Cruising on the MV Lillian Belle: Echo Bay

Echo Bay Resort with Belle's stern peaking out

ECHO BAY/PIERRE’S RESORT

We joined in on the Prime Rib dinner last night at the resort. They did a magnificent job barbecuing several roasts. It was cooked to perfection! We sat next to a couple and their son from Alberta who were kayaking from Vancouver Island to The Broughtons. Echo Bay was their “luxury stop” with hot showers and real beds.

We took about a 20 minute hike along a rustic trail today to get to Billy’s Museum. Billy Proctor who collected all the items displayed, is a local legend. He is a wealth of information about the history of the area. A former logger and fisherman, he made a livelihood from the forest and the sea. Billy met us at the entrance to his museum, and David asked him if he knew of a boat called Invercan V, which was the original name of our boat. He knew the boat right away and remembers it well. We finally found out where the unusual name, Ivercan, came from…it was one of a fleet of five boats owned by Inverness Cannery.

Billy chatting with David in front of his museum

He also remembers well the second owner of our vessel, Byron Wright, who renamed it Prosperity. Apparently, Mr. Wright was a very aggressive fisherman who didn’t always follow the rules and would poach salmon from the rivers and inlets. Billy did defend him by saying, “But he was the nicest guy to meet.” He had a twinkle in his eye when he talked about his “pal”, Byron.

Mr. Proctor did have some complaints about the number of cougars on the island which he claims have decimated the deer population. He also said that there are only two bears left that he knows of and one usually sleeps outside the museum. He has lived in the area for over 60 years and has become an active environmentalist. It was a joy to listen to his stories…he seemed like such a gentle soul.

A bridge to Billy's

We bought his book, Full Moon Flood Tide, in which he stated that there were petroglyphs on the cliff across from the Echo Bay Marina. And sure enough, we could see them clearly with our binoculars. He also states that one of the best places to spot a bear is Viner Sound where we had spotted only piles of scat.

Our friends. Pam and Dennis, arrived at the marina around 2:30 this afternoon. They have friends, Bert and Joyce, who are also staying here. They are the owners of the Mile High Resort near Kamloops in the Okanagan area in BC. They are all joining us for dinner tonight aboard the Belle. We are going to share some of our crab since they have had no luck catching any. We’ll gloat just a little.

Bert, Dennis and Joyce enjoying crab and margaritas

We went to a presentation tonight given by a young woman, Nikki Van Schyndel, who is a wilderness survival expert and naturalist. She talked a lot about the American Indian scouts (Geronimo was one) and what they were taught to do in order to hunt and protect their people. She even went to a “Scout School” in Washington state and learned to interpret tracks, camouflage herself in order to observe wildlife, and most of all, how to use her intuition to become much more aware of her surroundings. She was delightful. With a willing volunteer, she demonstrated how she applies ash, clay, etc to her face to camouflage herself in the forest. When she was done, you really could not detect where the nose, mouth, or chin were on this volunteer’s face!

We bought her book which is the tale of her experiences and challenges living in the wilderness for an entire year. She lived off the land in an attempt to reconnect with nature. She conducts eco-excursions for groups during which she teaches you how to forage and what is collected becomes your lunch. I understand that at one time Nikki even hosted High Teas in the wilderness!

Pam and her sweet dog, Lola

David went out with Dennis and Bert before dinner and dropped some prawn traps. I guess the trick is dropping it in depths of 280 to 300ft which we have not done and maybe adding some fish oil or cat food. We picked them up the next day and there were 16 huge prawns in two of the traps. Dennis re-baited them and dropped them again. He was feeling lucky.

We had breakfast on Pam and Dennis’ boat, Ocean Cape, this morning and Dave and I got a tour of their lovely vessel. They have been marina neighbors of ours for years but we had never had a tour. I was very impressed with the work they have done on their boat to make it so functional, comfortable and appealing.

After breakfast, we noticed several fishermen returning to the marina with salmon so Dennis decided to go fishing and Bert, Dave and I joined him. We were out for about 3 hours with no luck. As soon as they brought in their lines and put away their gear, a mighty salmon leaped out of the water as if to thumb his nose at us (or is it “fin his nose” at us?).

Rods are out and David is moving the boat slowly through the bay

I am ready to give this fishing thing a try

Even if we did come back empty handed, I loved the experience and Dennis has the perfect boat for fishing with lots of storage and all the equipment a fisherman could ask for. What was really a thrill was spotting two humpback whales…Dennis thinks it was the same whale we saw twice, but I want to believe there were two separate whales. One even flipped its flukes at us.

Pulling up the prawn traps

Jumbo prawns!

We returned in time to take part in the duck race. We had two ducks in the competition but, alas, neither was crowned the winner. There was very little current so the suspense lasted a long time. We didn’t even get to keep our ducks!

Pam and Joyce...ready for the race to begin!

We got our ducks in a row...

We have a pig roast tonight that is being hosted by the resort. These last three days have been nothing but eating and drinking. I like to call this marina, “Party Central”. Pierre’s Resort makes you feel comfortable and genuinely welcomed. They really know how to draw the people in. I believe what has made a difference for us is having friends here to join in on the fun. Thank you, Pam, for including us in your plans.