A boat in Powell River’s South Harbour is making waves as residents flock to see the ship named after the beloved boating biography, The Curve of Time.
While the 85-foot North Sea trawler currently moored in Powell River is named after a Muriel Wylie Blanchet memoir about travelling the BC coast with her five children, captain Jan Bevelander insisted his ship is not Blanchet’s boat.
Rather than be disappointed, visitors to the boat were instead told tales of the 200-tonne vessel’s adventures as a Greenpeace boat known as the Moby Dick.
Crewed by eco-warriors from the environmental organization, Moby Dick travelled to the coasts of Germany, Norway, France and Ireland as a campaign or protest vehicle.
“At times there were people all up on the masts,” said Bevelander. “They were protesting nuclear testing, pollution, all of that.”
Bevelander purchased the vessel in 1997 after travelling to Holland in search of such a ship.
“I’m Dutch, so I know the Dutch build good boats,” he said. “I like the shape of her, she’s a comfortable boat.”
Built in Holland in 1959, Moby Dick, rechristened Curve of Time, now travels up and down the coast as a charter vessel for kayak adventures and research trips.
“We have hosted scientists looking for blue whales, fin whales, minke and grey whales,” said Bevelander. “We also participated in the first sea otter count on the coast, as well as helping with stellar sea-lion research.”
It’s a unique life for Bevelander, who had his start as a farrier, or horseshoer.
“I always liked sailing, so when I was at [Simon Fraser University] I started working in the sailing school,” said Bevelander, “and then I ran a fishing charter out of Vancouver Harbour in the ’80s.”
Now that his wife Marilynn has retired from her job in the Lower Mainland, Bevelander said they are able to make Powell River their permanent home.
When not at their Black Point residence, the two can often be found on Curve of Time, along with their Australian shepherd dogs Rika and Nell.
