Tuesday, August 27, 2002 -- Gill-to-yees to Bishop Bay

This was a fairly long travel day to some hot springs in Bishop Bay. We had a little sun, and we obtained more fresh water from the falls in Gill-to-yees, so some folks did their laundry. I enjoyed looking like a floating laundry barge for a while. Soon enough, it started to rain again, and didn't let up all night long.

Another humpback, lolling about the surface, as we
rounded the corner into Douglas Channel (8/25/02)

Mom and I both passed on the hot springs, but we were anchored in a beautiful bay, in an incredible rainstorm, and we had a good time listening to music and reading while the others soaked. This was one of those spots where our stern was anchored just a few feet from a rocky shoal, but where we had plenty of draft below our keel, and--aside from the rain--it was very quiet out, so I could hear seals splashing in the water around us.

A little tequila and a couple of guitars made for a nice evening's singing, an activity I always enjoy and don't get to indulge in enough.

Wednesday, August 28, 2002 -- Bishop Bay to Khutze (Dog Rescue Day!)

This experience pretty much made the whole trip for me and my mom, as if seeing wolves, whales, halibut, and bears (oh my!) hadn't been enough.

Butedale, Princess Royal Island, BC
Click for larger image (opens in new window; close when done viewing)

On the way to Khutze, we stopped by an abandoned cannery called Butedale, on Princess Royal Island (Spirit Bear country). It's a beautiful place, good for a photo op, and is now privately owned. It looks like two or three families might live there. After we'd been floating around for a while, taking pictures, we saw a dog come down the ramp to the water, and walk over to the end of one of the floating docks. Then we heard it and another dog whining. The first dog was clearly trying to communicate with us, as it maintained "eye" contact, and whined and moved around. The second dog could be heard, but not seen, and it sounded quite distressed. The noise it was making also echoed. I thought it might be trapped in one of the cannery buildings, which is upsetting, but not an emergency.

Dock at Butedale

Thankfully, Loren continued to look through his binoculars, and saw that the second dog was actually in the water, at the end of the dock. The two dogs hadn't been making noise until the first dog came down and went over to the other one, so he (the first dog) must havetold her (the second dog) that we were there. Dave hopped in the dinghy, and mom and I insisted on going with him.

When we got to the dock, Dave went to pull her out of the water, and mom went up above to see if she could find anyone. I tried to talk to the hero doggy, but he was anxious and didn't want to be petted. After the other dog was out of the water and safe, though, he was very loving, so I think he just didn't want me to expend any energy on him until she was taken care of. Mom came back down without having found any humans, but accompanied by a cat who was clearly a buddy of these dogs. Dave went out to the boat to get some towels.

When she first came out of the water, the dog couldn't use her right hind leg. She also had a tumor on that leg, so we couldn't tell if her lack of use of it was preexisting, or a result of the immersion. After she'd been out for a minute or two, though, she also lost the use of her left hind leg, so we became pretty certain that she was incapacitated from the hypothermia. She had been able to keep her head and front legs out of the water more than the rest of her, so her hind end was feeling the cold more than the rest. This is also why she wasn't able to get herself out of the water.

We rubbed her down with the towels, both to dry her off, and to get circulation flowing again. When we first started, she wasn't really shivering, but she did start, which is a good sign. She was a very sweet doggy, and seemed to know that we were trying to help her. Then we half-carried, half-walked her up the ramps to a platform among the inhabited houses. She was starting to be able to move her legs a little bit, although she wasn't carrying any weight on them. When I sat down to keep rubbing her down, the cat climbed into my lap and commenced purring.

Dave went back to the boat for some warm liquid, and reappeared with a container full of warm milk, whipping cream, sugar, dog biscuits and pretty much anything else Deb could come up with to make the dog feel better. The dog took a few little drinks, and then you could see her pause, and register that the warm milk felt pretty good going down. After that, she seemed motivated to keep drinking, and even to try to sit or stand up. She also was able to stop shivering. She got very excited when I fished out a couple of the dog cookies (which of course we shared with the other dog and the cat), and was trying to stand up when we left. She was also clearly telling the other dog (who we thought might have been her son) that the goodies in the Tupperware were hers: she didn't growl, but a message was passed nonetheless.

Butedale, Princess Royal Island, BC

We didn't have anything with us to leave a note for the owners, so we hope the dog didn't suffer any lasting effects. She was pretty dry, and the sun was coming out when we left. As we pulled away, Loren said he could see three little heads looking our way, so that seemed like a good sign. I understood the literal meaning of the phrase "shudder to think," since I don't think that dog would have lasted more than another 10 or 15 minutes in the water (if that). Given how few pleasure boats we saw during the trip, it is just amazing to me that we happened by just in time.

Doggy Update!

I got a letter from the dogs' owner, an (apparently) young woman and her boyfriend. The dog we rescued was 13 years old, and she has since been put down, but not because of her misadventure in the water. She was indeed the mother of the other dog. The cat is no relation. The letter was a bit hard to follow (either handwriting or syntax), but I was glad to have heard from them.

 

previous page

next page

Back to Megan's Stuff on Dobbin.com
last modified: September 12, 2002