We
left Sointula early to take advantage of good tides and arrived at Port Hardy
at 9:30 am where we tied up to the government dock. The dock exists year-round but in the summer
they add a float at the end that increases the amount of linear feet for boats
and also adds an area for family to fish.
Since we are in Canada we have become proficient with the spelling of
the word “Harbour” but we have to admit that we wonder about the Canadian
spelling of “Family Fishhing.” With the
exception of a couple of small fish boats, we were the only boat on the
dock. Our plan is to spend several hours
in Port Hardy while we wait for the tide to change for our trip up Goletas
Channel to Bull Harbor.
Our
morning in Port Hardy was delightful. This is a very friendly town --
everyone smiles and says hello. Our first find was a terrific coffee shop
“Café Guido” with very good coffee and a great staff people. Located in
the same building is a wonderful book store filled with work from local
Canadian authors and a lovely shop with local crafts including plenty of
handmade dish towels @ $25. (Looks like I should return to the loom when
I return home.) With coffee in hand we walk through town and a stop at a
wonderful grocery store (better than Freeland) and pick up a few small
items. Our final stop is at the local
museum where we are greeted by Jane Hutton. Jane is the director and
curator of the museum and also responsible for the beautiful gift shop with
incredible carvings and beautiful silver jewelry that are all done by local
First Nations artists Barrie asked Jane if she knew of the carver of the Hok
Hok mask that hangs in our living room (and that Robert Nelson is currently
making a stand for it to be more appropriately displayed.) Jane said the not only did know Chief Tony
Hunt, she said that Jonathon Jacobson, a carver who had just walked in the
door, could tell us all about him.
Jonathon was a treasure. He
carefully explained the lineage of his family and how they were related to Tony
Hunt. He also showed us many of the
carved pieces in the museum that were done by his family (Jane had to point out
that some of the pieces were done by Jonathon.)
As we were leaving, Jane provided us contact information for Chief Tony
Hunt. We look forward to making the
connection with the carver of the Hok Hok that we purchased at an estate sale
in Lawrence, Kansas from the collection of the head of the School of Design at
that University of Kansas.
We
left Port Hardy about 1 pm for a run up the Goletas Channel. Goletas
Channel is a long narrow channel running east to west (or west to east) and
winds against tides can kick up significant seas. Today we had perfect sea conditions. We
arrived at Bull Harbour and had the anchor down before 5. On our way into
the harbor, we passed a fish boat that
was tied up to the government dock.
After studying the tide charts and reading about the sometimes
treacherous crossing of the Nahwitti Bar, we decided it would be interesting to
ask the local fisherman about the best time to leave and the best route to
take. We lowered the dinghy and found
the deck hand cleaning the boat. He
called for the captain who invited us into the pilot house of a well-used,
well-loved fishing boat to look at his Nobeltech Charts that had his
route. He also told us stories about
boat mishaps and about fishing for sculpin.
He sells them for $10/pound to the Chinese who sell them in markets back
home for lots more! We thanked the
captain of “Old Salt” and headed back to “Chug” to settle in for the night. Our plan is to cross the bar at Low Water
Slack and then head south around the infamous Cape Scott.
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