Friendly Encounters




Anchorage, Thetis Island

To continue our progress northward, we departed Montague Harbour in the late afternoon and made our way to Thetis Island for a night’s anchorage.   

Gilbert Displaying His Carvings

A narrow cut divides Thetis from Kuper Island, home of the Penelakut First Nation.  Thetis Island and Kuper Island (now known as Penelakut Island) were originally joined by mud flats until 1905 when a passage was dredged to allow boat traffic to pass through to the west side.  Thetis Island was named after the British surveying frigate, HMS Thetis stationed on the Pacific between 1851 and 1853, Captained by Augustus Leopold Kuper.  

Penelakut Wood Carving

Kuper Island was renamed Penelakut in 2010 in honour of the Penelakut First Nation people.  The village at Penelakut had fifteen or more large houses on the beach, located almost at sea level – the word Penelakut means ‘log buried on the beach.’  We anchored in Clam Bay on the east side of Thetis Island and had just finished dinner when two natives approached us in a skiff.  They pulled up to our swim step and showed us their wood carvings available for purchase.  We chose a small Raven painted light blue and black which matched nicely with our boat’s interior.  Gilbert, the artist, signed and dated his work on the back indicating its place of origin, “Penelakut Island” – we now had a nice memento.  

Approaching Dodd Narrows

In the morning we departed for Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, passing through Dodd Narrows.  Dodd Narrows is located between Gabriola Island and Vancouver Island with Mudge Island squeezed in the middle creating a narrow bottle neck where the current can run as much as 9 knots at Flood and/or Ebb as predicted in Tables for tides and currents.  

Dodd Narrows

The Narrows are easily transited, however, during slack or near slack water.  We went through just as slack was ending and at the beginning of an Ebb Tide without any trouble.  We arrived in Nanaimo at 10:20 in the morning during the busy 4^th of July weekend and still managed to find space at the marina thanks to a timely cancellation by another boater.  Our first matter of business was to get some Canadian currency and make a trip to the grocery store. 

Frank Relating a Canoe Story

After our chores, we settled in and received an unexpected visitor from a member of the  Coast Salish.  Seems that word of our arrival spread quickly and followed us to Nanaimo.  Frank, from the Salish Reserve, was at the docks and stopped by our boat with his collection of wood carvings; he would be happy to make a custom piece for our boat, he said.  We commissioned work from him for a canoe paddle to fit above our galley.  We discussed the dimensions, colour, style, and price range.  

Raven Paddle, Coast Salish

Frank came back the next evening as promised with his completed artwork, a paddle with a Raven motif carved out of cedar, very nice and just the right size!  About that same time, we received a text message from our friends Bob and Shino who happened to be in Nanaimo with their boat.  Wow, what a coincidence!  They came over to join us and met Frank just before he left, then the four of us headed out to dinner. 

 


Irish Pub, Nanaimo

We went to an Irish Pub located in “old town.”  The Pub is housed in the old train station built in 1920 by the Canadian Pacific Railway for the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) run.  The station has been refurbished and recently opened as a pub venue.  We enjoyed a delicious Moroccan meat and vegetable pot pie with a specialty IPA on tap, combined with some hardy laughs and good conversation with our friends.  A great way to end a day full of surprises.