Port McNeill B.C.

Saturday - September 20th

My best memory of Port McNeill is the fabulous Mexican salad I had for lunch at Bo-Banee's Restaurant. I wished we could make some excuse to return, especially when the waitress raved about their luscious looking desserts. Every part of them, even the Bavarian cream filling, was homemade, she said.

We explored the waterfront with its boats and enjoyed the tribute to sea life and forestry.






Sadly we didn't have time to explore the nearby islands accessible from Port McNeill -- the Finnish community of Sointula on Malcolm Island or the aboriginal town of Alert Bay on Cormorant Island.

Sayward, B.C.

About an hour from Seymour Narrows on Highway 19 we turned right down a side road that took us to the town of Sayward.


Sayward is a coastal community built on Kelsey Bay. It is a lumber town that for years was accessible only by boat. After WWII a gravel road was built and in 1979 it was paved.

The main industry of the town is still lumbering -- although its website lists several interesting tourist attractions as well, like bird watching, which we'll have to do next time we travel this road.



The rusted hulls in this picture seem to be another example of old boats used as a breakwater.


At the junction to Highway 19 we came across this beautiful wildlife mural.

Seymour Narrows

Saturday, September 20:

We checked out of our motel in Courtenay and headed north along Highway 19 for Port Hardy.

Along the way we passed the lookout over Seymour Narrows.

This placid scene doesn't do justice to the treachery of this patch of water.


Here is what the signboard at the lookout said about the history of Seymour Narrows:

"Seymour Narrows, 14 km. north of Campbell River is a 3 kilometer (2 mile) long by 750 meters (barely 1/2 mile) wide stretch of hazardous waters separating Vancouver Island and Quadra Island. Tides rushing through the narrows reach velocities of 10 to 15 knots (12-18 mph), with cross currents and vertical current creating whirlpools 3 to 9 m. (20 to 30 ft) in diameter.

Prior to 1958, Seymour narrows was decreed the most dangerous area for nautical navigation in North America. Ripple Rock, consisted of two hump-like summits about 900 m. (3000 ft) long and 100 m. (350 ft.) wide between Vancouver Island and Maud Island.

The highest point was within 3 m. (9 ft) of the surface at low tide. The strong currents and dangerous whirlpools could swallow small boats and deflect large ships onto the rocks. The earliest recorded loss was the sinking of the side-wheeler steamer USS SARANAC in 1875. In total 119 vessels and 114 lives were recorded lost to the sea. Ripple Rock restricted trade and commerce, limiting the growth of British Columbia."

Various attempts were made to explode this ridge of rock, with no success.

Finally

"In 1955 contracts to tunnel underneath the seabed into the twin pinnacles were awarded ... A 75-man crew working in three shifts tunneled an average of about 2 m. (6 ft.) per day. Over 28 months 8,534 (28,000 ft.) of drilling was done at a cost esceeding $3.1 million, resulting in a 171-m. (570-ft.) vertical shaft at Maud Island and a 750-ft (2,500-ft.) main tunnel under the ocean floor. Two 90-m. (300-ft.) vertical raises into each peak of Ripple Rock were then packed with 1,400 tons of Nitramex 2H explosives.

"At 9:30 a.m. on 5 April 1958, Dr. Victor Dolmage, a Ministry of Public Works consulting engineer pushed the plunger that initiated the world's largest ever non-nuclear explosion. Over 700,000 tons of pulverized rock and water erupted in a blast which reached 305 m. (1,000 ft.), and then the rubble dispersed along the bottom.



The highest pinnacle went from 3 m. (9 ft.) below the surface to 14 m. (47 ft.)

"This event was one of the first live television broadcasts in Canada. People were glued to their TVs in anticipation of watching this historic engineering event. Tidal wave warnings were issued and access to the area restricted. It was expected that the massive explosion would generate a large wall of water threatening coastal areas. Luckily it never materialized. No damage was sustained and the effects on fish stocks were minor.

"Large and small vessels now travel safely through Seymour Narrows without danger of grounding on the twin peaks, but it can still be a difficult and sometimes treacherous place to navigate."

- British Columbia Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts.

loss

"The education of our faith is incomplete if we have not learned that there is a providence of loss, a ministry of failing and of fading things, a gift of emptiness. The material insecurities of life make for its spiritual establishment. The dwindling stream by which Elijah sat and mused is a true picture of the life of each of us. "It came to pass...that the brook dried up" -- that is the history of our yesterday, and a prophecy of our morrows.

"In some way or other we will have to learn the difference between trusting in the gift and trusting in the Giver. The gift may be good for a while but the Giver is the Eternal Love.

"Cherith was a difficult problem to Elijah until he got to Zarephath, and then it was all as clear as daylight. God's hard words are never His last words. The woe and the waste and the tears of life belong to the interlude and not to the finale.

"Had Elijah been led straight to Zarephath he would have missed something that helped to make him a wiser prophet and a better man. He lived by faith at Cherith. And whensoever in your life and mine some spring of earthly and outward resource has dried up, it has been that we might learn that our hope and help are in God who made Heaven and earth."

