup Passage

We moved back through Troup Narrows traveling a few miles south down Troup Passage to a niche in Discovery Cove. This anchorage was another quiet spot behind an island, protected on one side by a low, rocky reef. I was at the helm and slowly ran the big boat in to the cove while RL tended the line towing the skiff (keeping it clear of the propellers). There was an exciting minute or two when I could not spot a charted island that Nobeltec, the navigation program, lists as visible, dry land. Surprise! in real life it covers at a 5' tide, not a comforting thought when Rhapsody draws 5 feet. Just one more reason to stay alert, and keep comparing real-world views with the computer screen.

We couldn't wait to hop in the skiff and go exploring. Our dinghy excursion turned up two other boats in neighboring niches, nothing like the crowds on the other side of the narrows. We viewed wide expanses of shoreline grass with beaten down paths, maybe game trails, but no animals ever appeared. Several dry creek beds could carry snowmelt runoff in spring or even be seasonal creeks, but during this unusually dry summer not even the ubiquitous pink salmon have been drawn to spawn here. Not yet anyway. No rain = no runoff to attract returning salmon runs = no bears fishing/feeding at the shoreline. Drat.

RL worked on several boat maintenance projects, installed the new battery in the RIB and designed some rigging and an improved method for towing the Whaler. I baked bread, began a new knitting project and worked on some blog posts... hoping to find an internet connection... soon... somewhere.