Safe Inside the Yellow Line, Part 4

POSTED BY JESSE

My first look at Port Alberni was from the top of the foremast, and it was quite a sight.  From the harbor I could tell that this was a small and intimate town.  Unfortunately for us, customs was delayed in clearing us and so we had to wait until the following morning to be allowed off our ship.  We were pretty disappointed by this, but soon adjusted by having a “quarantine party” since we were officially quarantined. We dressed up in our fanciest duds and broke out the fancy cheese and crackers.  It was quite a delightful event culminating in a duel between the captain and the first mate.  Of course it was an official duel in the old western movie style of walking out the paces and beating the other at the draw.  However, our rendition included miniature water pistols and audience participation.  It was an excellent end to an absolutely beautiful day.

 

               

 

Being from Washington, I am usually surrounded by such natural beauty, but the splendor of this small town is not lost on me.  When we were finally allowed off the ship, the people of Port Alberni were just as welcoming as we had heard they would be.  We started off with a steam train ride to a saw mill where there was a reception to be held welcoming the captains of the various vessels.  As someone who very much enjoys waving at the random passerby, I was excited to see that the people of Alberni were happy to wave at the train.  Usually, when a train goes by you might get one person waving apprehensively from their car.  But here in Alberni, six cars full of people waiting at the stoplight would wave as we passed!  Just as we have heard, Alberni is very excited about the tall ships and they have turned out in droves.  The line to board the ships is probably one of the longer we have seen thus far.  We are all in agreement that Port Alberni is everything we had heard about and everything we could hope for.