Nigei Island to Namu

Title:                             AERIAL OF THE FISH CANNERY AT NAMU Photographer/Artist:   UNDETERMINED Date:                              [194-]

But what most people will know the name Namu from is the whale that was captured close to the town and eventually displayed in Seattle.  The National Geographic wrote up an article on the story in the March 1966 issue (page 418-446).  In June 1965, William Lechkobit and Robert McGarvey caught the whale in a floating salmon net that drifted close to shore.  He was sold for $8000 dollars to the Seattle Public Aquarium but it ultimatly cost $60,000 dollars to get the whale the 450 miles to Seattle.  Namu was the first orca to survived in captivity for long enough for a signifigant public show. 

The first thing you notice about Namu is the decay.  The fish processing facilities were closed in the 1990's and the town itself now has 6 full time residents and many visitors.  The buildings on the pilings are showing decay - some have collapsed, others have plants growing out of them.

But Namu is still very much alive.  After getting over the decay of the fish processing plants, you start to look for signs of active life.  The most obvious sign is the sport fishing industry.  While we were there, there were three small fishing boats in the harbour and a few Halibut were being cleaned.  While Namu no longer sells food, you can buy gas and drop of your recyclables.

Tammy, one of the caretakers met us when we landed and offered to give us a tour of the standing buildings.  Our first stop was the general administration build.  The building used to be the bank, the post office, the hair dressing studio and had telephones.  Now the administration holds a ping pong table, a large safe and a recreation room.

Namu Fire Department

Walking towards the general store, we passed the Namu Fire Department.  At first it seems a little funny, but Namu was almost wiped out by a fire in January 1962 that destroyed large parts of the fish processing facilities.  The buildings were rebuilt, but a fire could still do a lot of damage.  These fire fighting tools look old but for the modes of transport available, I'm sure they are well adapted.

Namu General Store
The Namu general store would have been the center of activity when this community was running.  Approximately half of the building (which is as large as any grocery store you find on the Gulf Islands) was dedicated to boat parts and equipment.  The other half sold groceries and caned goods for days or weeks at sea.  There is even a magazine rack with out of date magazines on it.  Almost all the equipment necessary to run a store is present - there just aren't any customers.

The Hotel in Namu

Leaving the main plant area you come to a hotel.  There used to be a board walk around the harbour but the pilings are giving way so a path around the back has been cut.  The hotel is in bad shape - a leaking roof and broken windows are letting water in and plants are aggressively trying to take over the lot.  We walked through some of the building but I'm not sure how much longer it will be standing.  Further along you can see buildings that would have been the recreation facility (with an indoor basketball court apparently) and a school but the wildlife makes access difficult.

We came back to the ship for dinner but I left for one last walk around the town.  Seeing the buildings at night with the lights on, it seems like everyone has just gone on vacation - perhaps they will be back soon!