Shearwater, May 10 -12, 2015

Lighthouse near Bella Bella

Shearwater, on Denny Island, is a major stopping point for boats heading north.  There is a marina, general store and resort, plus they have cell phone coverage and internet! And of course, what resort would be complete without a café with espressos, lattes, and chai?  Starbucks it’s not.

Sunset at Shearwater

We decide to stay an extra day so we can provision the boat and get caught up on email and bill paying.  Unfortunately, the general store is closed until 4 PM today, a Monday, for stocking as they received their bi-monthly grocery delivery.  We hop the water taxi across the bay to Bella Bella, a Heiltsuk Native settlement that is a complete village with a hospital, grocery store and liquor agency.  The grocery store has an amazingly full array of staples, fruits and vegetables but curiously, no snack foods save a couple of bags of potato chips.  We will be better people for it. 

The liquor agency is closed for a funeral and sure enough, as we are at the docks waiting for the hourly water taxi, we watch a First Nations’ funeral procession through the main road and down to the harbor where waiting boats take the family and ashes to a burial plot on a neighboring island. 

First Nations Home

Back at our boat, I am ready to launch into email but alas, no internet as there has been an electrical outage which will last until precisely 4 PM.  Once the power comes back on, much later than predicted, the internet coverage is so poor I can’t get anything done.  But on the plus side, the grocery store opens and they have junk food!  We pay cash for our stash, $9.47 but interestingly, Canada has eliminated the penny, but has not adjusted pricing.  So $9.50 in their favor.   And I assume it is always in their favor.

 

Feyut, Bear Cub Rescuer

We take a walk and meet Feyut, a beautiful dog - but this is not just another pretty face - she is a trained working dog who rescues bear cubs.  Her owner, Kief Archer, rehabilitates the rescued bear cubs and wolves that have been abandoned due to poachers killing the mothers.  He in turn hunts down the  poachers.  We didn't ask what happens to them when they get caught.  I think Feyut and Kiefer should get  their own reality show.

The evening entertainment is the resident eagle who guards the harbor from a tree at the head of the ramp to the docks.  The only patch of grass in the area is under his tree… hmmm, waiting for Fido to do his evening business?   We've heard stories about what eagles are capable of snatching but this one seems well behaved.  He is in fact joined by a friend later in the evening and they are both well mannered.

I'm thinking Salmon tonight - you?