Welcome to Port Edward, a small community just ten miles to the south of Prince Rupert; we’re here to drop off Otto’s chum net and pick up his sockeye net; hopefully, while we’re here we’ll also manage to get some ice for his fish holds and arrange for transportation for this week’s catch down to Vancouver. It seems that the guys that Otto used last year for both ice and transport either aren’t in business this year or haven’t set up shop yet, so Otto and Terry reached out through their fishing friends for leads and suggestions. Fortunately we’ve managed to find both, so our catch in a few days will be shipped down promptly assuming we’re able to get from the fishing grounds to Port Edward by 10:00AM on Wednesday morning. Eminently doable, if we leave around 4:00AM.
(I thought salmon boats ran on diesel, but it turns out they actually run on coffee.)
The real highlight of Port Edward, however, are the shower facilities that we have the opportunity to take advantage of here; they might be drafty, scummy and coin-operated, but it’ll be a heck of a lot easier than trying to wash my armpits in a sink. The showers take loonies, of which we’ve each managed to scrounge a few. Unfortunately, when your time runs out, there’s no advance warning. Suddenly, the hot water shuts off leaving you with a sudden burst of cold to try and a frantic rush through rinsing the rest of the soap off. Why can’t every shower have this associated sense of adventure?
With no need to hurry as the fishing doesn’t start until Monday, we’ll be spending tonight here before heading to Prince Rupert tomorrow to get fuel and spend a couple of town days to renew our food supply.
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During the trip, you can either check this blog for the latest entries, or you can go to this interactive map of all the blog posts related to this trip. You can also find photos from the trip on Flickr.