-- F. B. Meyer quoted in Streams in the Desert

Courtenay and Comox

Friday, September 19:

We bid goodbye to lovely Powell River. A one hour and 20 minute ferry ride later found us docking at Comox on Vancouver Island. More to explore!



We started out by driving to the home of a writing friend and her husband, previously only online acquaintances, for coffee (thanks Austins!).

Then it was on to Courtenay. This interesting building in the old downtown area caught my eye. It is called the "Native Sons Hall" and was built as a tribute to the logging industry. Ceiling joists were made of 65 foot long Douglas Fir logs. The building is said to be the largest free span log building in Canada (whatever that means! - sounds impressive).


I also captured some murals around town.



In the evening we drove out to Comox, a city just around the bay from Courtenay, where I couldn't resist the boats reflected in the tranquil waters of the marina.


I love the sea - as long as I can have my feet on land!

Powell River - 3

September 15-18:

Here are a few more highlights from our visit to Powell River.

The Hulks:

Powell River's floating breakwater of ships have been part of the waterfront since 1930. Needed to protect the paper mill's log storage pond, ten ships built of wood, steel and reinforced concrete have been brought to Powell River for use in this breakwater. They are chained together and anchored to huge concrete blocks 150 feet below.

The concrete ships that make up the breakwater were built for use in the First and Second World Wars. Concrete ships were built when there was a shortage of plate steel for ship construction, but they were found to be too heavy in relation to their cargo-carrying capacity to compete with steel cargo vessels during peacetime.

Because of tree growth, it's not easy to get a picture of the whole string of them. Here are a few shots we managed to get on our various attempts.






Discover more about these hulks here.

Murals:

Here are a few that give a feel of the place.




Trails & Walks:

We walked part of the Willingdon Beach Trail - accessed right across Marine Avenue from the Museum. It reminded us very much of the rain forest paths we walk at home.


I will leave you on the Powell River Seawall, watching the sun set over the ocean.

tiny

Anticipation

********

Thursday Challenge

Next Week: FAVORITE (Your Favorite Photo, A Favorite Person or Thing,...)

Powell River - 2

Thursday, September 18:

Thursday, our last full day at Powell River, we realized there was still much of the town we hadn't seen. We decided to take ourselves on a self-guided tour of the old Powell River townsite (along with one of the brochures from the Info Centre, of course).

The town started as a single industry resource-based town -- still today its main industry is the paper mill. It was built on the Garden City concept -- an English planning principle meant to keep industrial towns beautiful.

The town was designed with the workers in mind. Many of its features were put there to encourage people to relocate to this isolated wilderness. The town was built so that workers of the same occupations were in the same neighborhood. The first building was built in 1911. Here are some of the preserved houses - along with a few facts about each.

• Postmaster's House (now the Townsite Heritage Society headquarters) - 1912

Craftsman Style house and home of the first two postmasters. (I can't believe how much this house reminds me of the farmhouse I grew up in!)

• Bank of Montreal Building - 1931

Designed by John McIntyre the Powell River Company's Townsite Manager who designed all Townsite construction between 1919 and 1935. I love the Tudor Revival design and the vines clinging to exteror walls.

• The Federal Building - 1939.

This beautiful brick building housed the post office, Customs and Excise and the Canadian Telegraph operations -- until 1974.

• Dwight Hall (the "Grand Old Lady of the Townsite") - 1927.

This beautiful hall was the centerpiece of Powell River society. The sprung dance floor could hold 800 people and it was the venue for concerts, plays and gatherings of all sorts. It is still used for community events.

• The Cenotaph beside Dwight Hall - 1929.

• The Provincial Building - circa 1939.

This building was home to the B. C. Police, courtroom, forestry service, public works, housed a government agent, relief services and jail cells until 1980. It is now privately owned.

• The Rodmay Hotel (first called the Powell River Hotel) - 1911.

It's hard to believe that for the first few years pigs were kept just outside this grand building. It's still used as a hotel. In fact, I had an excellent Greek salad in the cafe. I also had a glimpse of the grand vestibule and staircase, still looking good after all these years.

• Dr. Henderson's House - circa 1911

• St. Luke's Hospital - 1913

Built for Dr. Henderson, who was the first practicing physician in Powell River. Apparently he implemented the first medical plan in B.C. in 1910.

• Oceanview Apartments - 1916.

These apartments housed married employees without children. A unique feature was the basement room for laundry and coal storage for each unit. They are still in use today (the apartments, not the coal rooms).

• Church Corner with St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church - 1916 and St. John's Union (for all Protestant denominations) - 1913. These buildings are now privately owned.

• Patricia Theatre - 1928.

This theatre houses the oldest continuously operating cinema and vaudeville business in western Canada.

• Powell River Pulp and Paper Mill - 1909.

Of course we mustn't forget the reason for the town in the first place -- the mill. It was the first wood pulp and paper mill in western Canada, built by the Brooks and Scanlon firm of Minnesota. Construction started in 1909 and the first roll of paper was produced in 1912. But everyone was confident of the mill's success and so the townsite building began before that.

In 1955 MacMillan Bloedel merged with the Powell River company. In the 1960s Powell River's mill was the largest single producer of newsprint in the world. It's still in operation today.