19th Annual Tyee Tour 2005 Photo Page 2

Ice is absolutely crucial, without it the Tyee Tour would not be possible. We’re very thankful to obtain ice from a few sources on the coast, our friend Mickey at Keltic Seafoods in Port Hardy www.kelticseafoods.com ,the people at Bella Bella Fisheries, and occasionally from friends we know at fish camps. Here we’re shooting a couple of cubic yards into coolers in Bella Bella. This fish plant ice is flaked to maximize surface contact on fish and very cold (-7C) allowing it to keep well in our super thermal coolers. It is dispensed from this large pipe from the ice house to commercial fishing boat’s holds. Needless to say The Good Ol' Boys is a less significant customer.

Leif Nelson & Jeff Burdett (Burdy) both veterans on the tour joined me in Bella Bella. The weather was poor for traveling on the outer coast, so we ran the boat up Princess Royal Channel to get where we were headed. This channel has several waterfalls along route and side inlets. One of which we anchored the evening in, Khutze Inlet

At the head of the 5 mile long Khutze Inlet we discovered these magnificent waterfalls.

Butedale was a small fish cannery town on Princess Royal Island, abandoned many years previously. Butedale was also a stop on the old steam ship route that serviced the BC coast. Princess Royal Island is  home to the white Kermode Bear, a rare white subspecies of the black bear family.