Knots and Stitches

Salt Lakes

Dock and cabins at Salt Lakes, across the harbour from Prince Rupert, B.C.
Small Cabins on the shore of the inlet at Salt Lakes.
Dock and cabins at Salt Lakes

            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

Friends cutting firewood by dock at Salt Lakes
A workparty cutting firewood on the beach by the dock.

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.

The dock at Salt Lakes, with boatshed and cabin on far shore.
I lived across the cove from the dock, in a little cabin beside a rustic boat shed
Leaving the dock in my yellow Davidson lifeboat.
The Davidson lifeboat

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



Kristin Miller Quilts

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2 responses to “Salt Lakes”

  1. Kristin Miller Quilts Avatar
    Kristin Miller Quilts

    Barry-

    t’s grand that you finally get to see a photo of your family’s cabin, though I wish it was a better/bigger photo. I moved to Salt Lakes in 1982, and at that time there was an older man and wife who were sometimes staying in the pink cabin on the point. It was still in good repair then, but the woman had a serious illness and she wasn’t able to continue going to the cabin for very long. I think their name was Hanson, though I might be misremembering. Very nice people. The man still came occasionally even after she could no longer come. But after awhile, the cabin stood empty and became more derelict. I will ask friends if they remember anything more, or if they have any photos. I’m glad that the photo brought back happy memories for you.

    Kristin

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  2. observantpleasantly55afda500d Avatar
    observantpleasantly55afda500d

    I am so happy that I’ve come across this site, it’s not that I am a Quilter, although I do know how to sew and learned how to knit years ago. The reason I was so pleased was that I got to see the cabin I and my father and mother at times lived in back in the late 60s. To be exact 1968 to early 1971, our cabin is the one across from the Government dock, the coral colored one, or I guess maybe kind of pinkish color. My Dad built it, he used scrap lumber he was able to get from the old Canadian Fish Plant that burned down on the Waterfront. And it was all beautiful Fir lumber, unfortunately we never took any pictures of the place. But I can say this about Salt Lakes, it was a real going concern in those days. On nice weekends, there would be a couple hundred people there, you have no idea how much I miss that place. It was a time, seeing the old homestead again after at least 40 or so years was amazing, it really made my day, hell it made my year. In case you are wondering what or why we lived there, we Beachcombed, log salvage, there was a lot of that going on at that point in time, I was 15 when I moved over there with my Dad, I’m now 72, going on 73, when I looked on Google Earth, there is nothing left there now, anyways thankyou for memories.

    Barry

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