Tofino Books: Silent Inlet

For a small town, we have an incredibly creative population. There are many artists and creative types, including writers. (There's even a little section in town a few of us call The Writers' Block as there are six fairly serious writers living on it.) I've a stack of books in my office that I'll start profiling in a feature called (quite unimaginatively, I realize) Tofino Books. Books are, of course, a wonderful way to get a glimpse into a place and I'll begin with one of my favourites: Silent Inlet.


I'll come clean right up front — this book is written by my buddy Joanna Streetly. Set in a fictional Hanson Bay, Joanna has captured beautifully the nature of the west coast — the fog-draped mountains, the drippy gray days, the captivating beauty. In Silent Inlet she weaves together the stories of Harry (Harriet), a feisty older woman who lives alone "in the sound," Harry's daughter Hannah, who is returning to town with some heavy baggage (and no suitcases), Big Mack Stanley, a very large and thoroughly likeable, but troubled, Native man, and his nephew Lonny, who quickly charms his way into the reader's heart.

This is a bit from the jacket blurb: "As their lives intertwine, misunderstandings bring them to the brink of tragedy. Their story, of love gained and lost, of the bonds of family and community that can heal or destroy, is timeless. Their destiny is shaped by west coast history, First Nations culture, and the forces of Nature."

Joanna has captured not only the setting perfectly (and she knows this place well, having lived on a floathouse in Clayoquot Sound for many years), but also the people who, by choice or birthright, have made the west coast their home. It's a great read whether or not you are visiting the coast, but ideal if you are travelling anywhere from Port Renfrew to Prince Rupert.

More info:

An introduction to the book by Joanna where she writes:

Silent Inlet reaches for the raw physicality of people and place: people who are caught in the sea of turbulence, hardship and brilliance that characterizes the west coast. The story brings the elemental atmosphere of the east coast novel genre to a more complex, wild setting.

The challenge of this novel is to paint the west coast through different eyes; to lay out a spectrum of perspectives, caught in which the reader can grasp the diversity of human lives, as shaped by history and the forces of nature.

And here is a review from BC Bookworld.

Silent Inlet is published by Oolichan Books. (And if you are wondering what an oolichan [eulachon] is, check this out.]

Artist Deanna Lankin

These pictures caught my eye a while back. They're by Tofino artist, Deanna Lankin. She was profiled in Tofino Time a few years back.

From that article:
[Deanna] likes to paint on whatever she can find, broken surf boards, skate boards, canvases and just about anything that paint will stick to. She works mostly in acrylics but has been known to play with water colours and charcoal. Deanna sees her artistic purpose as being there to "capture moments". Much of Deanna's work tends to be portraits and waves but she enjoys landscapes and commission work.



Currently, Deanna has paintings at Tofitian and Studio One. She will also be showing work during the Whale Fest, with paintings at The Wickaninnish Inn and Pacific Sands. For more info on Deanna and to see more of her work, check out her blog. Some of her images can be viewed here, as well.

The Lady Comes to Tofino

This little ship...



is coming to Tofino.

Read about it here. I'm glad to hear she'll be staying on the west coast and a restaurant and some sort of maritime museum sounds like a great use. I have fond memories of the Lady Rose from when FH and I (and Daughter A in her early months) lived in Bamfield. The photo above is taken Bamfield Inlet.

If you're a visitor to the coast, I highly recommend trying to fit a trip on the Lady Rose's sister ship the Frances Barkley, which is still operating. In the summer you can embark or disembark in Ucluelet. It's not a car ferry so you'll have to arrange for a pick-up or link with the bus from either end, but it is well worth a trip if you want to see some of Barkley Sound, including the Broken Group Islands. Details on times and other info. here, at the Lady Rose Marine Transport site.

When the Earth Moves

At the moment the horrific earthquake in Haiti is on everyone's mind and in the news. I know people are personally sending donations, but there have also been some community events. The elementary school is holding a bake sale on Saturday at the Co-op and the spaghetti dinner fundraiser last week raised about $2000, which will be matched by the federal government. Daughter P and I had our dinner there. (Daughter A helped serve and clean up.) It was a great night, not only because of the fundraising aspect, but because of the cross-section of the community that attended. It reminded me of the monthly potlucks we used to have in Bamfield. They'd pass the hat and the money would go to some "cause of the month." But I loved it mostly because of the community it created — there were people of all ages (particularly the 20&30-somethings, who you don't often see at these events), the kids dancing to the music and running around the hall, people gathering for a quick bite before going on their Friday-night-way. Makes me think we should do more of this.

The earthquake is also a graphic reminder to those of us who live in an earthquake zone of just what could happen. Yup, we're on the edge here; literally. Earthquakes — and tsunamis — have happened here, and will, at some time, happen again (and again). When you visit, you will notice signs like these:



Never fear. Just follow the signs to safety. You could go this way:



Or perhaps this way:



Or, if you are really confused and despairing, you could just look up:



Seriously, if you are here when a earthquake or tsunami happens, there will be some semblance of a response plan. There is a hard-working team that are up on emergency preparedness for the region. The signs seem to point in one direction or another so it's important to follow them carefully and not second-guess. There's only one road along the very low-lying peninsula and all we need is people being stupid in their cars.

