The Inside Passage, and the Singers of the Sea

August 21: we began a 10 day cruise down the Inside Passage from Ketchikan to the San Juan Islands on the Catalyst.

We boarded in the wee hours, unpacked in our cabin, and settled back in the saloon with hot coffee to watch Ketchikan disappear in the rain and the early morning gloom. Gales were forecast and the skipper had us board at 5 am rather than midday to take advantage of a weather window. We didn’t make a clean getaway – the 80 year old engine sprung a serious fuel leak after 2 hours, and even though we could have continued to the next port, Bill decided not to risk an open water crossing in bad weather so we turned back. A new part was waiting for us by the time we arrived and we were underway again shortly.

The galley looking forward

Galley looking aft

We certainly picked a good boat to spend ten days on. The Catalyst is a 75 ft wooden boat, built in 1932 as a research vessel for the University of Washington. It’s been beautifully restored and maintained, and is a very comfortable cruising vessel, with 3 decks, 6 cabins plus crew quarters, beautiful warm timbers inside, and the best galley I’ve ever seen. The crew is made up of the captain, Bill Bailey, and his wife Shannon, the boat’s naturalist, Cap the engineer who sings to his engine before he starts it every morning, and Tracie the cook. They’re all very friendly and easy going, and the captain has the most wonderful dry sense of humour. He and Shannon have lived in the San Juan Islands most of their lives, and know the Pacific Northwest well.  Calling Tracie ‘The Cook’ is selling her very short indeed. She’s a professionally trained chef and creates the most amazing food at every meal – it’s rather like sailing in a 5 star restaurant, with 5 star gluten free versions for me where necessary – I didn’t know gf food could be so good! As well as symphonies of food, she is also a professional classical musician, playing the flute, the piccolo and the bass sax.

 We really fell on our feet on this trip, because in addition to great food, and an entertaining and delightful crew, instead of sharing the boat with 10 other passengers, there are only two others – Ron, a geologist, and his wife Dee, a former nurse, from Arizona. The machinations of the US economy have hit tourism pretty hard and the Catalyst hasn’t avoided it, unfortunately.

Sliding down narrow silver waterways between steep, green-clad mountains is a wonderful way to endure rain on a holiday. Especially from inside a very snug and comfortable boat. After two days it cleared and instead of rain, we woke most mornings to the most amazing fog and mist, behaving like some sentient creature wreathing the Catalyst in fingers of vapour, or rolling down the sides of passing islands. Beautiful and otherwordly.

A pod of Dall’s porpoises came hurtling over to us one morning. It was as if they’d spotted us chugging by, judged our size and speed and yelled ‘Woohoo, let’s have some fun!’. They charged in, arcing and diving in formation through the waves straight at the boat, and spent the next 20 minutes playing with us, surfing the bow wave and generally having a good time, then disappeared as quickly as they’d arrived. They’re about 7 ft long, with markings like a killer whale (orca), a small head and a large body.

The next day was memorable for humpback whales. We’d spotted a few already, feeding in the channels, and curving out of the water, but this morning we were treated to an amazing display. We came across a group of three or four whales feeding close along the shoreline, and “bubble-netting”, where they dive down together, and release masses of air bubbles which frighten the fish and make them herd together, and then the whales surge upwards with open mouths, engulfing the fish and krill. Apparently only certain whales know how to do it, and they teach others they travel with, but it’s not a widespread skill.

There’s something about sighting a whale spout or a graceful curving tail that sends the pulse racing and the heart leaping. No one remains unmoved around whales. And there is still so much about them we don’t know – such as why humpbacks sing. I don’t believe anyone can watch them, and still support Japan’s right to hunt them. Or anyone’s for that matter. There’s a lot of controversy about First Nation people being allowed to kill whales, especially when they’re able to use modern methods, ie fast motor boats and high powered rifles, to hunt them. Just because was a traditional practice, doesn’t mean it’s automatically okay to continue it. Like exposing twins to die, or binding young girls’ feet, or sending children down mines…

The list of wildlife we see just keeps growing:  humpbacks, orcas, porpoise, Steller’s sea lions, sea otters, river otters, harbour seals and one day a huge sleeping elephant seal drifting down with the tide. Bald eagles, myriads of diving birds, gulls and other sea birds send us reaching for the ID books, and bombarding Shannon with questions. The deep diving Common Murre is a chunky, almost non-descript little bird, but it can "swim" to 600 feet down! We watch them "swimming" underwater as they dodge away from the Catalyst.