In September of 2002, Dustin Guenther, Dave Osato, Jason Enns and I took a road trip up Vancouver Island, through the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert and then drove back towards Vancouver. The trip was for Chase BMX Magazine and probably the highlight of the trip for me was a trip on BC Ferries’ Queen of the North. It was a cold and rainy day when we boarded in Port Hardy, and it only got worse as we headed north through some massive waves where the ferry careened from side to side. After seeing porpoises swim alongside us and whales play in the distance, we finally entered the Inside Passage where the clouds broke and the sun came out.
The Queen was a beautiful ship, and my only complaint about the trip was the cold and the rain. Wooden railings, rustic walkways, a real buffet with beer and of course our very own state room with bunks! At some point in the afternoon, while Jason was sleeping in our state room (too many Budweisers) Dustin, Dave and I went on a tour of the bridge… and we even got to steer the ship and look for pirates. After the bridge, we were given a tour of the engine room. Like all engine rooms, it was really hot down there and quite interesting.
This whole post, of course coincides with the upcoming fifth anniversary of the sinking of the Queen of the North. I remember that morning of March 22, 2006, when the radio woke me up at 6am to the news telling me that the Queen sunk in the middle of the night. It was one of those moments where your stomach sinks. What boggles me just as much is that the Queen still sits on the bottom, lurking as an environmental disaster…
