The Reluctant Kayaker: Up the Inside Passage

August-September 2003

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

by Marika Wilson

Me at the Nautilus’ home port in Steveston, BC, on the Fraser River. Marika Wilson photo...

The rear lower deck of the Nautilus is easy to launch from. Marika Wilson photo.

Helena Symonds, Paul Spong and Mike Lever at Orca Lab. Marika Wilson photo.

Helena shows off sound equipment. Allan Millham photo.

Telegraph Cove’s “Bones Project”. Allan Millham photo.

I’m not scared of the water, but I’ve never been much of a boater. As a child on family sailing trips I spent my time reading in a lower berth instead of being up where the action was. When we went out on my grandfather’s sailboat I clung to the coaming as the sail nearly touched the water. And I’ve only recently begun to share my dad’s enthusiasm for paddling. However, big power boats are not something with which I’ve had much experience, and I agreed to go on a mothership cruise up the inside passage, not knowing what to expect.

Right away, I felt at home in a cabin with my own shower, sink, toilet, and bed. No hand pumping out the bilge in this baby. Being out on deck was calm and spectacular, with no swinging boom to be dodged. This was certainly a different way of being on the water. I could go out for a paddle and return to the safety and comfort of the big ship, with sumptuous meals already prepared and a soft, dry bed.

The ship was the Nautilus Explorer operated by captain Mike Lever, who likes to refer to himself as an ‘environmental warrior’. Primarily a dive charter operator, Mike is seeking to diversify into the field of pocket cruising. The theme of this particular tour was to follow the voyage of explorer Captain George Vancouver, with the help of the esteemed historian and artist, John Horton.

Mike plans future mothership kayaking trips with Ocean River Sports of Victoria and is open to kayakers who wish to charter the boat or accompany a dive trip.

The four-day trip, from the Nautilus Explorer’s home port at Steveston on the Fraser River, north to Prince Rupert at the mouth of the Skeena River, included a variety of programmed educational stops. Among the highlights was a visit to Alert Bay where we enjoyed a First Nations’ performance. Like Captain Vancouver before us, we invited the First Nations’ people, including Chief Bill Cranmer, back to our boat for a veryamicable gathering. Alert Bay is a great place to visit, especially its world class U’mista museum.

Also during the trip we visited the abandoned cannery at Butedale, and guests were given free time to frolic in the stunning wilderness of places like Hakai Pass. Throughout the trip, Mike educated us, not only on responsible fishing practices, but also on the northern resident orca population.

Actually, our very first stop was Orca Lab, a research station founded by Dr. Paul Spong in 1970. We were met by Paul and partner Helena Symonds who have been working on Hanson Island all these years,gathering data on the northern resident orca. Once a tree-house, the lab now contains an array of electronic listening equipment.

The station has been strategically located to receive signals from two important nearby whale traffic areas, Johnstone Strait and Blackfish Sound, through a hydrophone network. Rather than following the whales with boats as many do, they simply turn on their speakers and listen.

A Japanese company has also been sponsoring live video broadcasting of orca, known as ‘Orca Live’ for the last few summers. But this may be its last summer, if funding is unavailable to continue that service. (See www.orca-live.net/.)

At the time of my visit, Helena said that when the whales started coming back this summer, all the whalewatchers would be holding their breaths to see if the orphan whale, Springer, had bonded with her family over the winter.

As we now see, Springer has indeed returned, and appears healthy and well-adjusted. (See page 51 for a photo of Springer. For background, see Alexandra Morton’s article in our Oct/Nov 2002 issue, on-line.)

After the visit to the Orca observatory, we had quite a different tour in the Johnstone Strait Whale Interpretive Centre at Telegraph Cove. Here we were introduced to the ‘Bones Project’. Whale watch operator, Jim Borrowman, collects dead marine mammals, and preserves the skeletons for display, reconstructing them with many litres of superglue. Recently, the centre picked up a Fin Whale, which awaits reconstruction.

	Steveston Telegraph Cove, Hanson Island, Alert Bay Hakai Pass Prince Rupert.
Thanks to Neil Frazer for use of this map from his great book, Boat Camping Haida Gwaii, Harbour Publishing, 2001 ISBN 1-55017-256-5 www.harbourpublishing.com

Telegraph Cove is the ideal launching point for whale watching boats and kayak tours of Johnstone Strait and the multitude of islands in the Broughton Archipelago.

Alert Bay: 250-974-5403, umista@island.net, info@village.alertbay.bc.ca.

Nautilus Explorer: 888-434-8322, sales@nautilusexplorer.com, www.nautilusexplorer.com.

Telegraph Cove: www.killerwhalecentre.org, stubbs@island.net, 800-665-3066.