Mist behind Northern Expedition, Inside Passage, Canada
Waterfall near Butedale from Northern Expedition, Inside Passage
Butedale from Northern Expedition, Inside Passage
Birthday drinks on Northern Expedition, Inside Passage
Boat Bluff from Northern Expedition, Inside Passage
Liferaft, Northern Expedition
Shore at Klemtu from Northern Expedition, Inside Passage
Jak, birthday celebrations on Northern Expedition, Inside Passage
A 4.20 a.m. start was certain to ensure that Jak’s birthday was going to be a long day if nothing else.
In pre-dawn darkness we caught a taxi to the British Columbia BC Ferry terminal and finalised arrangements for our journey southwards to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. We thought we’d booked ‘reserved’ seats but somehow there was a misunderstanding. However we were lucky on a ‘first come, first in’ basis to acquire four reclining seats with full length windows on the port side. There didn’t seem to be very many passengers on board this morning but nonetheless the prized window seats were quickly snapped up.
Leaving Prince Rupert at 0730 we were once again blessed with fine weather and quite a deal of blue sky. The smooth waters of the Prince Rupert’s port were blotched with pools of sunshine and the mirror surface reflected the few patches of fog that clung to the hillsides nearby.
The “Inside Passage” route initially follows the spectacular Grenville Channel southwards for 70 km. The narrowest part of this fjord is only 400 m wide but being mostly 500 m deep or more, allows large vessels such as our ferry (‘Northern Expedition’) to travel close to the shore.
After passing Gil Island and Whale Channel we passed the remains of Butedale located on Princess Royal Island. This shoreline town was established in 1918 as a fishing, mining and logging centre with a fish cannery operating there until the mid-sixties. At its peak, the town of Butedale had a population of over 400 but since the closure of the cannery the village has become a ghost town and now all that remains are dilapidated buildings and a wharf in disrepair. Nearby is an impressive waterfall. The ferry slowed down and did a slow 360o turn as we passed Butedale and the scene made for some interesting photographs.
The next point of historical interest was Swanson Bay which was once home to one of the first sulfite (SO2 bleaching) paper pulp mills on the B.C. coast. The mill eventually ceased operation in the mid-1930s and now all that remains are some rotting jetty piles and a tall cylindrical brick chimney that protrudes as a stark relic in amongst the now regenerated spruce forest.
A barbecue luncheon of salmon or chicken was served on the rear deck (level 6) and so as to continue the birthday celebrations the four of us shared a bottle of white wine.
At the half way mark between Prince Rupert and Port Hardy in bright sunshine we passed Boat Bluff located on Sarah Island. There are several brightly painted buildings and a navigation light at this point as Boat Bluff marks the southern entry into the very narrow Tolmie Channel. The light is visible for approximately 32 km on a clear night.
Just south of Boat Bluff our large ferry was manoeuvred very skilfully into the port of Klemtu which is the centre of an aboriginal group of people called the Xai’xai. The ‘Northern Expedition’ spent around an hour unloading and loading vehicles and passengers before proceeding on its way south.
We spent quite a deal of time out on the decks of this very large and modern ferry. Travelling through such narrow channels meant that both sides of the vessel provided numerous photo opportunities. Several humpback whales were sighted in the fjord as were countless hundreds of salmon jumping from the water.
By 6.00 p.m. we had passed Ivory Island and Dryad Point Lighthouse and were two thirds of the way to Port Hardy. Just beyond the small prosperous fishing town of Bella Bella on Campbell Island we cruised by Denny Island on our port side! As was the case for practically all of our journey down the Inside Passage the shores of Denny Island were a mere metre or two of rocks leading to very steep hillsides covered totally with spruce, white cedar and western hemlock; (countless millions of ‘Christmas trees’!).
As it was now dark, we left our viewing seats and headed to the dining room for an excellent buffet meal and some nice B.C. wines as a birthday party celebrating Jak’s 67th.
After disembarking in Port Hardy at 11.30 p.m. we caught a bus to our B&B which was in the town of Port Hardy, 10 km from the ferry terminal. Despite the late hour, we were greeted by the proprietor (Mayela) at midnight and as soon as possible were asleep after a long day that started at just after 4.00 a.m.
The ferry trip down the Inside Passage was very scenic and once again we’d been fortunate to have such pleasant, balmy weather for our travels.
As a footnote to our ferry journey, our B&B hostess Mayela informed us that the B.C. Ferry we’d travelled on was quite new having been built to replace the previous ferry that sank six years ago. On a calm evening, two hours south of Prince Rupert it hit rocks in the Passage. Of the 150 people on board two people drowned because they were asleep and not informed of the emergency! The verdict on the accident was ‘gross negligence’ on the part of the captain as apart from navigation errors, apparently they were not even sure of the numbers of passengers on board.
Not surprisingly, our voyage was very adequately covered in terms of safety considerations!