While there may have been a time when my people (the Anishinabe, known in Canada as Ojibwa and in the United States as Chippewa) were used to ocean travel, over the past few thousand years our water transport system has involved canoes. We used canoes on rivers and lakes and this form of watercraft was later adopted by the fur traders (primarily the Nor’westers). Today, I live in a mountainous region with lakes and streams. I’m familiar with canoes and with the pleasure craft of power boats and sailboats, but big ships are a novelty. Two of my recent campsites gave me the opportunity to watch the big ships and to take pictures of them.
The Columbia River:
Shown above is our campsite at Woodland, Washington, which is on the banks of the Columbia River. The Columbia is a major water transport route as far inland as Idaho. Shown below are some of the ships and barges which passed by on their way up and down the Columbia River.
The Admiralty Inlet:
Shown above is our campsite at Point Hudson looking out on the Admiralty Inlet. There are lots of big ships going by, freighters, tankers, cruise ships, and ferries. However most of the big ships are simply black blobs on the horizon. The sailboats and powerboats are closer in and hence I got more photos of them.