I thought I would write this up as I go. It is now 2:10 and I have the whole saloon to myself.
Having dumped all my gear in a corner I then went exploring the ferry, making special note of the life jacket lockers, life boat stations and muster stations – that Titanic exhibition must have rubbed something off on me! I then had a stroll round the deck stopping at the stem (well as near as a passenger can get) to do my “Leo bit” – well I didn’t hold my arms out and look a prat! This is the darkest part of the ship as it is just below the bridge and the night sky was just stunning. The Milky Way was visible and I was spotting as many constellations as I can recognise. I stood there for half an hour just looking up and around. (I knew it was thirty minutes because I could see the bridge clock.)
After I tore myself away from this I ventured to the stern and watched the wake disappearing into the distance. A bit of useless information for anyone who might need it – the warmest place on the open deck is just aft of the funnel (either one of them) although it is a bit noisy and pongs of diesel fumes a bit (obviously) it is quite warm and sheltered. As I was sitting back having a smoke I encountered Grant. He was just sitting back having a smoke and a beer and we got chatting. He is a Canuck who lives in Bella Bella and is a fishing guide – one of those people who take “guests” out on sport fishing boats to catch big bastard fish. He was heading home from California where he had been on holiday (vacation) with his wife, daughter and her best friend (commiserations mate – hopelessly outnumbered). They had driven down there and back again – about 7000 Km in three weeks he told me. Well after chatting for about half an hour he said “Do you want a beer?” In my usual fashion I replied “I don’t mind.” “Hold on” he said and disappeared back into the Saloon only to emerge about five minutes later with four cans of beer. We consumed these as we chatted and he told me about how he came to settle in Bella Bella. It wasn’t such a strange story really because I had heard a similar tale from others who waxed lyrical about where they live in this vast country – they just fell in love with a particular part of it and stayed there. I can understand that having seen just a small portion of it. He had had a great holiday in Las Vegas and Los Angeles but was really looking forward to getting home. As we were just sitting about one of the crew came out and started shining a torch under the seats on the aft deck. When asked what he was looking for he said “I thought I saw a little bird land.” Grant & I looked at each other & shrugged as we hadn’t seen anything. Sure enough there was a little bird huddled off to one side of the boat and the crewman went over to rescue it. He held it gently in his palms and held them over the side, the bird took flight and we all rejoiced. The crewman explained that if they land on the aft deck they can’t take off again as the air is so still. After he said this I became very aware of just how still the air was. This is because the aft deck is almost totally covered overhead and, obviously, being at the back of the boat has very little wind or air movement to it! I was talking to Grant about the weather and whether it was unseasonably bad. He said having worked on the fishing charters for the last fourteen years he said the last two to three years have shown odd changes. “Hell yeah man, we’ve pulled some fuckin’ weird fish off the bottom over the last two seasons. Things that shouldn’t be there and things I don’t even recognise!” He told me of the time they caught a “wolfie” (it has a longer name which he told me – but I didn’t write it down at the time, so it’s gone.). He didn’t know what it was but one of the crew identified it as he was a deep sea diver and told him to “be careful, they bite”. Grant said he got one look at the teeth on it (he was sitting on it at the time) and that was enough, he freely admitted to running away and hiding on the bridge deck – “no fish I know can climb stairs yet” he said. The Japanese guest who caught it wanted to keep it, the general consensus was “you want it mate, you deal with it”. I realise I was listening to fishing stories over a few beers but, as I don’t bullshit anyone when I talk about my adventures so far, and planned for the future, I trust the things people tell me are at least founded on truth. The fact that fish native to Florida (the warm place in the USA) have been caught out of Nanaimo and examples of the same species were washed up on the beach in Port Hardy (Candy showed me the local paper reporting it – it was that recent, in October!) it does make one wonder what is going on. Are warm water fish adapting to live in cold water, or is the cold water getting warmer – enough to support the warm water fish?
We had finished the beers for which I thanked him and wished him a happy home coming. “Hey, have a great journey man, and if you do ever stop over in Bella Bella look me up.” He told me the name of the fishing charter place, but I’ve forgotten it already – but I could find it again if I was every likely to stop in Bella Bella.
