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Group charters
Copper Sky specializes in charter trips for special interest groups which have included:
National Geographic Television for the Jason Project with Dr. Robert Ballard, who found the SS Titanic.
Howard Hall Productions for the Knowledge Network & National Geographic Television
Vancouver Aquarium with Dr. Murray Newman
Many family & friends vacations and reunions
Corporate team building
Corporate incentive travel
Geodesic surveys
Ecological survey for Parks Canada
Whale watching in the Sea of Cortez with the Maritime Museum of Los Angeles
Scuba diving with whales, dolphins and mantas
Offshore training cruises
Content and Photographs © 2000-2005 Copper Sky Sailing Adventures
June 1 - Day 6 -
When You Sea Stars of all Colours
I awoke this morning to a knock on my door at 6, "Good morning, any trolls down there?" I felt like getting up about as much as a cat feels like getting chased by a dog, but the troll did arise and stagger out onto the deck. The first thing I saw was the sun rising over the mountains to the east and not one single cloud in the sky. Not one.
Thirty minutes later we were off in the zodiacs and we made it exactly one hundred metres before we stopped for the fist of about twelve billion stops. There were sea stars, thousands of them in all colours of the rainbow, ochre stars, sunflower stars and leather stars. Sea anemones, sea cucumbers, moon snails, red turban snails, sea urchins and mussels. Bald eagles, raccoon, black oyster catchers and ravens. It was a feast for the eyes and unlike anything I had
ever seen before.
Welcome to Burnaby Narrows, world renowned for the incredibly diversity of life displayed in one small narrow stretch of water between Burnaby Island and Sough Moresby. I honestly was not sure what to expect when we began our float through the Narrows at low tide under the soft morning light, but I know I did not truly expect to see such a vibrant water colour of sea creatures and intertidal life. It was like going to a smorgasbord and hoping to get a few good dishes and walking in to discover that they had a multitude of your favourite foods and hundreds more that you'd never heard of before to sample from.
We felt the writhing tube feet of giant orange sunflower stars and the sandy smooth surface of the moonsnail's egg collar. We visited 'Bat City' and searched fruitlessly for a bat star with more than five legs and/or a yellow bat star - "Hey, I though they were supposed to come in all colours." We floated and marveled--it was the ocean's equivalent of eye candy and we didn't want to stop eating it!
Like all good things on our trip, though, there came the time when we had to leave Burnaby Narrows and return to Copper Sky. On our return, we had a fantastic encounter with the same black bear we had seen the day before. We took the zodiacs in within a few hundred metres of it and turned the motors off, then slowly drifted in to about a hundred metres away. The bear was flipping over rocks to get at the crabs below and at one point lay down on the beach to watch us. We managed to view it and paddle away without disturbing it and sighted in on and off on the beach in the distance for the rest of the morning.
Five of us then got to take part in an 'expedition' of sorts; we were off back into the Narrows aboard the zodiac to photograph the sailboat itself as it made a run through the Narrows right at 1:40, the highest point of high tide - one wrong turn and the Copper Sky would run aground. It was absolutely fantastic to be aside the boat as it wound its way trough the Narrows without a hitch, the five of us photographing the rest of the crew and guests on board photographing us!
Fishing and sunsets
The afternoon was spent traveling toward Murchison Inlet and doing a little fishing along the way. Our group had fantastic luck overall, pulling in two big ling cod and a lot of two and three pound black cod. Again, though, the BIG ONE got away! This time there was no mistaking it, because Russ, me and several of our guests actually saw it as it came up on Russ' line at the back of the boat. It was a beautiful giant orange octopus and as it surfaced it let go of the bait and hook and hot back into the depths, leaving behind a trail of ink. It was an extra bit of excitement added to an afternoon filled with cries of "Mike's got another one on!" and "It's a big one this time!"
That evening we anchored in a spectacularly scenic location, with the jagged snow - capped peaks of the San Cristoval Mountains clearly visible in the distance beyond the lush lagoon-like cove we rested in. A group of us went onto land after dinner and watched the sun set over the mountains, a sight of simple beauty that I never get tired of, no matter where I am.
Tomorrow, we're off on the final leg of our journey. For me, it will be a bitter sweet day, as I'll be one step closer to returning home and getting back to a 'normal' life but will be saying goodbye for now to some wonderful friends I've made and to one of the most stunning places I have ever visited.
< Day 1, Canada's 'Galapagos of the North'
< Day 2, A New Found Respect for Queen Charlotte Seabird Researchers
< Day 2 daytime, A Photographers Paradise
< Day 3, Whale Watching Extravaganza
< Day 4, The start of a very special day
< Day 5, Bears and the Enchanted Forest
Day 6, When You Sea Stars of all Colours
> Day 7, The Shining Wonder
