We left mid morning and headed across the channel to Port McNeill.The passage took all of about 1 hour. This is probably the nicest government dock we have been to. Our purpose was to do a major resupply at a real grocery store and take a ferry to Alert Bay.
We encountered several cruisers from previous marinas and anchorages. It was nice to compare notes and share some stories. We were able to do an oil change and also secure a water jerry can. You never know what you will find as you wander the aisles of the local marine store!
Day two at Port Mcneill: Today we took the ferry to Alert Bay. The island is known as a First Nations Reserve and the home of killer whales. We did see an orca while on the ferry outbound. We could not take the boat to this bay as there is not a suitable area to tie up or anchor. The day was a sloppy rainy mess which filled my waterproof coat pocket with water and drowned my i-phone. We walked around viewing lots of totem poles, hiked the ecological park and finally observed some CMTs (culturally modified trees). Lastly we visited the cultural center and headed for the ferry home. Many of the totems seen in Vancouver BC were carved on this reserve. The cultural center has a beautiful collection of masks and has recently received back some of their artifacts taken by the BC govt when potlatches were outlawed.
Tomorrow we head for Telegraph Bay, Vancouver Island.
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| Totem at the graveyard |
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| More totems |
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| More totems |
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| Ecological park boardwaalk |
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| Culturally modified cedar tree. The cuts were made to remove a cedar beam for a longhouse. |
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| Worlds tallest totem located at the Big House. |
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| Beautiful Nordic Tug. We think this is the ultimate Pacific Northwest boat. Notice the wooden kayaks on the roof racks! |
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