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Day 3:
Pinkerton Group, Barkley Sound |
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We set off for the Pinkerton Group the next day, which is just outside the
northern boundary of the Broken Group. Pictured is the M/V Lady Rose,
which we passed en route. It is a passenger and freight ship that
works various west coast communities. It was originally a member of
the famed Union Steamship Company fleet. |
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We first went north to visit the ruins at Ecoole on Seddall Island directly
north of Tzartus Island. In the 1920s and 1930s, this was a BC Packers
Pilchard Reduction plant with a small supporting settlement. It was
abandoned in the 1940s and this is pretty much all that is left. Because the west
coast was populated so early and so heavily, it also suffered through many
abandoned enterprises and communities as their resources waned or business
moved elsewhere. There are ruins the length of this coast, much more
than you see other places along the B.C. coast. |
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This is the entrance to Useless Inlet, north
and west of Ecoole. It's kind of tricky to get in, with rocks across
the entrance. We went through the route recommended by the Douglass
guidebook, along the western side of the channel. This was a little
dicey as we had to turn the boat sideways to the wind and current, which is
not its most maneuverable position. |
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The inlet is rather steep-to, with almost every
anchorable nook taken by a floathome or aquaculture. However, two
sailboats were anchored at the head, and they looked quite comfortable. All
the coves where one might anchor in the arm connecting to Fatty Basin are taken by
aquaculture. |
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Someone, presumably the aquaculture farmers, had
strung line across a cove opposite the farms. We assumed that this was
to prevent anyone from anchoring there. |
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This is the entrance to Fatty Basin from Useless
Inlet. From
looking at the chart, we had considered going through, but seeing how narrow
it actually was resolved that question. We'd be touching trees on
both sides. Also, another aquaculture farm was visible on the inside,
so it didn't look like an appealing anchorage anyway. |
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We exited on the eastern side of the channel,
where all the local boats seemed to zoom through. It was narrower and
shallower than the western path, but it was a straight run, so it worked
better for us. |
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The Pinkterton Group -- our destination.
This shot pretty much says it all.
Unfortunately,
being outside the park, many of the coves have floathomes and aquaculture,
and the rest already were already occupied with sailboats - 3 when we
arrived. This is another notable feature of the west coast of the island
-- sailboats outnumber power boats by a large margin. |
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We anchored
for lunch on cove at the north end of largest island, west of V-shaped nook
which already had a floathome. We dragged and couldn't get very good grip,
but enough for lunch. Then we set off to look for an overnight spot. Not
finding one we liked better, we returned to our lunch spot. We dropped hook
and pulled back with our bow to the NW and dropped lots of rode. We
eventually got a good hold and dropped the stern anchor, but it slipped too
-- the bottom is fine silt. So we stern-tied instead. |
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We then set off to explore
by dinghy -- this is great territory for poking around in. We went to look
for the ruins at Sechart, where there was once a Native summer camp, then a
mining station in 1892, a whaling station in 1905 and a pilchard-reduction
plant in the 1930s. But we went ashore one cove too far. We came back to
Pinkerton Lodge where the ruins of the old dock have been built into their
dock. |
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We tied off at logging camp dock just west of
the Pinkerton Lodge and walked in.
Lots of heavy equipment here. Pretty impressive. The engine on one of the
logging trucks was called "Davey". They
also had their own ambulance, which gives
you a feel for how dangerous this work is. |
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The fog rolled in later that evening.
This is the view from our anchorage, with the Pinkerton Groups islets fading
into the mist. It was amazingly tranquil--we could hardly believe that
there were small pockets of people about everywhere, it was so quiet and
peaceful. |
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