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Travel Story

The Lady Rose and her crew

B.C.'s living maritime heritage

Sunday, July 11, 5:30 a.m. Vancouver – Thank God!

(Final entry in the 1937 logbook of the Lady Rose (nee Sylvia) at the end of her maiden voyage from Scotland)

By the time we pulled away from the dock the smell of coffee was already wafting up from the galley and we filed down the narrow stairway leading to breakfast. Armed with pancakes and bacon, hot off the grill, the four of us slid into a booth beside one of the big portholes and watched the town of Port Alberni fade into the distance. On the marine chart, under the glass top of our table, we traced our route down the long Alberni Canal and planned our kayaking strategy in the island-studded waters of Barkley Sound. For Janet and Robert it was the start of a new adventure. Betty and I were returning to a favorite destination.

I got a second cup of coffee and a big smile from cook, Juanita, and made my way up to the wheelhouse for a chat with skipper Brooke George. He has owned and operated the Lady Rose for 25 years, longer than any of her previous owners. He nudges the polished wood and brass helm, guiding her through the narrow channel, and tells me a bit about his ship.

Built in a River Clyde shipyard 66 years ago the Lady Rose, originally christened Lady Sylvia, was the last vessel commissioned by the Union Steamship Company of Vancouver. She was designed to operate in the sheltered waters of the British Columbia coast but getting here from Scotland was an epic 9,800 mile journey that lasted more than two months. Buffeted by Atlantic gales, there were days when the little ship could barely make three knots against the raging seas that lifted her racing prop clear of the water sending shudders through her hull and anxiety through the crew. But she made it – and the triumph of her tumultuous maiden voyage proved that the Lady Rose could handle just about anything nature could throw at her.

After her arrival in Vancouver, Union Steamships put the Lady to work in Howe Sound, where she ran a scheduled service until the outbreak of World War II. Then, with windows boarded up and her hull painted battleship grey, she was pressed into service as a local troop transporter. After the war she returned to scheduled freight and passenger service in the Gulf Islands. But new roads, expanded air travel, and container ships cut into the traditional dual role of the coasters and by the end of the 1950s the little boats were running out of business.

In 1960 Dick McMinn and John Monrufet, a couple of experienced west coast mariners, found a niche for the Lady Rose. They based her in Port Alberni and put her to work serving the settlements of Barkley Sound and, at last, the 23-year-old Lady was doing the job she was designed for – a job she continues to perform today, 43 years later at the venerable age of 66.

Two hours out of Port Alberni, nearing the western end of Alberni Inlet, Brooke throttled back and entered Haggard's Cove to offload some passengers and freight onto an outboard-powered raft that pulled along-side. Except for a brief pause to watch a bear searching for crabs, Haggard's Cove was our only stop on this particular run. But, when needed, the Lady Rose will pull in to deliver or pick up people or freight anywhere along her route.

From Haggard's Cove we swung out into Imperial Eagle Channel and headed west toward the Broken Group Islands. A low Pacific swell gave us a taste of the complex aquatic dance the Lady Rose performs in even a moderate sea and I thought of the agony her crew must have gone through on that heroic Atlantic crossing in 1937.

An hour later, in the shelter of the Broken Group, we pulled into the calm water behind Canoe Island and docked at Sechart Lodge. Leaning out of the wheelhouse window Brooke skillfully winched a dozen freight containers out of the hold, set them gently on the dock, and then went down to help the Sechart crew unload the kayaks through a side door. Twenty minutes later the Lady Rose cast off for Ucluelet.

Most of the passengers stayed on board for the round trip. They will have an hour to explore the village of Ucluelet, have lunch or shop, and then cruise through the Broken Group Islands on their way back to Port Alberni. We waved the ship goodbye, gathered up our gear and followed the boardwalk up to the lodge – our base for a few days of kayaking in the Broken Group before catching the Lady Rose back home.

While the Lady Rose and her larger sister ship, the Frances Barkley, continue the traditional role of the coasters, providing year-round passenger, freight, and mail service to isolated coastal communities, tourism has become an increasingly important part of their business. The Lady Rose is now rigged and licensed to carry up to 100 day passengers and her forward hold and deck can accommodate dozens of kayaks.

For many years kayakers were left at the Gibralter Island camp site within the Broken Group. When permission to use that traditional drop-off point was rescinded captain Brooke George had the determination to find an alternative and the vision to foresee the need to accommodate growing numbers of visitors to this beautiful part of the B.C. coast. He decided the old whaling station on Sechart Channel was the ideal site and the ideal building was MacMillan Bloedel's 9,000 square-foot office building, 35 nautical miles away, in Port Alberni. Turns out that M & B had planned to replace the old building, which was built in 1945. Brooke purchased it and in 1995, with a little help from Nickel Bros. and their 150 foot barge, the 200 ton building was successfully transplanted to its present location and converted to Sechart Lodge.

It’s not a five star Hilton – no private bathrooms, and guests are warned to watch for bears behind the building. But the 19 rooms offer clean, comfortable accommodation. The showers are hot and the food is fabulous – tasty, varied, and plentiful. Outside on the wharf top quality kayaks and canoes are available to rent, Andrew and Maija are there to help get started, and its only a 20 minute paddle to the edge of the park and the myriad islands of the Broken Group. Or, if you prefer, the 42-foot Toquart Connector will take you and your kayaks to or from almost anywhere in the sound.

As the Lady Rose pulled away Karey, who has managed the lodge with husband Henk for the last seven years, docked one of the Boston Whalers with the finesse of someone who has grown up on and around boats. In fact, her dad was John Monrufet who brought the Lady Rose back to Barkley Sound in 1960 and owned her from 1969 to 1979. Karey, who grew up in Port Alberni, was cook/stewardess on the Lady when she met Henk, who is definitely not a local.

After a stint in the Dutch military Henk moved to Iran, where he worked as a pilot/engineer for 10 years "until Khomeini threw me out." From Iran he moved to New Guinea and from New Guinea to Port Alberni, where he ended up as engineer on the Lady Rose and, I suspect, spent a good deal of time helping Karey in the galley.

When Henk landed a job restoring vintage aircraft for the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton Karey signed on as their secretary to engineering and the two of them moved back to Ontario for 10 years. When the museum could no longer afford them they took a job with a fly-in camp in northern Ontario, but, as Henk put it: "it was too long away from the ocean for Karey." They arrived back in Alberni just in time to take over the management of Brooke's new Sechart Lodge – and have never looked back.

Like the Lady Rose, the little boat that brought them together, Karey and Henk and the rest of Brooke's crew are infinitely versatile – a team of people who work hard and clearly love what they do. When Karey isn't busy with accounts or helping Debby prepare meals she pitches in as a stevedore, moving freight and kayaks; and Henk does everything from running the 450 horsepower Toquart Connector Water Taxi to bussing tables in the dining room.

The enthusiasm of the crew and their passion for the islands is contagious. After a day at Sechart, guests who arrived as strangers are on a first name basis – sharing great food, a cool drink on the deck, and tall tales of the day’s adventures.