Knots and Stitches

            The tiny settlement of Salt Lakes was not on a lake at all. It was a huddle of wind-bleached shanties on the shore of an inlet across the harbour from the town of Prince Rupert. The brackish lake was further inland, connected to the outer cove by a slough that fed it saltwater at the very highest tides. You needed a boat to reach the raggle-tag community of free spirits living in the cabins and shacks that tilted and swayed on a rocky, windy shore.
from Knots and Stitches--Chapter 1, Coastal Hopefuls

An oddball bunch of folks lived at Salt Lakes, hippies and hermits, cannery workers, longshoremen, barmaids, biologists, and fishermen. The women at Salt Lakes ran their own skiffs and took pride in their chainsaws and in their home-baked bread.  Anyone who wasn’t wearing home-spun ponchos or gauzy paisley skirts wore the traditional garb of north coast fishermen: scratchy wool Bamberton trousers over slit-seated long-johns, red and black plaid shirts with grey wool Stanfields on top.

We were lucky to buy a sturdy round-bottomed skiff from Ember at Crippen Cove. He had found the fiberglass shell of a Davidson lifeboat abandoned on the beach, and had been able to squeeze the sides together and carry the narrowed boat carcass through the door of his cabin. He completely restored it with oak gunwales and runners, applewood knees, and a mahogany transom. He recreated a broad, beautiful skiff, but of course it no longer fit through the doorway. So he cut away the back wall of his cabin to launch it. We gave him eight hundred dollars and a hand-made quilt in exchange for a boat that safely handled many a storm.
from Knots and Stitches--Chapter 1, Coastal Hopefuls