Prince Rupert and More Grizzlies!

Location:         Prince Rupert Prince Rupert Yacht Club, B.C.
Date:               Monday, July 16,2007
Last Post (LP): July 12, 2007
Time:               2200
Location:          N 54 14 74 W 130 20 86
Dist. Since LP:   0 nm
Total Distance:  1,163.01 nm
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Friday morning found us tied securely to the Prince Rupert Yacht Club dock. It was foggy and thunder claps caught our attention as Jim was scheduled to fly out to Vancouver and on to Montreal to visit his family. We caught a cab to the hotel where a bus would pick up all the Air Canada passengers to take them by ferry to the airport on Digby island across the water. The fog began to lift and there was a promise of a sunny day. I walked back to the boat and stopped en route to check out some excursions available. There was one spot left on a float plane excursion to the Khutzeymateen Inlet for an intimate viewing of grizzly bears aboard a eleven passenger boat operating from a floating barge in the inlet. Sunshine plus floatplane multiplied by grizzlies equals Deb signing up in a heartbeat! I left in high spirits at 1600 aboard a Beaver floatplane and had an amazing three hour adventure.It was a twenty minute flight over snow capped mountains dressed in granite and conifers and following deep fjords into the B.C. wilderness. The views were spectacular. The Khutzeymateen Valley north of Prince Rupert is a protected sanctuary of 45,000 hectares for a resident population of about 60 grizzlies.

Our plane landed and tied up to a floating barge,boasting an eclectic summer home including two orange tents. The roof was made of plexiglass and three sides were open to the elements. This was the epitome of the "open concept". A large patio umbrella provided the only shade. There was a small wood burning stove and the kitchen floor had a plexiglass insert for viewing the waters below. A fire pit outside looked very cosy and welcoming. For an extra $100 I could have brought my sleeping bag and spent the night. Our guide had spent the last 27 years studying and photographing the bears. He lives on the float home 6 months of the year with his wife and five year old son. We boarded the boat and set off for the sanctuary. We came across two four year old cubs foraging on the sedge grass by the waters edge. We came within twenty feet but they seemed completely oblivious to our presence. Grizzly sows leave their cubs in their third year to make their own way in the wilderness. We continued on further into the inlet and encountered a large six year old boar foraging in sedge grass along the bank of the inlet. He was a magnificent specimen, his head was enormous and we were close enough to admire his amazing claws. At one point he left the sedge grass to come down to the water's edge for a drink of water. Apparently the numerous waterfalls and rivers leading into the inlet provide so much fresh water into the seawater inlet that the surface often ices over during the winter months. I was so glad I had remembered to bring our powerful binoculars from the boat. Eagles were soaring in the sunshine and keeping watch atop the majestic conifers lining the inlet. The scenery was stunning in the afternoon sunshine. We returned to the float and had an equally amazing flight back.

I returned to the Yacht Club and had a visit with Lloyd and Cheryl aboard the Lady Nel out of Nanaimo. We had shared our adventure at the Anan River with them earlier in our trip. We exchanged stories of our latest boating adventures. I called Jim just as he had arrived in Montreal and related my adventure with the grizzlies. I made myself a tasty salmon burger and settled into my boat keeping responsibilities aboard the BurntSand. Saturday morning I treated myself to a pedicure and had the most enriching conversation with the esthetician named Valerie Tait. She is Tsimshian and her father is a very famous carver named Norman Tait. She held me in rapt attention as she related stories about her Dad meeting Trudeau in his early years as Prime Minister and his meeting with Queen Elizabeth. A totem he carved is the only totem raised on royal property. She and her brother helped him carve the totems in the Capilano Mall in North Vancouver. She is from the Raven Clan and her father is from the Eagle clan. She now devotes her art to fabric design but her father is encouraging her to study jewelry design. Her children are 23, 19 and 11 and she now has more time to further develop her creative skills. That evening Jim and Diane Neff aboard Adirondack across the dock from us invited me to enjoy some conversation and a glass of wine with them. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset up on their flybridge. The camaraderie on the docks is very heart warming and welcoming. I'm missing Jim and consoled myself watching a DVD Seven Years in Tibet...the first of our trip.

There are three Canadian mine sweepers rafted together. The word on the docks is that they are training vessels. They are docked at a special dock with 24 hour security. Another interesting vessel tied up near the BurntSand is a 95 foot sailboat from Rhode Island. It is actually a research vessel operated by the Venner Institute. Its crew is taking water samples at various spots en route. They began the trip in Washington, D.C. Sunday morning at 0530 I was blasted awake by a long series of horn blasts...I'm suspecting the Canadian fleet?! I had a lazy morning doing odd jobs around the boat and picking up some groceries. The internet cafe was jammed with personnel from the Canadian forces' ships so no emails from me today. I've discovered the cheap minutes of the 7/11 calling card. My cell phone doesn't work in Prince Rupert...the city owns its own phone network.