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Writer's pictureCharlie B

Summers in Bamfield

Bamfield was still the centre of operations. Access was only by boat or the occasional plane. There was no road until, I think the mid fifties when various logging roads were linked for connection to Port Alberti. Fuel and provisions could be obtained in Bamfield but ice could only be obtained at Kildonan, a small settlement up the Alberti Canal. We rarely had to go there as we were selling our fish in Victoria or Vancouver.

When I was in high school I was often on the loose in Bamfield in the summer staying at Dicks when he and Fred were fishing. I got to know quite a few people. I pitched for the softball team. Our field was a big fenced lawn in front of the Coast Guard station. If you hit it over the fence you were “out”. We played home and home games against the Sarita logging camp, Dodgers Cove native village, and Ucululet. At Dodgers Cove we started the game on the sand beach on an ebbing tide. As the game went on the outfield got bigger until the tide turned and flooded back, around half way through. When the pitcher and first base guy could almost shake hands the game was over. The water was again “out.”


Our Bamfield softball team

The transpacific cable station in Bamfield employed a group of young men mainly from Australia and Britain. The were key tab operators which involved transmitting the messages along the line to other parts of the world. They were a jolly group and I  spent quite a few hours playing pool and visiting in their large comfortable residence. They had a five guy band that came across the inlet and played at dances. Any misbehaviour and they were grounded and not allowed across.

Beach parties at Brady’s Beach nearby were very popular. Trips to Pachena’s beautiful beach was always an adventure on a home made “car” over a rudimentary trail. The local girls were pleasant- the Hughs, Wickams and others. Other families such as the Ostroms were great favourites and I was fortunate to maintain a close relationship with the survivors of the early family of Roald, Ebba and Carl  who over the years passed on.

Ebba and Len’s daughters, Suzanne and Katherine  remain part of the community to this day. After a hiatus of many years when I was busy in medical practice I renewed contact with them and for years made an annual visit to them and parked my camper in their back garden. Of course sport fishing was an element. These visits were the highlight of my year.

The last summer fishing with Dick was in about 1956. Afterwards I was too busy and he had access to other deck hands. I finished high school in 1949, went on to Victoria college for two years where I liked to say that I majored in rugby, beer and socializing. Then on for a science degree and finally an MD from  UBC graduating in 1958 followed by an internship at Vancouver General Hospital. The nest egg from fishing and various scholarships and bursaries meant that I finished my training debt free.

So ended my fish for money career. Later in life I got back to the fish and eventually took up fly fishing. Through that I met a lot of people many of which remain friends to this day.

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