The BC coast is truly a small community and word seemed to spread that the Columbia III was turning 50 in October. Phyllis Hicks of the Anglican Women’s Auxiliary in Campbell River called and asked if we would host a tea party to commemorate the event. She reassured us that she would mobilize her forces and that all we needed to supply was the boat, the tea and coffee. They would supply the “snacks”. . . . and did they ever! Each participant came bearing sweet offerings and the salon table was soon laden in a grand array of treats. Jeanette wrote us a great newspaper article after joining us, note-book in hand, during the tea. One story that I heard didn’t make it into Jeanette’s notes . . . it’s a story that Rev. Trefor Williams (who traveled on the Columbia III in the late 1950’s and drove the 100 miles from Nanaimo to join us) told of one of his first journeys on the boat.

Just to the east of our home is a tidal rapids called “Surge Narrows” and the current can run to 11 knots there. Well, Trefor was traveling with a new skipper on the boat in 1958 and they were a bit uncertain how to determine slack water in the “Surge”. I gather from Trefor that is was quite exciting as they were sucked sideways through the narrow gap at maximum ebb, narrowly missing the boat-wrecking Tusko Rock that sits mid channel…

Trefor Williams signs the Columbia III guest log during the tea party

Phyllis Hicks, the tea party commander!

Oct. 1-7, 2006
Here was an idea that really took hold. We had wanted to run a special tour to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launching of the Columbia III and we had the idea of retracing some of her former routes with our good friend, author and historian, Jeanette Taylor along to help bring the abandoned areas back to life for us. But before we could really get the idea off the ground, a robust man in his late 60’s came aboard in Port McNeill. “Hello, my name is Rev. Peter Rolston and I use to work on this boat!” he declared in a most amiable way. He was rushing for a ferry but before he left we had swapped addresses because HE was coming for sure on our Historical Tour. During the fall of 2005 Peter called several times to ensure that the tour was going ahead, and when we confirmed the dates we called Peter. Within the week Peter had gathered his wife and eight more guests to fill our boat with people who had worked on mission vessels, including the Thomas Crosby IV and the Columbia III. Unfortunately, at the last moment Peter was unable to join us due to severe health problems but the tour, loaded with his friends, went on and we were all so glad that Peter had brought us all together. We retraced ports they had visited as ministers in the late 60’s, stopping in at Echo Bay, Minstrel Island, Port Neville, Blind Channel, Thurston Bay and more. We even got to swing by our home for the first time in months and give our guests a little tour of the Campbell/Kornelsen/Hyatt homestead.

During this tour I was really struck with the sense that the Columbia III was/is in her home waters. We were pulling into docks where the vessels of the Columbia Coast Mission have been tying up for the last 100 years. When we pulled into Whaletown people actually walked down to watch us tie-up “The Columbia is coming” was the call on the phone lines of the bay as we came into sight.

The response to the area covered and Jeanette’s warm enthusiasm got us planning next year’s history tour before we had even finished this years!

Note the Columbia III in the stained glass of the old church in Alert Bay.

Just like so many years ago, the Columbia III pulls into Billy Proctor’s dock as he waits to “catch her lines”.

Billy’s world famous museum.

We had a special group of people who have spent their lives in the service of others, in health care for remote communities, in food banks and inner cities, but they all listened intently to Billy’s rambling account of the problems the salmon farms in his area pose. He spoke with a solidity that a life-time of living in one spot has honed. He is an unassuming witness for us all, and we came away motivated by his quiet integrity.

Church House, an abandoned First Nations village in Bute Inlet. I doubt the old church will survive another winter.

August 20 – September 23 2006
We were so happy to be back in the Central Coast. The weather was perfect with sun and favourable winds for the whole time we were up there. Unfortunately, the lack of rain and warm waters were very hard on the returning salmon that were waiting for enough water to return to their spawning grounds. It seemed as if the whole natural world of the coast was waiting for the rains to begin. The wolves, eagles and bears where waiting hungrily for their autumn food supply and the forests were very dry, but as humans we thought that the weather was great. It is always such a pleasure to introduce guests to this area; the steep sided fjords, the open sandy beaches, the opportunities to see wildlife always keep us excited. More than anywhere else on the coast, the crew here are as eager for each day, each cove and each anchorage. It is always sad to head south at the end of our travels in this area.

Even the skipper got wet in Roscoe Inlet… the entire group went swimming in the unusually warm (far too warm for the salmon) waters of the inlets. It was all great until I snuck back on board and started to chug away down the channel… “I’ll meet you in Bella Bella”, I yelled and followed that by a blast on the air horn…

Lead Guide, office coordinator, and daughter, Miray has her birthday party on tour in the Great Bear.

Despite the resident Irish musicians on the Columbia III, two guests treated us to a back-deck concert of “Old Time” tunes from the American south.

Our last tour had a deranged sports-day with a wide variety of voluntary events, like the “under bum rock toss”

Fern gets a rare day off from the galley to paddle the sandy shores of the Central Coast.