He headed off back to his, he hoped, sleeping family. I headed back forward to have another look at the stars – but the clouds had stolen most of them. The clusters they had left behind made one realise just how many there are and certainly gave the impression that the vastness of the sky lay just behind the opaque shroud. It also made the whole sky seem bigger as it was only glimpsed through rents & tears. I found it quite humbling.
Having got back to “my corner” in the TV Room (I chose it deliberately as the TV was off and the lights were very dim) I was in no mood to sleep as I was too excited (little boy) and the ferry was pitching about a bit too, so I decided to bring this up to date. This was quite easy to do as the saloon has tables, chairs and plug sockets everywhere. That is one thing I have noticed in Canada there are plug sockets everywhere – even on the outside of buildings – and having some of the cheapest electricity in the world it seems they are happy to share it with anyone who has use of it. An interesting event I witnessed earlier on my walkabout was a lady inflating a double air mattress with an electric pump (plugged into one of the many plug sockets) and making it up. I jokingly said “That’s cheating isn’t it?” “Not if you want your kids to sleep peacefully it isn’t” was her reply. I thought pets had to be left in the vehicle deck and couldn’t see any goats anywhere so I decided she must be referring to her children. I did tell her I was most impressed though.
Well as it is now 3:10 and I am feeling rather tired I am going to get some sleep now. More fun and adventures later on today I think. I might even let Spank up on deck if it isn’t raining.
I did get some sleep even if it was on a vibrating deck. I was awoken by the announcement that we were docking in Bella Bella in 30 minutes, but missed that completely, and when I woke up for real it was 9:45.
I went for a stroll round the promenade deck in the rain and we got a whale alert over the PA for the starboard side. I did see a hump disappearing below the surface and see the blow spray as it dived but that was the last we saw of it. Strange really because if they had given a whale sighting for the inside of the ship they would have had to announce them to port and starboard!
In some of the photographs I have included don’t be fooled by the lush look and pretty waterfalls on the little (and not so little) islands. These are basically tree covered rocks and the waterfalls are everywhere. To inhabit one of these would take a monumental effort of construction – just to get a flat enough surface to put anything on – from a tent upwards. There were hundreds of them as we passed through Queen Charlotte Sound and a few other waterways whose names I have no idea.
I returned to “my corner” and they were showing “a feature film”. It was called “Licence To Wed” and starred Robin Williams. Now I happen to like Robin Williams as an actor and comedian and when one thinks of how he made “Good Will Hunting” shine, the unforgettable “Mrs Doubtfire” and “The Dead Poets Society” I thought this might be worth watching. I then had to raise the questions of “do these people read the scripts they are sent?” and “are you that hard up for work?” concluding with “why?” Good though he might be all Robin Williams did in this is to prove the old saying “you cannot polish a turd!” It was shite and I had predicted the “plot” (such that it was) well before I fell asleep. I managed to wake up for “the grand finale”; the only thing I didn’t know was where it might be. It was in Jamaica. There you are I have just saved you the cost of admission or rental – don’t bother.
After that I felt sufficiently jaded and hungry enough to attempt the cafeteria. This was the usual crap of burgers, chickens entrails shaped like amphibious landing craft, some reshaped MRM with a highly flavoured sauce over the top and, of course, fries. Having dutifully waited for this to be microwaved back from the dead and then dropped in oil for that authentic just cooked deception – I ate it. Yes it was as awful as it sounds but it was that or nothing. Whilst I was eating though I did notice that some Germans had conquered and occupied one of the front tables in the cafeteria. They weren’t eating or drinking anything but had the equivalent of the towels on the sun loungers and were obviously there for the duration – well until the cafeteria closed and they would be ordered out – “orders which must be obeyed immediately” (thank you Basil Fawlty).
We docked at 17:00 and I was trundling up the exit ramp by 17:10. It was most fascinating to watch such a large ship dock so gently. I know the crew are obviously used to it – and very good at it – as that is what they are trained for, but to my untrained eye I thought we were going to collide with the front of the harbour as the momentum of such a large vessel must be an art to gauge.
Anyway, I just got a cab downtown in order to find somewhere (anywhere) to stay.
I elected to stay at the Inn on the Harbour for a couple of nights simply because I wanted:
I. a good night’s sleep
II. to be able to arrange my ferry passage to Alaska in good time
I chose the restaurant next door to eat, because it was there, and because it was next door. The food was very good though.
Being full and knackered I waddled back to my room and fell blissfully asleep.
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