Prince Rupert, Day 3

Enjoyed puttering around Prince Rupert for the past couple days. I've done a few errands, read in a local cafe and generally taken it easy. Tonight I'm going to the movies; that's a good sign that Prince Rupert is large enough to have a movie theater. My guidebook says its population is 16,000. I've heard before that it was a pretty depressed town, previously a boom town, but it seems to be doing well enough. People have been friendly and I've enjoyed poking around.

Filling in the gap

I'm still not sure why messages after Bella Bella didn't post, but were still telling me that the message was sent. I think it has to do with reception. The thing about satellite phones is that while they're supposed to work anywhere, they need a clear view of the sky. And the coast here is steep with tall trees that don't make for very good reception while in camp. So I'll post the missing messages below (roughly, I write them out beforehand to get in the right ballpark for number of characters).

June 13
N52 12.878 W128 13.136
Horsfall Island
picked up my resupply box in Shearwater
bear hang much heavier
on my way in new place
rain stopped when I reached camp

June 14
N52 20.910 W 128 23.622
Lady Douglas Island
paddled hard
exposed sections, wind picked up in afternoon
rewarded with cabin, thank you Heiltsuk!
whooping cranes

June 15
N52 30.725 W128 17.102
Susan Island
perfect weather, 16 ft tides
curious seals
sunset behind island at 9:45 but more to go

June 16
N52 35.449 W128 31.174
Klemtu
paddling going smoothly, will have long day tomorrow
ravens around town are noisy
bursts of eagle

Prince Rupert

Well I've made it to Prince Rupert and the comforts of town. I'll be here until Sunday, waiting for Neil to join me, when we'll take a ferry out to the Queen Charlotte Islands, so I'll be posting more in the next few days. Until then, Neil has posted my photos from the Gulf Islands to Port Hardy at http://www.flickr.com/photos/44629959@N00/sets/72157600443890231/

Highlight of today's paddle was watching a group of at least six otters (river otters I think) play in the water. When they saw me, they disappeared, but then I saw them next watching me from shore.

SMS from 881631611816@msg.iridium.com

QUIET DAY BEING A TOURIST,READING,PLAYING SOLITAIRE

SMS from 881631611816@msg.iridium.com

54 11.632 130 13.315 NORTH PACIFIC CANNERY MUSEUM BUNKHOUSE-WILL STAY HERE TOMORROW,TAKE A TOUR,WAIT OUT A FORECAST GALE.SALMONBERRIES!

SMS from 881631611816@msg.iridium.com

53 59.812 130 14.988 PORCHER ISL SUN!COMBINATION OF WINDS,CURRENTS,ISLANDS & SKEENA RIVER MADE FOR WEIRD WATER THIS AFTERNOON

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53 49.947 130 01.709 PITT ISL MORE SUN THAN RAIN.HUMPBACK WENT CLOSE BY MY LUNCH SPOT.DID I MENTION HOW DRAMATIC THIS LANDSCAPE IS?

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53 40.17 129 45.45 KLEWNUGGIT INLET LAZY CABIN MORNING WAITING FOR FLOOD CURRENT,THEN ZOOM,GOT HERE FAST.TOMORROW EBB TAKES ME NORTH

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SORRY IF GAP IN MSGS,DIDNT KNOW,WAS SENDING DAILY SAME AS BEFORE.PHONE GLITCH?WILL LOOK INTO IT.ALLS WELL

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53 33.357 129 34.317 LOWE INLET CABIN ORCAS BEFORE BREAKFAST.LOTS OF CURRENT ASSIST TO GET ME HERE.DRYING OUT & WARMING UP

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53 18.989 129 07.817 GRIBBELL ISL RAIN CONTINUES & SO DO I.PADDLING COMPANION MOTIVATED ME FOR A LONG DAY,THEN HE WENT FURTHER

SMS from 881631611816@msg.iridium.com

BUTEDALE POURING THIS MORNING WHEN TIME TO LEAVE,OPTED TO STAY WARM & DRY IN FORMER MESSHALL.STILL RAINING HARD

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53 09.612 128 41.734 BUTEDALE CANNERY GHOST TOWN.IN LONG STEEP-SIDED CHANNELS PART,SO MANY WATERFALLS & HARD TO LAUNCH NEAR LOW THIS AM

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52 55.290 128 29.942 GREEN INLET WHALE SIGHTING!SMALL HUMPBACK,MAY HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE SOUNDS THAT WOKE ME UP LAST NIGHT.FOG,LIGHT RAI

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52 08.252 128 08.755 BELLA BELLA 10 HR FERRY RIDE,CAMPING BY LANDING,ON MY WAY AGAIN TOMORROW.RAINY

Port Hardy, day 3

The welcome to Port Hardy sign lists fishing, logging and mining as the town industries. There's a bit of tourism, especially surrounding the ferry comings and goings, but there's not tons to entertain oneself with for 3 days. Today I did some more errands, walking around in the rain, reading and puttering. Looking forward to being on my way again tomorrow, but happy for the rest stop.

