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June 4, 2009 – Campbell River, British Columbia
by Herb McCormick
(June 4): As the only eastern seaboard-based sailor on the crew of Ocean Watch, for me the trip thus far has proven to be an eye-opening experience. Back east, we don’t see tidal ranges in the double digits very often, nor currents that can speed along at equally impressive numbers. You learn quickly here in the Pacific Northwest’s countless straits and narrows that ebbs and floods dictate schedules and progress, and that the will of man is just so much folly and folderol. (This realization is useful in many other pursuits, as well.) Planning a trip through these waters is something like the old board game, Chutes and Ladders, where one-step forward and another back can easily be the order of the day. Here, an up-to-date tide table is a document of biblical proportion.
The onward trip from Victoria, then, has thus far basically worked backwards with an eye on a narrow strip of water known as Seymour Narrows, which can move an aqua river at a good 20-knots-particularly in the present lunar cycle-and which, perhaps obviously, must be negotiated at slack tide. The timing for slack water today, June 4th, is late afternoon local time. So the leg thus far has been predicated on hitting that mark with exquisite timing.
For that reason, last night, after a good day’s run that put just over 15 hours on our new Lugger diesel, we dropped the hook in the very tranquil waters of Tribune Bay, a vast and protected cove on the southern flank of Hornby Island, just north of the Gulf Island chain we transited yesterday. A quick glance at the water temperature thermometer on the depth gauge flashed the almost unbelievable figure of 68.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
David Thoreson, Andy Gregory and I were in the drink almost immediately, soon to be followed by a somewhat reluctant but ever-game Dave Logan. Three-fourths of the swimming party gave it a thumb’s up, then Andy and I deployed the Little Wing carbon-fiber kayaks we have aboard for a sweet paddle in the crystal-clear shallows. It was, as they say, all good.
Ocean Watch was again underway at 0800, ultimately bound for Seymour Narrows. In the 1950s, a major hazard in the slim channel with a highly deceptive name, Ripple Rock, finally “took the bottom out of one too many ships,” said Logan. In the interests of safe navigation, it was soon the sight of one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever detonated. Today, Ripple Rock is no more, but the current can still wreak havoc.
Back on Ocean Watch, it was a notable morning on several fronts, particularly with regard to the work list, which is growing ever shorter. Among the important jobs accomplished in the last 48 hours was working the bugs out of the Nobeltec electronic navigation software and the calibration of the Raymarine autopilot, which is now fully operable. But a hundred other details were also attended to.
“This is starting to feel like a boat, not a project,” said technical wizard Paul LaRussa, who’s seen his fair share of both.
The other major installation, at least from a personal point of view, was getting both the stereo and the satellite-radio tuner online. For the next few weeks, at least, the latter will provide not only commercial-free music, but the entire slate of Major League Baseball games, including those from what author John Updike called “the cozy little bandbox” in Boston’s Kenmore Square, a place of summer worship known as Fenway Park (yes!).
For some of the crew, however, the switched-on stereo constituted the proverbial double-edged sword. We tested it with a selection from Thoreson’s iPod. Skipper Mark Schrader, on the aft deck rigging the stem-to-stern jack lines for the heavy-weather safety harnesses, had a listen and was clearly unimpressed.
“Is that what somebody calls music?” he said.
Onboard silence was quickly re-established.
En route to Seymour Narrows, we were a bit ahead of the game and had a little time to kill, so we made a couple of stops. The first was off Comox Bar in the Strait of Georgia, were we enjoyed a brief rendezvous and raft up with Logan’s old mate, Manny Meyers, and his crew, Joe Zinter, aboard Manny’s trim little 27-foot cruising boat, Bonvie. Manny was one of the scores of volunteers who helped refit Ocean Watch, and it was a pleasure to have him aboard for a quick tour. He left Logan with a copy of Ferenc Máté’s historical novel, Ghost Sea, which he gave high marks.
He also inscribed the book: “For my treasured friend, Dave Logan, on the start of his incredible adventure around the America’s.” Needless to say, Manny Meyer is a class act.
Hours later, we made a very quick visit to Quathiaski Cove on Quadra Island to pay our regards to Ocean Watch’s former owners, Steve and Pat Strand. The husband-and-wife team of marine biologists owned the boat for a decade, and under its former name, Danzante, they used the boat as both a research platform for their studies of Humboldt squid in the Sea of Cortez, and moon jellies in British Columbia, as well as their live-aboard home.
“This sure is nostalgic,” said Steve.
“She looks so different,” said Pat. “She looks great.”
Three other waypoints of note: We’re still all in shorts and t-shirts, and from a meteorological standpoint, at least, continue to play with house money. Second, we saw our first pair of bald eagles, which I found breathtaking. Finally, we also crossed the 50th parallel, and on that score, despite the chutes and ladders, it’s clear that we’re still making tracks for Alaska.
- Herb McCormick
*This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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