A Perfect Day

Yesterday couldn't have been better. A cloudless blue sky, 21°C, no breeze and a great view

of the mountains on Vancouver Island. Toss in a ferry. Perfect.

The Polar Prince

The Polar Prince arrived yesterday afternoon, as forewarned in the Powell River Peak. I'm reasonably sure

a lot of people will make the same mistake I did, but this is not a Coast Guard boat. She used to be though,

and till 1986 she was the CCGS Sir Humphrey Gilbert. The government retired her, and then sold her to a

private concern in 2001. In any case, it isn't often we see an ice breaker in our local waters. Thankfully not

required. For reference, that's our local CCGS Cape Caution tied up alongside, and she's 47 feet long,

so the Polar Prince is a fair size. She left at 11pm, on her way to Nanoose Bay.

The Sea Imp XI

 

For someone like me, who takes a lot of tugboat photos, it's a pleasure to see a new boat in our local waters.

The Sea Imp XI was launched May 27th, so at less than 3 months old she's barely wet her keel.

She was built in Maple Ridge, at the Sylte Shipyard, for Catherwood Towing. They've apparently put her

on the City Transfer drop-trailer barge run, as I've seen her here the last week or 2, with these the first photos

as she leaves the Mill harbour.  A fine looking boat.

.

YOGN 82

Back in June of last year the Catalyst Mill announced that they were going to be sinking 4 of the10 concrete "hulks"

that form the breakwater protecting the mill harbour. YOGN 82 was the southern-most of the 10 - I say "was",

as she was storm-damaged some time ago, and is now tied up at the mill dock.  In any case, this hulk is

supposed to be the first to go. (And as I said she "was" here, you'll know these are archive photos.)

Back in June'16 they originally said she was to be sunk that October, then in April this year an

article in California Diver said October this year, but I'm not holding my breath.

When all 4 ships are eventually sunk, over a few years, they will make a very nice artificial

reef just to the north of Willingdon Beach, and an excellent dive location.

Holy Smoke!

 

 This shot, taken yesterday, is the view we've had the last few days from the Beach Trail. The

smoke from the forest fires in the Interior has made it's way to the Coast, and is playing

havoc with the views we normally get, as in the photo below, taken in March '14.

The weatherman says a few more days of smoke before the breezes clear it out.

None too soon.

MS Bremen

This is the MS Bremen, of the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises line, yesterday. She is 365 feet long, with a crew of 100 to see to 150
passengers. She is on a 16 day / 17 night one-way cruise from Nome, Alaska to Vancouver.
She certainly does get around, on the internet there are photos of her in the Antarctic, the Amazon, Greece,
Norway, the Arctic and a myriad of other places, with Powell River now added to that list.
There have been a few of these smaller cruise ships sail by in the last few months,
but they aren't yet that common that I don't take photos.

The Seaspan Cutlass

The Seaspan Cutlass and two chip barges, her third barge was already on its way into the harbour.

Since they knocked down the scrub along a section of the mill road, it's a much better view

of the tugs on the far side of the "hulks" that make the artificial harbour for the mill.

Below is the Cutlass making her way back south at Grief Point, just an hour or
two later, pulling 3 empty barges a good way behind her.

Man At Work

I take a lot of tugboat photos, and I often think it would have been nice to have

spent my working life on the water. But then I'm pretty sure that to this

fellow, crawling out of the below deck engine room of the J.R.W.,
it's just a job.

These are archive photos of a Seaspan worker, from when we still had Seaspan

tugs working out of our harbour. They've been gone 2 years.

A Ferry Ride

Took my first ride on the new Salish Orca on Wednesday - one of those times you spend a day going to Courtenay and back

to spend 10 minutes of face time with a medical specialist. But I digress. The Orca is indeed a nice boat, but one ferry

lounge is much the same as another, and what really counts is that hopefully she is more reliable than

the old now-retired Burnaby.

Once you're on, it's always a good idea to spec out how to get off!

The clamshell door opening up to the view on the Little River side.

Seabourn Sojourn

The Seabourn Sojourn making her way down Malaspina Strait to Victoria Monday evening. I'm assuming she's just been to

Alaska. We don't see one of these big boats this close to home often, though at 198 metres she isn't "yooge". The
Disney boats  that pass up and down Georgia Strait proper, sometimes seen in the distance, are half as big again.

Poor conditions for photos, with the sun low in the west, and even a real photographer would

have trouble here, so these are just poor-ish pics to record the event.

Finally!

She's here! We finally have our new ferry. The Salish Orca started scheduled service yesterday.

I say scheduled, but she was running very late, which I hope is not a portent for the future.

Prawn Season - III

With her stern loaded with traps and marker buoys, the Miss Norma sets out to go prawning at

7:30 am of a May morning back in 2014.

CCGS Cape Caution

Our local SAR boat, the Cape Caution. She was away for a couple of months, an extensive

refit at the Coast Guard facility at Pat Bay, and has only been back a week or so. She is a pretty sight on the water.

That's the low tide version of Rebecca Rock in the hazy background.

Sunshine ...

... brings out the kayakers. And a splash of colour on the water.

On A Clear Day ...

... you can see forever. On a damp, foggy day, not so much. From the archives, as the recent

weather hasn't cooperated.

The Queen of Burnaby

I took these photos of the Queen of Burnaby last week in the expectation that the old girl would be gone this week,

and we'd be sailing on the new Salish Orca. But the Orca has been delayed, a great way to start our more reliable

ferry service. In any case, these will be my last photos of the Burnaby; rust and all, she'll be gone by month-end.

For those folks who don't live here, Powell River has limited access, the only way in and out is by

ferry or exorbitantly-priced air. So a new, reliable, ferry, which the Burnaby hasn't been the

last few years, is very important to our little community. It's a major event.

The Burnaby has been in service since 1966, and she is definitely past her best-before date. I'm not sorry to see her go.

What Better ...

.... than to spend some time on the waterfront, watching the boats go by, on what was a glorious first day of spring.

The tug is the Inlet Knight, working out of Campell River. Her tow, stretching out a good bit behind her, was a log boom.

That's Harwood Island, on the right, and the small one is Vivian Island; in the top photo the shore is

Texada Island, and the mountains are on Vancouver Island.

The Salish Orca

The new Salish Orca, her first time at Westview. She won't be in service till the end of March, the 30th is

the day. Yesterday she practiced berthing at Earl's Cove and Saltery Bay, today she's here, and tomorrow

checking out the berth at Little River. She does take a pretty photo.

Once Again ....

... our ferry service was disrupted as the Queen of Burnaby was out of service last week, replaced by the smaller

pictured Island Sky.The new Salish Orca is scheduled to begin service starting March or April, and

hopefully that will be the end to these disruptions. These are archives photos, taken on one

of the several previous disruptions over the last few years, with the photo below

including Texada Island's Queen of the North.

The latest news yesterday has the Burnaby sold to an unknown bidder, with auction bids opening at $400,000,
though I hope the next owner has better luck than we've had with that boat.

Going Fishing

February 1st - leaving the South Harbour and heading north, trailing his wake behind him.