What other interesting tidbits to pass along. Most of the fishing boats between Texada Island and Johnstone Straight were prawn boats, with traps - which is great because the sustainable seafood guides list trap caught prawns as the happy kind of shrimp to get. Not that I could get local prawns at the restaurant I ate at in Powell River. Now there are a lot of different kinds of fishing boats, and a cannery.

Port Hardy, day 2

I've spent today doing low key town things like switching from the expensive hotel by the marina to the hostel in the middle of town, getting ferry reservations for me and my kayak for Tuesday morning and figuring out the logistics of that (ferry terminal is across the bay and of course doesn't have an easy place to approach by kayak). The local kayak tour guy is great and is letting me store my kayak at his shop, driving me to the ferry Tuesday morning and then when I brought my boat over, he let me wash out my gear and helped me touch up the gelcoat on the bottom of my boat where it's been scratched up already.

What else to write about when I don't have to limit it to 160 characters? One thing that I'm bummed I missed along the way is Robson Bight. This is the reserve where orcas are known to go rub on the rocks to get rid of parasites. The morning I was first going to cross Johnstone Straight, it was too foggy, and so continuing north and crossing over where I did, I missed Robson Bight. I looked across the way, but didn't see any orcas. Oh well, hopefully I'll have another chance to see orcas by kayak.

Tomorrow is another town day, so I'll have a change to ramble more then. Amanda

Port Hardy

Greetings from Port Hardy! I've already had a shower, done laundry, called my parents and eaten a non-camp-type meal. I'll likely be here for a few days. I decided to take the ferry for the next leg, from here to Bella Bella, and I think the next one isn't for a few days (well there's one tonight, but that doesn't leave me enough time to get my town errands done). Sorry to the purists out there, but I decided to use the excuse of the combo of spending extra time in the San Juans with Warren and needing to meet Neil in Prince Rupert by the end of June, to avoid Cape Caution. I've always said that if I wasn't comfortable doing this part alone, I could take the ferry. Maybe some day I'll come back and do this leg, preferably not solo.

Town errands to do. Hope all is well with all of you.
Amanda

SMS from 881631611816@msg.iridium.com

50 43.478 127 23.848 PEEL ISL PADDLING THROUGH KELP FORESTS ANTICIPATING COMFORTS OF TOWN TOMORROW BITS OF SUN FEEL SO GOOD

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50 35.943 127 01.565 HADDINGTON ISL MUCH LESS WINDY.STOPPED IN ALERT BAY TO SHOP AND SEE U'MISTA MUSEUM POTLATCH MASKS

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WEATHER DAY,JOHNSTONE STRAIGHT TOO WINDY,IS CALMER NOW SO HOPING GOOD TO GO TOMORROW.LOW ON TP,OUT OF CHEESE

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50 31.931 126 36.501 W CRACROFT ISL ONE MONTH,WOW! CRUISE SHIPS PASSING.WINDY,SLOW GOING,BIT OF RAIN

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50 30.848 126 17.631 BROKEN ISLS SAW MY FIRST BEAR TODAY,SAFELY FROM MY BOAT WHILE IT WAS HAVING LOW TIDE LUNCH.FOGGY,RAINY DAY

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50 26.810 125 58.325 YORKE ISL LAST OF THE RAPIDS,WHIRLPOOL,IN THE MORNING,BACK ON REGULAR SCHEDULE.PORPOISES,FISHFARMS,CLEARCUTS

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50 25.723 125 39.594 FITTLETON PT SIMILAR TIMING ISSUE WITH GREENE PT RAPIDS,HAD A BEER WITH SOME LOGGERS TO PASS THE TIME,FLAT CALM

SMS from 881631611816@msg.iridium.com

50 26.61 125 23.63 E THURLOW ISL TIMING TOUGH FOR DENT RAPIDS SLACK B4 EBB.WAIT ALL DAY,PADDLE IN EVENING.LUCKILY NOT DARK BY 10 HERE