Sailing Vessel Karma

Out of Prince Rupert channel we commenced to sail. Being that we were going north, we were going up wind, but in the sun and being Trevor’s first sail it was a good one. With Zoe and Heather handling Karma, Trevor whipped up some delicious sandwiches and we watched the sunny scenery as we traveled miles but made little ground towards where we were going. As dusk approached we motored into Pearl Harbour, just south of Lax Kw’Alaams (formerly Port Simpson) and the Cunningham Passage.

A huge bay but protected from the swell, we had one of those sunsets where the calm water mimics the sky and with a few gillnetting boats out, it was sort of the perfect BC Coast sunset, a perfect introduction into the anchored life for Trevor and a nice reprieve from the chaos that follows us always when we pull Karma up to a dock in a town. Being the first night on anchor, we all 4 had to watch Captain Ron, where Trevor became the semi official ‘swab’ aboard there after, then hit the hay.

We woke up to rain and bound for Lax Kw’Alaams we set off. We decided to stop there as Jonathan Raban mentioned a day spent there in “A Passage to Juneau” which Heather was reading along as we traveled the inside passage. We didn’t have far to go and it was through a narrow channel. I helmed with the assistance of our autopilot Mr. Murph while chatting with Trevor as Heather and Zoe hung out down below. We negotiated the channel in dense fog and a light but thick layer of water. After doing a loop outside of the town where one could feasibly anchor, we decided to head into the town docks as they were free and there was space for us without rafting.

Once at the dock it was still raining, we were talking about how funny it would be if we pulled up to this village, often skipped and overlooked by yachts, where the docks are free, and its just like a paradise where you are pampered with saunas and hot springs. Not being too confident in that being the case, we made a late-ish breakfast of black bean spring rolls aboard then, when it was more of a drizzle out, set off to wander around and explore.

There wasn’t much going on in town. While there are cars and roads, the furthest you can drive out of the small town is 16kms which is the only road and it goes only to the ferry which goes to Prince Rupert. The houses were simple but cute and often had lots of things in the semi overgrown yards. The town seemed lived in though in a good way and it was a nice place to walk around. Up the hill we went to where the newer looking school was and what, there was a waterside coming out of the building?

A game of four-square on a mountain bike track later we headed over to investigate. Turns out there is an extremely nice aquatic center, right there in Lax Kw’Alaams, with pools, saunas, a lazy river, and even a waterslide. Who would have guessed.

An inquiry later, turns out its 4$ to go in…. and they’d be open from then (roughly 12) until 4, or from 5:30 to 9pm. Okay, so plan made for that part of the day, back at 5:30 we’d be. We saw a poster on the wall for someone we could message on Facebook to have them bring us a pizza, so that was dinner sorted as well.

Out we set now with new energy to see what other strange secrets this not often visited place has to offer. Almost immediately we came across someone standing on their porch, Christian, as we’d soon find out, and we got to talking. He gave us each a piece of the dried salmon traditionally made by the First Nation groups in the areas. With him we walked through the town, aiming for someone’s house who made traditional art in the area, but they weren’t home.

Out on our own again wondering around we ran into Mike, married to the Chief’s daughter, living in town who got the job as the town gardener essentially. He drove us around pointing out people’s lawns that were no longer over grown going, “See that lawn right there? They didn’t have a lawn until I came around, I gave them back that lawn. See that house over there? They had literally no lawn until I came and helped them get their lawn back.” He took us on a trail that went around an old burial ground and showed us a traditional way of processing the abundant devil’s club, said to prevent cancer. Using your fingernail to peel the roots, you get the core of them free then boil it in olive oil for many hours. This infused oil can be applied directly to the skin or used in meals. He has started making beads from the devil’s club in the traditional style as well, which we often saw on women’s woven hats. He now sells them somewhere on etsy for many dollars to folks far away. He pointed out another trail which we took and walked barefoot through the soft woods, before heading back to Karma for a snack. On the way back we came across a house which sold these ice pops out the front door! Surprised to see us random tourists in town, we purchased the tasty snacks for the walk back.

In a small town what else would you expect to happen, we of course ran into Christian again who we had on board to share in the snackage before we set off for our water slide pool adventure in the evening.

The pool complex was nicer than expected! Hot tub, check, small but fun lazy river, check, big ole pool with balls and floaties and pool noodles, check, and of course, water slide. There wasn’t much activity going on inside, but you could tell it was the 10 kids in town who were around in town at the time there hanging out in the evenings. We had a grand ole time piling up down the slide, all going at once backwards or battling it out as we raced down. The hot tub interspersed with the sauna and lazy river kept us entertained until we called the local lady who makes pizzas at home for you if you call and it was delivered to the waiting room. Refreshed, clean, tired, and full we headed back to Karma in the night to prepare to leave the following morning to cross the border unofficially for Alaska, just a few miles north of us.