Blackfish Lodge

Hello all!

Slowly but surely we're getting our shit together with the blog. We've made a little map too so you can see where we've been and follow our travels. You can access it here and see where the lovely Blackfish Lodge is, and Laurie and Rob's from the previous post.

So..for two weeks now we've been emerged in the wonderful world of coastal island BC... where there are no cars and boats are the main form of transport. It's fairly isolated - but even far off Vancouver island there are little communities surviving, filled with amazing people. Its been such a pleasure to discover them.. and with it, a feeling of love for this country developing in me! I feel now that I'm actually seeing and feeling the real Canada, or the real BC at least... its rugged and wild and the people its helped shape are just awesome. 

We've spent the past week WWOOFing at Blackfish Lodge... an hour boat trip off the top of Vancouver Island in the Broughton Archipelego. Chris and Hannah Bennett run the lodge, which is a beautiful building on a float, and was built by Chris himself. It's tied alongside about four other little houses that Chris has collected over the years from his time fishing and logging, as well as a floating chicken coop with four chickens! The whole ensemble is in a little cove, round the corner from Echo Bay where about 15 people live year round. But that balloons to hundreds in the height of summer when all the American tourists come up and park their boats at the marina. 

Chris is such a likeable, knowledgeable character who's tried his hand at just about everything and now does what he loves to do: fish. He takes touring fisherman on their quest for the big one.. usually salmon. The beautiful Hannah came out to the lodge in 2001 as a cook. Eight years on, she's now his wife. They have two little beautiful kids, who we had lots of fun with. It was funny watching these 1.5 year old Stephen and 3.5 year old Robin running round on this floating playground - whales in their backyard, bald eagles and bears out the front (well.. pretty close anyway). 

They only know travel by boat. The first time Robin got in a car she was absolutely terrified. And when we played a game of "Shop" and I tried to sell her a car, I couldn't work out why but she didn't seem to want to buy. After about five minutes I caught on and told her we were out of cars but did she want a boat for scooting over to the neighbours? She bought it straight away. It was so great spending time with a young family, in such an amazing place. Every now and then I had to pinch myself and realise that I was staying on a float house off an uninhabited island where people pay thousands of dollars to come and stay. And we had such a great time. We usually worked a bit in the morning, then Hannah and/or Chris would take Nic and I and another WOOFer named Lisa off to do something cool like fishing, or walking, or visiting neighbours.

One particular afternoon we set out in their double kayak for a bit of an adventure, towards a group of islands in the distance. We found a nice little island and pulled in -there were seals popping up all over the place. I went a bit further round the edge of the island... and could hear an animal stomping in the forest. Being a little bear paranoid, we clapped, talked loud, tried to scare whatever it was off... but it just kept on. We were just starting to get a little edgy when a hummingbird shot out of the bushes and did the most amazing courtship display, zipping ten metres into the air and then zooming straight down and out again like a roller coaster. We forgot about the noise, and explored the other side of the island. There we found a little track and when we went a few steps further found a little wooden table and chairs with a roof over the top of them. It was really cool, but it spun me out a bit. Was someone living on this island or something? We decided to walk around the rocky edge of the whole island, and a bit after we set out, the noise started again. It followed us round the island... we tried to ignore it, then we tried clapping some more. Then, just as we rounded a corner, and were about to get to a certain point. there was this massive splash in the ocean just next to us. We freaked the fuck out. Nic was like "That was a person throwing a rock." We started hopping it back the way we came and still the sounds followed us. We called Hello, but no answer. The crack of twigs underfoot, and rustling... but not quite human. We made it back around to where we started, barely saying a word too each other but knowing we had to get the hell off the island. When we got back I half expected the kayak to be gone, but it was there. We pushed off, and five metres off the shore we looked at each other:  "What the fuck was that?!!!?" We paddled round the island, but couldnt see any boats or anything. 

We returned to Chris and Hannah's eager for some local input on what had happened. Even Chris was a bit miffed... First he thought it was racoons... and that the "splash" was a seal or an otter coming out of the water and then going back down quickly. But the theory he liked the most (and which I've concluded is most likely) is that it was a Sasquatch. They live in the area and have been known to swim between islands. And there've been instances of them throwing rocks to deter people from coming any closer to them. Many people around these parts have a story about them... and now I guess we have one too! Oh, and the table and chairs were built by one of their friends as a place she can bring eco tours. Now maybe she'll have another angle for the tours. Oh and another nice coincidence - this all happened the weekend of the Sasquatch festival in Washington state....

