Part 11. Shearwater and Ocean Falls

I guess this posting is related to the last one!  I have just spent a week in Shearwater and Ocean Falls.
Sorry, can't divulge the nature of the job but found the areas very interesting.

Shearwater Marina

Shearwater is about 60 miles north of us. It is accessable by boat or sea plane and the ferry does stop there too. The 'town' of Shearwater is situated on Denny Island. For a remote area it has good facitlites, especially for the boating community who use it on their travels up and down the coast.
The main 'town' is clustered round, what used to be, an airplane hanger. That has been converted into a marine shop plus the addition of a store, post office, marine store, bar, restaurant, laundry, hotel and a couple of small shops.
The island has a small permanent poulation which sustaines an elementary school. The properties are few and far between. Most are located on the waters edge and so use boats for access but roads are slowly being punched through. Not sure if I can actually call them roads, more like very rough bouldery tracks so no fancy cars here. Just the requisite old truck!
There are actually 5 miles of road but many more miles of tracks and trails.
The boat yard also has a travel lift for taking boats out of the water for repair. It is quite the asset as there is not another one till you reach Prince Rupert so broken down boaters are quite relieved to see it.
There is no industry on the island so most people make a living from the tourists by providing marine repair, boat charters and accommodations.

Whiskey Cove

Shearwater Dock

Ocean Falls is quite a different story!

Ocean Falls is in Cousins Inlet and was first visited by Cpt Cook in 1778. The town was not there then but was also mentioned in notes from Cpt Vancouver when he passed through in 1793.
There are of course the local First Nations who have frequented the area for many hundreds of years.
May, 1903 brought three men, J F Keefe, John Hewitt and Mark Smaby. They were looking for timber rights and realised that the area had great potential as it not only had lumber but a large lake which could provide power.

Link Lake

Dam Above Ocean Falls

25 men arrived in Sept 1906 to start clearing the land. From then on it developed slowly into a thriving town with more modern conveniences than some have today. It was purhased by Crown Zellerbach and became a real 'company town'. Schools, stores, church, housing,hotel, apartments, hospital, and a huge swimming pool. That pool has produced most of the Canadian swimmers for PanAm Games, Commonwealth Games and some Olympiads. Not bad for a company town miles from anywhere in the bush.
The main asset of the area is not just the lumber. Link Lake is a large body of water that could provide power to a saw mill, pulp mill and electricity to the whole town. The mills are gone now but the dam is still providing power to the nearby comunities of Bella Bella and Shearwater as well as for it's own use.

Martin Valley

Abandoned House!

In its day there were upwards of 5000 people. Now just a handfull. A strange feeling to walk around a ghost town and imagine what it was like back then.

It has had it's share of disasters. Being in a rain forest, and they get 172 inches of rain annualy, has caused many slides over the years. Parts of the town have been destoyed and lives lost. Many of the houses are situated in Martin Valley which is about 2 km from the town site.

Power Plant on right. Abandoned Hotel centre. Dam in back ground

Power Lines heading to Bella Bella and Shearwater

In 1972 it was decided to shut down the town and the Gvt wanted to demolish everything.  A hurried meeting by the residents concluded that they would fight to keep their community so the Ocean Falls Improvement Society was started.
Many of the buildings have had to be demolished over the years but some buildings are being restored and the few remaining residents are only to happy to show you their court house, post office, museum etc and tell you of the company town that refuses to die!