Hawkair in-flight magazine, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, West Australia News, Canwest News Service and others, spring-summer, 2008
Cruising B.C.'s Inside Passage

BC Ferries’ Northern Adventure—sailing from Port Hardy on Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert—carried 50 cars, 14 RVs, one bus, one U.S. Customs van bound for Alaska, six bikes, four motorcycles, one kayak, 227 passengers and a crew of 53.

The water churned wildly as the vessel—part ferry, part cruise ship—torpedoed away from the loading dock at 7:30 a.m. The Northern Adventure was about to travel 400 kilometres up B.C.’s remote and spectacular inside channels.

Actually, my trip began in Victoria, where I joined a coach tour travelling up-island. We stopped at Chemainus to admire the outdoor murals depicting Island history, and at Coombs, where goats famously graze on the roof of the sprawling country market.

At Sayward, in forestry territory, we pulled into the Cable Cookhouse for coffee and pie. A Ripley’s Believe-It-or-Not kind of place, the entire structure is wrapped in used logging cable—2,500 metres (and 26 tons) of it.

At Port Hardy, we ferry-goers checked into the budget Quarterdeck Resort over-looking the fishing harbour. In the crowded pub, I revelled in a burger of fresh fried oysters from nearby Fanny Bay and a glass of beer.

At 6 a.m. we boarded the 117-metre-long ferry that would carry us up what’s known as Route #10—a 15-hour non-stop voyage up B.C.’s Inside Passage.

As the Northern Adventure entered Fitz Hugh Sound and passed the first nations village of Namu (meaning “whirlwind”) I caught up with ferry Captain Guy Kendall. He commented on the “outflow winds” from the mountains of 60 or 70 knots. “Gives you an idea what it’s like in winter,” he said. “Winter is beautiful.”

This one-day trip will run May 18 to Sept. 30, 2009. Then the spanking new Northern Expedition—built at the Flensburger Shipyards near Hamburg, with the latest in marine technology—will take over the route. At 150.5 metres, she will be larger than the Northern Adventure, capable of carrying 130 cars and 600 passengers. Built for comfort, the Northern Expedition will clip along at 20.5 knots, arriving in Prince Rupert in the late evening. Or, you can do the trip the southward direction.

The Northern Adventure will then move to the popular Prince Rupert to Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) route. While passengers on this autumn voyage included British, American, Dutch and Russian tourists, some were native Indians returning north to their ancestral territories.

Over breakfast in the Northern Adventure’s Coastal Café, I got talking to Ken Ackerman, a business writer from Ohio. Ackerman was heading to Prince Rupert to see the new $170-million container terminal there. “Rupert is going to be the fastest route from Shanghai to Memphis,” Ackerman said of freight-train travel. “That’s 12,000 miles closer than Los Angeles and Long Beach. You save two whole days.”

According to Capt. Kendall, passengers who travel the Inside Passage route are “Insiders” or “Outsiders.” Ackerman is an Insider, settled in the Raven Lounge with his wife and friends. Loungers chat, play cards, read and watch movies like “Walk the Line” with Johnny Cash. Other passengers retreat to rentable day cabins on the deck below.

“Outsiders,” on the other hand, remain on the decks. “Even when the weather is bad they’re out there, bundled up and enjoying the view,” said Chief Steward Chrissy Manson. “They’re in awe of the mountains and the trees. And the wildlife.”

Mountains—some snow-capped, shadow the Inside Passage. Fjord-like inlets run into them; plumes of water fall hundreds of metres. Beyond lies prime grizzly habitat.

Up on the bridge, I found Third Officer Ron Davis standing in front of an electronic navigation system, fed by satellites. On the large screen, he pointed to what looked like dots approaching the ferry from the north.

“Here comes Angie around the corner—a fishing boat,” he said of one of the moving objects. “And the Alaska State ferry. We’ll see him around Bella Bella.”

Then the voice of a crew member on the car deck came over the radio: “I’ve got a guy down here who’s locked his keys in his camper,” he said.

Added Davis dryly: “Welcome to our world.”

Meanwhile, a pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins was seen swimming alongside the ship. (The assistant steward, who I met in the Lighthouse Café on an upper deck, predicted that when a whale sighting was announced, everyone in the Raven Lounge would rush—he made the south “whoof”—to port or starboard. He was correct.)

North of Bella Bella, by dint of geography, the ship must briefly leave the protection of the Inside Passage for open ocean. Passengers were told we were heading “out to Milbanke Sound” and could expect sizeable swells. The car-deck was closed. I retreated to my cabin—#702 in the bow, spacious and modestly chic—for a nap.

An hour later and back “inside,” Boat Bluff lighthouse marked the entry to Tolmie Channel. At Swanson Bay, passengers gathered at the rail to see the ruins of one of the first sulfite pulp mills on the coast, abandoned in 1918. According to our route map we were nearing Butedale, one of few remaining fish cannery villages.

At the Coastal Café I enjoyed a roast-beef dinner with all the trapping, including wine. I’m told the Northern Expedition will include a cafeteria, buffet restaurant and licensed lounge, as well as a passenger lounge with reserved seating.

It will also offer passengers 55 double-berth day cabins, several suitable for passengers with disabilities. In summer weather, expect the Kids’ Zone to be busy (and just watch those “Insiders” eying the outdoor seating).
Meanwhile, bald-headed eagles were visible in the trees. We entered Grenville Channel, where the Inside Passage narrows to 425 metres. Occasionally moose and deer are seen swimming across. This is said to be many passengers’ favourite part of the trip.

Quietly, and as dusk fell, the Northern Adventure slipped into the dock at Prince Rupert. And Noah’s Ark-like, off rolled 50 cars, 14 recreational vehicles, one bus, one US customs van bound for Alaska, six bicycles… and the rest of us.