So although there are "dangers" lurking on land, the main danger around these parts it seems is the water itself. There are a lot of boat accidents - many caused by drinking, drugs or just ill judgement. The coast is sheltered in a lot of places so there's a lot of little boats around, but when you hit the real ocean it can hit really big. One thing we've become used to is the constant buzz of channel 16 - coastguard radio - on in everybody's homes around here. It's where maydays and emergency calls are placed, and gives general info to boaters.  The day after our sasquatch incident it took me ages to fall asleep. Nic and I talked about it before we went to sleep, and though I'd surmised earlier it was just an animal, after our talk I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that something wasn't really right about that island and there was something I didn't understand on it. And that I was on a house on floats far from people and that the thing on the island could come and get me! Ridiculous, but very true in the dead of night. I fell into an uneasy sleep, until suddenly I was woken by a really loud voice. It took me about five minutes to come to, was I dreaming?

"Yes, sir. I understand, but we can't help you until i know where you are, where are you? Are you in a boat? What happened? Try and stay in your vessal, we'll be there as soon as possible.What? Are you taking on water? Try and stay on your boat"

At first I thought there was a boat sinking outside my window but then I realised it was the radio... coming to life. I checked my watch, it was 1 am. Nic eventually woke up, and for the next three hours we listened to this drama unfold. We could only hear the coastguard, and not the boat, but things weren't good. He didn't know where he was, no flares, by the sounds of things he was pretty scared and his boat was going under. If it wasn't for Nic waking up and listening too I would have questioned if the whole thing happened at all. Nic drifted in and out of sleep but I stayed awake pretty much the whole time, wondering if I was going to kind of witness a man's death. Thankfully, they eventually found him. After talking to Chris the next day it seems likely he was a bit drunk, and possibly fishing illegally, to not know where he was and then be fishing so late. And apparently a rescue is quite a rarity... so it was kind of unique to hear the whole thing through like that. 

The novelty of a happy ending didn't last long though. That day, a call went out on the radio for another boat, this one missing. It just so happened that Chris and Hannah's neighbour had just sold it to a guy... Chris and Hannah were even thinking of buying it. It wasn't too seaworthy, but apparantly the fella knew that. The next day they found his body and the boat round the west coast of the island, where the seas can get rough, and he apparently said he wouldn't take it. Never underestimate the sea I guess.

One of the best things about Blackfish Lodge was being introduced to the surrounding community. We were there for Chris's 45th birthday party where all the locals came on their boats - about 15 residents and then about 20 from a Whale Research Station round the bay. Most of the people working there are university students and it was great fun to meet them all and have a big music jam at the end of the night. 

The work they're doing at the moment is really fascinating. Basically, the salmon stocks in the area are really depleting and most of the evidence points to these relatively new fish farms being the culprit. Salmon is bred in these "farms" which are still in the ocean, just separated by nets. Basically the animals have caught diseases, which have been passed on the wild salmon, which are now dwindling. It's a huge issue in British Colombia, and Chris is somewhat of a hero in the science community cause he was one of the first people to notice the wild salmon getting sick. Hearing Chris talk about the issue is really interesting, but depressing. So many people (and other animals) have been affected by these farms... especially the fishing industry. 

Just near the research station lives Yvonne, a local artist who has an amazing garden and beautiful art and pottery. And on the other side is Billy Proctor, who grew up on Gilford island his whole life... and has stayed and is trying to get the community growing again. He's somewhat of a local celebrity and we checked out his museum which was really cool. Another local character I only met once, who really captured the essence of the place for me, was Dave. Rough looking with just a few teeth left, he told Nic and I the story of how he dragged a 6 foot monster halibut up from the depths just off shore in a leaky old dinghy. The boat almost went under because of it, but there was no way he was giving up the fish. After managing to get a stick through it he towed it back to shore and called for a friend's help. With a mighty heave they pulled it out of the water and threw it to the back of the beach. The thing went beserk, thrashing round, making it's way 15 metres down to shore, again they hauled it back... after a while it tired itself off. They ate a few fillets and then gave the rest to the old folks home. 

We had a brilliant time at blackfish lodge... and I've slipped into past tense a bit in this blog cause we left there maybe two weeks ago now! I've been lazy with my writing... but Nic's next installment should be up soon! I won't tell you where we are now... keep that a suprise for next time :)

Hope all is well whereever you are!

Jess