Ocean Falls

Posted under North to Alaska

Another day in downtown Ocean Falls. This is our third, and is due to utter laziness, and not adverse weather. Left Fury Cove on a beauteous morning with flat water. We were accompanied up Fitz Hugh Sound by some whales who seemed oblivious to our presence, and were more than content to continue feeding. It is always a pleasant change to view some of the flora and fauna as opposed to logs and deadheads. Just so long as one is not dashed back to reality with an encounter with one of the aforementioned. As we progress northward, there are weather reports of winds building from the northwest. Nothing spectacular, but building all the same. In the “old days” a nor’wester. Now in times long past ,sea faring men were noted for their lack of conversation skills, this possibly as a result of not being heard above the sound of the wind screaming through the halyards, of maybe that they were just unsociable suckers at the best, and better off at sea. At any rate, this attitude resulted in many an abbreviation and rather than state that “the winds are building from the north-west” a “nor’wester” would cover the same territory. This also applied a so’easter or so’wester, but even ancient mariners drew the line at north and south as a we’wester only sounded as though they had a stammer. All this changed when someone determined that women aboard ships were no less unlucky than say shooting an Albatross, for example. Women being somewhat more able to vent their feelings verbally, in as many words, and for as long as the situation required, created a whole new aura on the ocean. In my own situation for example, if I have not explicitly followed instructions from the Admiral, will likely be reminded of this for some considerable period of time, and in as colorful expletives as the situations require. On the other hand, had my failure to follow instructions resulted in an unpleasant boat ride, the conversation could be short and terse, followed by long periods of silence. Go figure. It is also my understanding that BC Ferries is having an extensive study done in an effort to re-instate the policy of women being bad luck on boats.

 

It seems strange to pass Lama Passage and ply our way on towards Ocean Falls. Lama Passage leads towards Bella Bella and Shearwater, and has been the way that we have gone in the past. The fact that Ocean Falls has good docks, good power and abundant clean, clear water all at a reasonable price, may have some bearing on this choice. It seems that by the time we make it this far some laundry is in order and in Shearwater even the whites come out brown, to match the color of the water they are washed in. Now those who live in that area claim that this brown water is perfectly harmless, and even quite all right to drink. As most of the resident population has rather a brownish tinge, maybe as a result of the water, we choose not to take this chance.

 

Water is one thing in abundance at Ocean Falls, considering that it has an average rainfall of some 14.5 feet per year. Now put in it’s proper perspective, this would be equivalent to stacking three Bonnies end to end. That is quite a bit of water. However on the two days of summer the weather is spectacular and the scenery beautiful. Not to mention that the 40 full time residents are very friendly and helpful. It is hard to envision that this community once boasted a population in excess of 5000 people, and the largest hotel north of Seattle, with some 400 rooms. This was back in the times that pulp and paper was king, and money was no object. The 1970’s started the hard times for Ocean Falls, and a number of factors, both financial and political, brought about it’s eventual demise. Well so much for the history lesson, time to head north. More to follow.

 

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