Great Bear Swim Camp and Women’s Retreat

What happens when seven incredible women spend a week living off the grid in the Great Bear Rainforest and you ask them to swim in 11 to 12C water? They become even more powerful! Here’s a little video of the Seven Selkies relay swim from Drifter’s Cove to Shearwater Marine Resort in Heiltsuk territory.  If you…

Swimming across Fitz Hugh Sound

My swim across Fitz Hugh Sound this summer was bitter sweet. It was the last of a series of staged swims that started in Ocean Falls several years ago. My very first swim in the traditional territory of the Heiltsuk Nation was a dip in the waters of Martin Valley just outside of Ocean River.  I…

Spirt Orcas return to the Great Bear Rainforest

This summer the Spirit Orcas were thrilled to be able to return to the Great Bear rainforest in the traditional territory of the Heiltsuk Nation. It is their second time in the territory. In 2019, the founding members (Drew, Aly, Ben, Cheyanne, Dixon and Maria) of the team swim from the entrance of Gunboat Pass…

Spirit Orcas in Great Bear!

The Spirit Orcas are a group of six developmentally disabled adults with big hearts and lots of courage. In July 2019 they swam the length of Gunboat Passage to Bella Bella in the traditional territory of the Heiltsuk Nation and  Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest. The swim is helping prepare the Spirit Orcas for their eventual swim across the English Channel. Swimmers:…

Here a humpback, there a humpback, everywhere a humpback

On day two of my swim in Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) territory in the Great Bear Rainforest this year I  continued my journey down Fisher Channel to Kvai (Koeye). We started in the spot where I had landed the day prior. It was 9:42 AM, the air temperature 15C and the wind calm in the small cove….

What I learned from the Ocean as I swam to Koeye

Each time I swim in the Inside Passage in Heiltsuk territory in the Great Bear Rainforest I learn. The ocean teaches me. Last year as I swam to Namu I learned that nothing is truly disposable. Sometimes we go to great lengths to hide things we don’t like, that are difficult to deal with or we…

As I Journey to Koeye

This year will be my-forth year swimming through the traditional territory of the Heiltsuk in the Great Bear Rainforest. My journey started in April 2016 when I first jumped in the water in Cusins Inlet at Mirron Valley near Ocean Falls. I remember it like it was yesterday. Friends Colette and Kevin Hennigan and Dale…

Not Disposable

“Disposable: designed for or capable of being thrown away after being used or used up” My swim into Namu was close to two months ago.  It has taken me this long to look back at the photos. My heart bled when I landed at the deserted fishing cannery and town – and it still bleeds when I…

Day 3 Namu Part 2 – Choices

Day 2 of my swim to Namu left me much further from my intended destination than I had originally envisioned. This swim was proving to be much more difficult than I had anticipated; not just because of the water temperature, but also the currents. That evening my crew and I had some serious decisions to…

Day 2 Namu Part 2 – Fisher Channel (unedited)

Is it me, or is it cold? Day two’s swim started from a tiny little alcove toward the end of Lama Pass; right where I ended the day prior.We were off to a bit of a “oopsie-daisy” kind of start. We were all so keen to get started that we started one man short – Matt!…