Wild things, you make our hearts sing.

A last reverie in Elk Falls Provincial Park near Campbell River and off we went on our wildlife quest on the opaque waters of Toba Inlet and Powell River. Along the way, the vistas were soul soothingly satisfying, the woods magically mossy but the grizzlies & orcas kept eluding us as we stubbornly motored along. 
Of course, we could have joined one of the many commercial organizations in Campbell River to enhance our luck but that would have depleted our monthly budget with the speed of a gushing tidal rapid.

“A tidal rapid occurs when a tidal current pulls-during ebb- or pushes – during flood – saltwater over a shallow reef or narrow passageway thus creating river like effects such as waves, whirlpools, boils, eddy lines and swift current.”
The Skookumchuck Rapids or Sechelt Rapids can run at a speed of 16,5 knots, which is a world record. At slack, there is a 5 minute window to pass with a boat.

So, the do-it -yourself approach it was. With cameraman & gear in standby, lenses polished and expectations high, instant gratification it was not. But Toba Wilderness Marina thankfully delivered. There we spotted our first (young) black bear in the wild as we were innocently stealing his berries from under his very nose. We were the only ones being enthusiastic about having a bear around who wandered out of the nearby woods to come snack on berries bordering the Marina’s lawn. People scared him away by clapping hands and making all kind of noises and warned us that having a good view of the animal was not worth losing both your arms and a leg. We still think they were being over dramatic.

The initial idea was to sail from Toba Inlet via the Homfray channel up the Howe Sound to the out of this world kiteboarding spot in Squamish. At the Squamish Sandspit milky glacier melt water meets the ocean and the wind howls at a steady 20 knots. But lack of mooring spots forced us to leave O2 behind in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour Marina which is an extremely expensive Marina in dirty water with non- existing WIFI and the continuous noise of floatplanes taking off and landing but which is also right next to Stanley Park.  A road trip to Squamish and Whistler came to the rescue. 

In Whistler black bears can be spotted from the gondolas if you are lucky. We were ! We saw a big one and then a mama bear with cub. They also roam the streets if you haven’t cleaned up your mess. As we were coming back from a very reasonably priced off road safari – 3 Swiss and 3 Belgians crammed into a jeep like sardines – we saw a nice specimen casually poking its head round the corner into the back alley of a hotel to lick up the white stuff (milk? ice-cream?) that lay spilled on the ground. Locals were very upset about this since it meant the bear would come back again and again and would consequently get “euthanized “in the end. So sad.

Ramses also felt a bit sad that orcas hadn’t visited O2 while we were making way on the orca infested waters in southern BC. So, in the nick of time – the day before his flight back home- we decided to join a Steveston whale watching outfit that patrolled the Georgia Strait with a 95% success rate. We had crossed that same strait with a 0% success rate, so we felt rather doubtful as we paid the bill.
The whale trip got cancelled the very day itself due to “dangerous marine conditions “. Again, we felt they were being over dramatic. We could reschedule for the next day, though, which was the day of Ramses’ 5:45 PM flight back home. A quick family council session decided we would go for the 9 AM trip. After dumping all of our son’s luggage in the whale watch office so that no airport travel time would be lost, we rather dejectedly boarded their vessel. 

But oh boy, what a trippy trip that was! At the mouth of the Fraser river, only 40 minutes from Downtown Vancouver, Chinook salmons are gathering again, waiting for the rains to be able to go up the river. And where salmons gather, orcas hunt. And people fish.

We’ve learned about the cultural barrier between the endangered Southern Resident orcas – only 74 left and we saw several pods of in total 30 individuals- and Bigg’s Transient orcas. The Resident orcas only feed on salmon and don’t mingle with the Transient orcas. They even speak different languages. Tahlequah, aka J35, is the name of the famous resident orca mother who in 2018 pushed her dead calf for 17 days and 1000 miles in a heartbreaking display of mourning. This caught international attention and it helped create orca sanctuaries and fishermen quota in BC. (Because of the latter, we sometimes see fishing boats carrying the flag “Fuck Trudeau”. Sigh.)When the resident orcas showed up too close to the boat to be legal, our captain got very nervous and slowly eased away. And we were all gaping in awe.

We were allowed to linger with the pod of Bigg’s Transient killer whales that were calmly cruising along in a pod of 5. Our very responsible boat captain kept his distance but gently followed them close enough for us to be amazed by the spectacle. These are the orcas that notoriously hunt for seals and other marine mammals as well as salmon. We were actually relieved they weren’t at it when we were there.

After going out with a bang like that, a satisfied Ramses caught his plane in time and we remained peacefully anchored in False Creek for a fortnight. False Creek lies in the very heart of Vancouver City where a nice girl came to pump out our toilet hold for free and where fellow sailors in a dinghy retrieved a stolen sailboat from a thieving individual with a drug problem. The boat squatter – wobbling in a wooden rowing boat named “Que será” which was probably also nicked – had manually lifted the anchor of some random vessel and let it drift towards the steps on the beach where he then proceeded to board it. Quite a feat really. But thank god for our 35 kg weighing anchor attached to a 70 kg weighing chain.

Other than that, Vancouver in general and False Creek in particular are absolute gems which we found difficult to say goodbye to. But when interesting neighbours came livening up the scene, we started dreaming of new horizons again. Thank you, Sailing Vessel She-Ra, for breaking Vancouver’s spell. A second season in Northern Western waters all the way up to Alaska is now definitely part of the plan. But let’s get to Sidney first. Sidney, Vancouver Island that is.