As for the history of earthquakes and tsunamis in the area, Jackie (who is also a geologist) is all over it in this, her post on our "earthquake anniversary," January 26.

A Day in Pacific Rim

The National Film Board has put many of their films on-line. (I know where I'll be snooping around when I'm looking for distraction.) Here is a near silent film of Pacific Rim National Park, just down the road, filmed back in 1978. (Of course it has the obligatory-in-Canadian-films call of the loon near the beginning. I don't think I've ever heard that call out here, but perhaps others have. Let me know.

Tofino's Flowers in January

It's been a busy week — LOTS of meetings about the school situation. Some good news, of course — a school won't be closed (yet) — but the fight has just begun. This has got many people engaged and ready to work together to improve the situation on the west coast. Our kids and our schools deserve our support. I'm doing what I can, working with the Save Our Schools group, handing out petitions, encouraging people to write letter, educating myself. But doing what I can also includes continuing with my philosophy that education doesn't just happen Monday to Friday from 9-ish to 3-ish. We live in a small town, we can't have it all, but we do have so much that people don't take advantage of. At times, we need to focus on what we do have, rather than what we don't. Today, that's what I'll do.

Jackie did a little bit of celebrating this week, too. She got out her camera and hopped on her bike to see what flowers were blooming this week. Here's what she found.

Remember the fundraising dinner for Haiti tonight. From 5 to 7 at the Community Hall.

Spaghetti for Haiti

What a roller-coaster week. The tragic death of a wonderful local man, the birth of a new nephew (welcome, Xander), and, of course, the tragedy of Haiti. As well, we are busy preparing for the next round with our school board tomorrow. Posting may be slight this week, but for now, mark your calendar for Friday. There will be a community spaghetti supper to raise money that will be sent for Haiti relief. The event is as the community hall from 5 to 7 pm. $10 for adults; $5 for children.

A Guitar Called Tofino

I'm always on the lookout for the word Tofino on the web and it turns out there are several items that have a Tofino "model." (Like Birkenstocks, for instance.) But here's a new one: a guitar called Tofino.



Beautiful, isn't it? And the name is appropriate as that top is red cedar.

Turns out that the fellows who designed this guitar, MacKenzie and Marr, will be on Dragon's Den this Wednesday, July 13. Check it out to see how the Tofino fared in "The Den." (I find this show hard to watch — I'm not big on public humiliation — but Daughter P, in particular, likes it so we'll try to tune in.) Although the show was pre-taped the designers can't reveal the outcome. Here's a blog post about their DD visit and a story from the Waterloo Record.

On the Line with George

On the boat trip I described last post, we also came across these posts.



(It was a very high tide that day. For the most part, this is mudflat.) From their location, we're pretty sure they are the remains of the posts from the old telegraph line that ran from Long Beach up to the Kennedy River. Our man, George was the lineman on this stretch for several years. Here's what he was up to at Long Beach 83 years ago.

January 9, 1927
Just like summer — had lunch on veranda — 86 degrees on veranda at noon. Ten tourists just passed through from Clayoquot to Tofino this morning on way to Victoria. Several hundred ducks feeding in field all day. Took horses from tide flats and put in field.

January 10, 1927
Fine day. Worked all day on trail to landing.

January 11, 1927
Fine weather. Filed saw and cut wood. Black pullet laid for first time. Tried for ducks — plentiful in field but very wild — did not get any. Got wire from Muriel says she will be on Maquinna.

Can you believe the 86 degrees? Cool and drippy today, but one of the warmest days I ever remember on the coast was in February when Daughter A was small. We were on Chesterman in shorts and t-shirts with a gaggle of kids.

Swans of Tofino

One of the things we did manage to do over the holidays was to get out in our boat for a chilly trip. I wanted to recreate the trip that people used to take as they travelled from Tofino (or Clayoquot) up to Long Beach. Before there was a road (which wasn't really all that long ago), people would travel up the inlet by boat (canoe, rowboat, sailboat, putter,...) on the flooding tide to the narrowest part of the peninsula. From there, they'd hike across the peninsula to come out at a spot near today's Airport Road at Long Beach.

It was a drippy, cool day, but there were lots of birds around, including these ones.





Pretty, no? (A little blurry, I realize.) Winter is a wonderful time to bird watch on the mudflat side of the peninsula. Even if you don't know your birds, a little trip out to Grice Bay is a wonderful calm change from the pounding surf on the open ocean side of the Esowista Peninsula. I love the drive down the road and it's even better on a bike. If you do want to know more about birds, though, the Raincoast Education Society has a great program they offer regularly: Building Better Birding Skills. It's happening this Sunday, too. Just meet at the parking lot at South Chesterman at 10am. No experience necessary.