A Whale of a Time in Johnstone Strait

We enjoyed a long run of sunny weather that was reported to come to an abrupt end. But no

worries, the rain never stops us from doing what we want to do in these parts. We were scheduled to go on a Whale Watching excursion with Discovery Marine Safaris and we were confident in the fact that the vessel, Tenacious III was a comfortable boat with indoor washroom facilities. So we were set for the day.

My friend Kayley and I, among a cluster of other passengers met the crew at the Discovery Marina Dock, downtown Campbell River. I was a little surprised to see that the boat was nowhere to be seen. Instead we all loaded onto a comfortable 30 passenger bus and were whisked away to Kelsey Bay, in the thriving metropolis of Sayward, a 40 minute bus ride north of Campbell River.

What is #HootUpCR?

A little Background

Well we've all heard of Twitter, really how could we not have heard of Twitter and we have all heard that Social Media is the immerging technique for creating a social following, which in turn creates a marketplace for our products and services. From the perspective of marketing Campbell River, Twitter is a dramatically under-utilized resource that can quite literally reap huge rewards, quickly; with a minimum of cost and very little effort.

For those who are not internet savvy users, social media is seen as witch craft and it is sort of. But there are many out there that have got a firm grip on how it works and are willing to coach interested parties to grow our Twitter presence for the good of the community to realize a global presence for Campbell River.

Trendy topics become popular either through a concerted effort by Tweeters or as the result of events that prompt multitudes of people to Tweet or talk about one specific topic. In turn the more people there are discussing the same topic online, the more attention this topic generates overall.

Rowing for Tyee

I finally had the opportunity to go Tyee Fishing, it has been years since I managed to get on the water for some serious fishing and when you go Tyee fishing it really has to be all about the serious. As a matter of fact; it is as important to the person rowing the boat as it is to the person reeling in the salmon, there are some serious accolades given to a guide when he has been the one facilitating the catch.

There is something ritualistic about the act of casually sauntering down the Tyee Club dock, packing the gear into the specially made row boat, then slipping the boat into the water. Existing is an atmosphere of silent reverence, while a lineup of veteran rowers perform the same ceremony. The hushed banter on the dock centers around who caught the largest Tyee so far, which tides have been the most productive, how many fish are being caught and what they have been caught on.

Snorkel with the Salmon on the Campbell River

I know it sounds like a rather crazy thing to do and I guess it is but that also makes me a little nuts because I have snorkeled The Campbell River hundreds if not thousands of times. The first time was with the dive club when I first moved here in 1981. In the 90's I operated an adventure tour company that ran the Snorkeling with the Salmon tours, we ran 2 tours daily from basically the end of July to the end of October every year, I freqently found myself in the water for 3 tours or 6 runs a day with the rest of the crew.

I remember one year I asked a friend to come with me to do the first of the year scout mission, I figured we might see some salmon but I wasn't expecting much, as it was toward the end of July and it was a little early, but you never know. These are wild fish so the only timetable they adhere to is nature's.

Just for the thrill of it Tina and I entered the water just below the Hydro Station, I don't think you can even do that anymore as they have now gated it off. This would give us a wider perspective of the river and we would get the chance to play in the rapids at the upper reaches of the Campbell River. There was still plenty of spring run-off at that time so the river levels were just perfect to catch some serious waves.