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Mothership Meanderings
‘Our Summer Vacation’
There’s no way our 75-year old boat will
be meandering south to warmer climes
this winter—or any winter for that matter.
And having recently learned that a mariner-ancestor
of mine was killed (and eaten!)
in Fiji in the 1800s, hasn’t helped my appetite
for travel. So the best I’ve got to offer
is our most recent trip in southern Georgia
Strait, sung to the tune of “What we did on
our Summer Vacation...”
The Fraser River is the dominant river of
the entire Georgia Strait/Puget Sound
basin and the main reason the whole
bioregion is rich in wildlife. So it was to the
Fraser River we headed to start our holiday
this year, setting off from Silva Bay on
Gabriola Island.
At 850-miles long, the Fraser drains over
20 million hectares—one quarter of BC—
and carries fresh water, rich silt and nutrients
into the Strait. It has the largest salmon
Steveston’s dock-front restaurants.
Laurie MacBride photo
tion for rough water (when tides, wind and
river currents conflict), heavy boat traffic,
log booms, fishing nets, tugs and other hazards.
(Only days after we were there, a large
fishboat sank in the area, tragically killing
five of the crew.)
Fortunately the traffic and winds were
light for us that day and we had no problem
entering the river. We were passed by
just one enormous bulk carrier, the World
Spirit, which dwarfed our boat as we motored
up the milky tongue of the dredged
main channel.
Our landfall was Steveston, home of the
largest commercial fishing fleet in Canada
and the site of salmon canneries for over a
hundred years. Although fishing has declined
in recent years and none of the many
former canneries now operates here, visitors
can buy wild salmon, crab, halibut, or
shrimp (depending on the season) right off
the boats. Tourists also come in droves to
stroll the boardwalk and the docks, and dine
in quayside restaurants.
This is also the site of the famous Gulf of
Georgia Cannery, built in 1894, now a restored
National Historic Site and hands-on
museum. Visitors can learn about the community’s
history and the cannery culture
that spanned more than a century, as well
as issues in today’s fishery. We were very
impressed. (Ph: 604-664-9009. Web:
www.gulfofgeorgiacannery.com)
Our visit to to Steveston coincided with
two fishing openings in this year’s record
One of the backchannels of the
Fraser River near the Reifel Refuge.
run of sockeye salmon: the first for commercial
gillnetters, the second an aboriginal
food fishery. It was fascinating to paddle
past boats busy hauling nets right in the
river, both by power and by hand, and see
the salmon brought aboard. It looked like
a good catch.
We threaded our way among the
gillnetters as we paddled across the river
from Steveston to get to the outskirts of the
Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary on
Westham Island.
This is one of the key resting spots on the
Pacific Flyway and a mecca for birdwatchers.
The Fraser estuary provides a rest and stopover
between California and Alaska for hundreds
of thousands of waterfowl.
In fact, the Fraser estuary and Boundary
Bay together form the largest winter waterfowl
resting area on the whole west coast
of North America. Mind you, even at that,
the estuary is only a remnant of its former ➞
Laurie MacBride photo
runs in North America and its estuary is a
vital stop-over spot for migrating birds from
three continents.
We approached the Sand Heads
lightstation at the outer end of the Fraser
jetty with some trepidation. It has a reputa-
KAYMARAN
ADVENTURE TOURS
Fraser River Eco-Tours, Ladner BC
Tours, Rentals, Mothership, Family Rates
Phone (604) 946-5070
kaymaran@vancouver-bc.com
www.vancouver-bc.com/kaymaran
October/November 2002 www.WaveLengthMagazine.com
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