The last time we were in Alert Bay was in 1991. We’d had a brisk sail across Hecate Straight, from the Queen Charlotte Islands, with a rising gale chasing us. Not long after we were secure on the dock, a small power boat came in and started to tie up ahead of us. The husband, in the process of taking a line ashore, found himself in the water. He could not get back onto the boat, the dock was even higher, and his wife wasn’t strong enough to get her quickly tiring husband out of the water. We were below on Sundeer and heard a women screaming. Coming on deck we ran over to the boat and pulled the now almost hypothermic young man back aboard. It was a grim reminder of how quickly things can go terribly wrong when you are surrounded with cold water.

Alert Bay had just opened a museum dedicated to the local Haida Indian tribe and their tradition of "potlatch". Their prized masks and "coppers" had been confiscated by the government years ago, and interned in a museum collection. They’d just gotten these back, and they were on display for the first time in almost a century. We’ve been wanting to get back for a second look – and the museum’s collection, now augmented, is wonderful.

We were also fortunate to be here at the beginning of the annual summer festival. The locals were putting on traditional dances in their "Big House" and non-Indians were allowed to visit (and at the end, partake) – a once-a-year occasion. We only had a small camera with us, and it was quite dark, so this is the best we could do photo-wise.

Between leaving Seattle in May and arriving back at the north end of Vancouver Island in July, we’ve only shared anchorages with other boats on four occasions. This is one of our neighbors in the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is not that we’re antisocial, and we do enjoy visiting with other cruisers, but the places we enjoy most tend to be hard to get to, and so attract few other yachts. Diving back into a popular cruising area, like where we are now, during the height of summer, is, well, a bit of a shock.

We’re also seeing some rather large and, dare we say, ugly stinkpots. This guy is buzzing along at what must be 40 knots, doing his best to warm the planet and hold off the inevitable ice age. Fuel crunch? What fuel crunch?

Not to be outdone (in the ugly or fuel burn categories) we slipped past this mega yacht on our way south from Alert Bay. Take a look at the difference in wakes. The top boat is on a plane, and running cleanly. The lower photo shows a boat trying to force its way through (rather than over) the water. Bet you could do some awesome wake boarding behind this dude!

Being closer to civilization has its rewards. One of these is running into cruising friends like the Don and Sharry Stabbard. They joined us one evening for dinner and brought with them local delicacies. This is a smoked "ooligan" fish (we might be off on the spelling). We’d put into the semi-tasty category. We prefer the smoked smelts of the Tuamotus.

And this is a special oil made from ooligan fish. As we understand the process, the fish are dumped into a large vat and allowed to ferment. From time to time the nasty bits are skimmed off the surface, until a fragrant oil is left. We took turns smelling, and then tasting it. It definitely would take a while getting used to – although it is considered a delicacy by those initiated into its magic. We put the combination of odor and taste somewhere south of Vegemite (yuck!).

Then there is dried seaweed. We found this more agreeable.

Logging has been a big part of the economy of this part of the world for the past 150 years. The forestry practices are controversial. We don’t claim to be experts on the subject, and just see the scars on the land – which are everywhere you look in this part of British Columbia.

We don’t like what logging does to the wilderness, but the equipment used is fascinating. You will often find bays with large accumulations of logs, and miniature tugs working the logs around. These little guys can’t be more than 20 feet (6m) long, and they are dwarfed by the logs.

The equipment on land looks like it came out of a science fiction movie.

The speed at which this equipment operates is breathtaking. And it must be extremely dangerous.

Speaking of dangerous, you do need to take care with steep gangways, especially when they are wet. Linda slipped heading down the gangway at Alert Bay and dislocated her little finger. We’d have taken a photo, but Steve was too busy pulling the finger back into alignment. We later visited local doctor just to check Steve’s work and see if the finger might have been broken. It wasn’t and he approved of the realignment procedure used. He then taped the little and next finger together and told Linda to take Advil to reduce swelling.

We’re off to spend some time in the Broughton Islands, adjacent to Alert Bay.