By Friday, July 28 everything we needed to get ready had been marked off the list and by noon we were more then ready to hit the road again. Original plans had us leaving a 6 AM on Saturday and driving to the ferry at Tsawwassen, BC. Leaving on Friday let us drive over and find a spot, sleep, get up and do some sight seeing before we crossed the border into Canada. We drove top Cle Elum and looked around for a spot. Sutherlands always stay at the baseball field, but we pressed on a bit and found a real nice spot North of the highway on a forest service road near Easton. We were in bed by 9 PM and I was very happy to be in our new camper, nice and snug, dreaming of fishing in Port Hardy.
We hit the road early and followed I-90 to 405 and headed north to Conway where we veered off and followed Fir Island Rd. into La Conner. We found a nice spot there and toured the town. There was a bike ride going on an the town was full of cyclists. There was also a Lamborghini auto group visiting and the town was strewn with $200,000 sports cars. It made for an interesting combination.
We looked around and ate lunch but didn’t see anything we wanted so we drove on to the border. When we got to the border we found that it was packed. Thank goodness we had left La Conner when we did because it took us an hour and a half to cross the border and then another forty five minutes to get to the ferry terminal. No problems crossing but man it was crowded.
At the ferry we walked around the terminal area and had dinner, bought some fantastic cookies and just relaxed. We were the first in line and so when it came time to load we were the very
first vehicle on the boat. The ride was uneventful and we unloaded quickly and drove to the Hunter residence, only missing one turn in the process. We stayed the night in their driveway, Bruce, Tracy and family were up a Sprote Lake for their summer and we don’t know if we will see them. Once again the camper was a great little home and we are very happy with our purchase.
We reached Port Hardy and found our spot in the
Sunny Sanctuary Campground. It was pretty much just like we pictured, including the many bunnies’ that we were warned about. Set up was a snap and we connected to our full hook ups and made sure everything was working. John and Loretta were out fishing and we didn’t expect them back for several hours so we walked around and made sure Baka got some exercise.
The fishing crews arrived at about 8:30 PM and we got the introductions over and started right in processing the days catch. The fish were cleaned but the ones caught the day before had to be taken out of the freezer and sealed in freezer bags. Then the days catch had to be placed in the freezer for the night. This process would take place every night that we were there and it was one of their rituals that were completed prior to sitting down for dinner. Dinners were wonderful and usually started at 9:30 or 10 PM.
So that was the day of the fishing crew. Up early, probably 5:30 AM, pack the days food, launch the boat, fish for Salmon, mover to another spot, fish for Halibut, move again, fish for Salmon again, fill up with fuel, clean the days catch, load the boat on the trailer, take yesterdays catch out of the freezer and sealed in freezer bags, then the days catch had to be placed in the freezer for the night, followed by dinner at 10:30 PM.
I did this one day and by the end of dinner I was sleeping in my chair at the table. John was in his element. He loved the entire process and you could see it in his eyes.
While I fished with John that day, Linda and Loretta walked into Port Hardy and looked around at the stores. There are not many to look at but they made the best of it before returning and relaxing during the afternoon. Linda read her books and worked with Baka on controlling his urges to chase the bunnies.
John and I fished about a mile and a half Northeast of Port Hardy for the first half of the day. We caught Coho and Pinks but no Silvers in this area. We moved across the straight to a sand bottom area where John likes to fish for Halibut and fished there. I caught the fish in the photo
and in the process managed to smack John in the head with my big lead weight. I put the fish back in the water and even though it came from 300 feet down it swam away. We pulled up gear and moved again to another area where the “buts” (Halibuts) lay. We got nothing there and moved around a small island to another area where the Salmon move. I hooked up on a small Silver there and we kept it. John said the fishing was real slow so we pulled in the lines and headed into Port Hardy to fill up with gas and clean the fish.
Cleaning fish is easy, all you do is take a knife and attempt to clean your fish and everyone who knows how to do it “right” will tell you how, then get fed up with you and do it for you. I got three of my fish cleaned that way!
Back in camp we went about the process of freezing and packing fish until dinner and then everyone passed out and went to bed. My fish count was 3 Pinks, 1 Coho, and 1 Pacific Cod. I didn’t count the fish I caught that I hit John with my sinker when I pulled it in because I didn’t keep it.
Next day Linda and I went in to Port Hardy to look around. Nice little town, with and emphasis on the little part. We had Baka with us so we took turns going in to places we wanted to see. Not many things that drew our attention so we circled the town and started back. It had been cloudy all morning and just a s we left the main down town it started to rain, pour, deluge. We took cover under some eves and waited. It didn’t look like it was going to get clear, so we decided to get soaked and head back to the camper. It never let up the entire time we walked back. When we got to camp we stripped the close off and changed into something dry. Our camper was so nice to take cover in. We read, slept and dried our cloths while we waited for the fisher folk to return. Everyone was back by 8:00 PM so we helped with the fish and dinner, ate and said our good byes. We would be leaving in the morning and we had to thank everyone before they hit the high seas again in the morning.
We left Port Hardy at about 8:00 AM the next day Wednesday, August 2. We had reservation at
Ripple Rock RV Parkabout 7.5 miles north of Campbell River. The park overlooks
Brown's Bay Resort and the Discovery Passage.
Linda did well in the run/ride/run. She took FIRST in her age group, forth for women overall for solo participants and 39 overall.
first vehicle on the boat. The ride was uneventful and we unloaded quickly and drove to the Hunter residence, only missing one turn in the process. We stayed the night in their driveway, Bruce, Tracy and family were up a Sprote Lake for their summer and we don’t know if we will see them. Once again the camper was a great little home and we are very happy with our purchase.
The fishing crews arrived at about 8:30 PM and we got the introductions over and started right in processing the days catch. The fish were cleaned but the ones caught the day before had to be taken out of the freezer and sealed in freezer bags. Then the days catch had to be placed in the freezer for the night. This process would take place every night that we were there and it was one of their rituals that were completed prior to sitting down for dinner. Dinners were wonderful and usually started at 9:30 or 10 PM.
and in the process managed to smack John in the head with my big lead weight. I put the fish back in the water and even though it came from 300 feet down it swam away. We pulled up gear and moved again to another area where the “buts” (Halibuts) lay. We got nothing there and moved around a small island to another area where the Salmon move. I hooked up on a small Silver there and we kept it. John said the fishing was real slow so we pulled in the lines and headed into Port Hardy to fill up with gas and clean the fish.
