Sailboating up Indian Arm with Bluewater Adventures
byA few months ago Bluewater Adventures came on my radar and I’ve been curious about their eco-tours and Island adventures ever since.
Last Friday a small group was put together and we set sail from Deep Cove, to the very tip of Indian Arm in order to get a sense of the Bluewater Adventures experience. It was but a 3-hour tour however I never tire of exploring our region and watching the waves roll by past the tree-covered shores of mountains.
“Indian Arm is an important hunting and fishing area for the Coast Salish First Nation, including the Tsleil-waututh (Burrard), Musqueam, and Squamish bands. Their traditional use of the area is evidenced by pictographs found in the park.”1
I had some fun inspecting the Buntzen Lake power stations (through the magic of my camera’s zoom feature).
Being really into local history, it was neat to spot the legendary Wigwam Inn at the top end of Indian Arm. Built by Alvo (Gustav Konstantin) von Alvensleben in 1909, it was such a popular getaway that by 1913 it had a daily boat service provided by the stern-wheeler Skeena. 2 “Alvensleben built the inn as a resort for his moneyed friends, opened it with a lavish party for 600. It changed hands several times and was once raided by the RCMP as a gambling casino. Among its many guests were John D. Rockefeller and John Jacob Astor.” 3 Alvensleben was also once suspected of being a spy in 1914. The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club acquired the Wigwam Inn in 1985.
Throughout our tour, we were well-fed with a selection of cheeses, wines, crackers, spreads, vegetables, bruschetta, biscotti, quiche, and chocolate-dipped strawberries prepared on board.
Reaching the north end of Indian Arm we passed over jellyfish in the water and our skipper told us a bit about the area and the wildlife that is usually spotted, such as bears or wolves.
John Biehler took a time-lapse video of our trip (below) and he also published his own post about the trip.
Activities on all Bluewater trips include wildlife viewing, learning about native culture, sailing, and exploring — I’ve personally been coveting their Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii adventure for quite some time. They currently offer carbon-neutral trips and have recently been given a rank of 93.6% by National Geographic Adventure Magazine. You can follow @Bluewater_BC on Twitter for all of their updates.
Unfortunately John was unable to make it last Friday, which is really a shame since I would have loved to share this experience with him. This quick journey made me realize that I should be spending more time out and about in places of natural and historical significance — especially if I’m going to be writing about them.
It only took us 20 minutes to get from downtown to the marina in Deep Cove, and even if we weren’t going on a boat there is so much to explore in that area. It’s easy to love our city but it’s even more amazing to get out and experience all there is around it.
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Hmm.. was that the former (or maybe still current) power substation up there? I believe it’s now abandoned..
Anywho, if John wasn’t available to go, I would have been happy to be his proxy! It looks quite a bit similar to a trip I went on up Princess Louisa inlet on the Sunshine Coast to Chatterbox Falls.
Love camping at Granite Falls, will be doing another kayak trip up there this summer 🙂