“What’s new at Ocean Falls?”, I asked Normally Normal Norman Brown, the Ocean Falls Port Authority roustabout. “Well, we had a heck of a wind storm. Wind blew over 75 mph. Lifted the corner of the roof off The Shack. It blew the covered lookout bench right over the cliff. Then, there was the landslide that came roaring down the mountain — boulders as big as cars came tumbling down, clear across the road and into the water. (This was just 30 yards from the marina!) They had to bring in big earth moving equipment to clear the road. There was rumbling for 5 minutes before you could see the huge boulders and trees headed for the water.” Never a dull moment in Ocean Falls.

Almost every day was warm and sunny for us. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of those days working on my blog. I could not believe how much improved the WiFi is this year. When I asked Herb, the Harbourmaster, if they’d made any changes to the WiFi, he said, “Yeah, we threw money at it.” Well, the “money” amounted to $25 a month more for about a 500% improvement. Money well spent, I’d say.

I also learned that Pacific Coastal Airline no longer offers scheduled passenger service to Ocean Falls. The only thing they fly in is the mail and charter passengers.

And, the big passenger ferry that used to call at Ocean Falls twice a week has been replaced with a small ferry 6 days a week.

I spent my early mornings paddling along the shoreline between the dam and Martin Valley, looking for photo ops.

 

 

 

I was studying the bright colors on some rocks, when I realized I was looking at the run-off from the long-ago remains of a pickup truck peeking through the trees.

Halibut fishing was outstanding. The fish cleaning station on the dock was a busy place.

Unfortunately, Al wasn’t interested in halibut fishing. What he was interested in was crabbing. I took these shots from my kayak one morning when Al was picking up his trap.

This seal followed the trap up and was hoping Al would toss him the fish he’d used for bait. He was persistent, getting within about 5 feet of my kayak. Seals can be pretty intimidating when they’re after food.

I did manage to get in one walk to Link Lake. The wildflowers were in full bloom.

The blackberries were full of blooms also.

And, the bees were imbibing in their nectar.

The butterflies were getting their share also.

We had a little bit of excitement one day when the Police Boat tied up at the dock. One of the policeman was carrying a couple of rifles. I thought they might be here to take care of a troublesome bear, but that was not the case. And, we never did find out what their business was. An unsolved mystery, but great photo op.

For the first time ever, we had a hummingbird come to our feeder in Ocean Falls. Hooray!