Gwaii Haanas Aboard Passing Cloud

Gwaii Haanas Aboard Passing Cloud

A passing comment by a Haida Watchman last summer in Haida Gwaii started an unexpected chain of events. In answer to a question from my husband, Walter Russ said that his grandparents had been the Haida couple who guided Emily Carr on her visit to what was then known as the Queen Charlotte Islands. When this got me thinking about the iconic BC artist and the relationship between her travels and her work, the idea for a book began to take shape – Emily Carr’s BC.

At that point my itinerary didn’t include Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, which encompasses the southern half of the Haida Gwaii archipelago and protects numerous Haida Heritage Sites that Emily painted. So a return visit topped my research list. I got a tip about a 70-foot Roué-designed (think Bluenose) schooner offering expeditions to the area. Ideal. I love sailing. Enter Russ Markel, OuterShores Expeditions and Passing Cloud.

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