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| RESEARCH CRUISE 2008, WEEK ONE
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June 18, 2008.
Strait of Georgia. We’re in Pender Harbour, resting after a busy first week, a week that included crossing the Strait of Georgia from the Gulf Islands to the east side of the strait, the area they call the Sunshine Coast. Experienced cruisers view a crossing of the strait with great caution. Inexperienced cruisers – or, I should say, clueless cruisers – look at their map (they often don’t have the right charts), and say, “It’s only about 30 miles or so. How big a deal can that be?” Sometimes they find out.
We crossed from Silva Bay on Gabriola Island, where we had meetings with the grocery store, the motel, the Silva Bay Resort and Marina, and the family who has been running Page’s Resort and fuel dock for the past year. The meetings were over by a little after 4:00 p.m. The question: should we leave our anchorage in Silva Bay and extend an already-long day, or wait for morning?
The Continuous Marine Weather Broadcast would provide guidance. The evening winds were forecast to be northwest 10-15 knots, rising to 20 knots late. We could tell the wind was blowing about 15 knots at Silva Bay. The Entrance Island lighthouse a short distance north reported northwest winds of 17 knots, 2-foot chop, low northwest swell. Merry Island reported northwest winds of about 5 knots, rippled seas. Merry Island is on the east side of the strait, about where we would touch when we crossed. Chrome Island, approximately opposite Merry Island on the Vancouver Island side, reported light winds.
The winds, in short, didn’t look too bad. Furthermore, the tide was ebbing, meaning the current was flowing south, the same direction as the wind. Wind and current flowing the same direction flattens the seas. That’s a good sign.
The wind forecast for the next day didn’t sound too bad, but the tide would be flooding. The current would be opposing the wind, making the seas higher and closer together.
Conditions looked good for an evening crossing. We went for it. The seas were two to three feet from trough to crest, but with some distance between them. Thank the ebb current. They were on the port bow, just off our nose, and the spray kept the wipers going.
Our speed was a fuel-sipping 8 knots. Merry Island was 27 miles away. The time was approaching 5:00 p.m. A little late. At 8 knots we’d be arriving at the protection of Buccaneer Bay or Secret Cove around 9:00 p.m., tired, hungry, and in failing light. So an expensive decision was made. We pushed the throttles forward and picked up speed to 14 knots, no longer sipping fuel.
But we made progress. The miles went by faster. The wipers cleared the windows. The seas, if anything, flattened as we went north. Merry Island came abeam about 7:00 p.m. and we decided we were tired enough. It had been years since we had visited Buccaneer Bay, between North Thormanby Island and South Thormanby Island. We would anchor there for the night. At 8:00 p.m. the anchor went down in 45 feet near the south end of the bay. Marilynn started supper while I washed the accumulated salt spray from the windows, and we settled down for the night.
Next morning, we upped anchor at 0700 and motored about 10 miles north to Pender Harbour, slowed to 6 knots and proceeded to Garden Bay at the back of Pender Harbour, where we’re tied up now.
There’s a lesson in this little story. The lesson is, for much boating in these waters, there are broad principles that affect Go, No-go decisions, but few absolutes. You have to look at conditions as they are, and as they are apt to be, and make your best judgment about what to do. At the Chemainus Marina the day before we went to Silva Bay, we were tied next to a delightful couple who would be cruising their sailboat until October (they’d already been out a month). The wife was hungry for specific advice on just about every place that lay ahead. She had all the guide books (a good thing) and complete charts (a wonderful thing), and a thick tablet filled with notes.
This sounds so forward-thinking, so responsible. But she tended to go too far. She would have learn that you can’t know everything ahead of time. The mix of elements that go into a decision is too complex. Wind, current direction and strength, time of turn from rising tide to falling tide, range between high tide and low tide, time of slack water and maximum current in the passes, time of day and maybe a dozen more variables enter into every decision.
Some decisions, of course, are easy: It’s blowing 40 knots and WE’RE NOT MOVING. Others are okay, but not 100 percent: The wind and current told us to cross the Strait of Georgia, but the hour was late. I knew we’d have to use our speed, and the fuel it took.
Credit cards. If you’re going to be out of the country, contact your credit card companies to tell them of your plans. Otherwise, you may have a completely legitimate charge denied, and have to spend uncomfortable minutes (or hours) getting it approved. The toll-free contact numbers are on the backs of the cards. Wait for the menu of options to run through, and click for a person to help you. It’s aggravating at times, but it can be done.
Swinomish Channel. Heading north on our departure from Seattle, Smith Island, in the middle of the east entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, was reporting 21 knots of westerly. Not pretty. So we went up the east side of Whidbey Island but were late for the slack, turn to flood, at Deception Pass. Swinomish Channel (LaConner) was the option. It just happened that we entered the Swinomish Channel a short time after low water of a very, very low tide. Page 94 of the 2008 Waggoner advises that the channel west of Goat Island is shoal. We can confirm that advice. Immediately after turning into Swinomish Channel, the depths dropped dramatically. Depths continued shallow (scary shallow) past Goat Island. A deep draft sailboat would have found bottom and had to wait for a rising tide. Caution advised on low tides.
Rosario Resort. Gary Joseph, who lives aboard his Catalina 42 sailboat at the head of the docks, continues as the very effective dock manager of the resort. Gary is not the only one who’s effective. Gilda Traylor, the manager of the Bay Boutique gift shop on the bottom floor of the Rosario mansion, is deadly. We walked in just to look around, and Marilynn walked out with a new jacket. The gift shop is a reflection of Gilda’s superb artistic eye and fashion sense. I would have bought a handsome (and expensive) sweat shirt, but it had a Rosario logo and I advertise only the Waggoner. Gilda is fun and very direct. The boutique is open seven days a week. Gilda works Thursday through Sunday. Bring a credit card with room on it, and enjoy every minute.
Otter Bay Marina. This report kind of skips around and doesn’t cover every stop. Readers should know, however, that Otter Bay Marina, on North Pender Island in the Gulf Islands, is on its way back. We won’t go through the financial problems of years past, but the new owner, with Wolfgang Hinz as manager, is making Otter Bay a good stop again. When we were there, the lower swimming pool was closed for repairs (to be done as soon as the rain stopped), but the new upper pool was open. The stand-up-to-eat-it informal café was operating (Wolfgang has an impressive resume as a food and beverage manager). The docks have been repaired and pressure washed, and the electric power replaced: 15 and 30 amp, with a few 50 amp outlets. Transportation still is provided to the Pender Island golf course, nearby.
Telegraph Harbour. Thetis Island Marina has a new dock, with 30 amp power, on the south side. At Telegraph Harbour Marina, Barbara’s homemade pies are terrific. We bought a strawberry-rhubarb pie and wolfed it down (I like pie).
Chemainus. Harmen Bootsma is the pleasant and definitely “in-charge” manager at the marina. Several people recommend a Japanese restaurant a short distance from the docks. We had tickets for South Pacific at the Chemainus Theatre Festival. Like shows we’ve seen there in previous years, this one was thoroughly professional and imaginative. As we walked back to the boat I kept singing, “Sooome enchanted eeevening, yoooou will meet a stranger . . .” which had Marilynn hitting my shoulder and telling me to hush. The show was sold out that night. We bought tickets ahead.
Ladysmith. As noted elsewhere, Page Point Marina is closed to visitors, pending major redevelopment. Just in time, the Ladysmith Maritime Society, on the south side of Ladysmith Harbour, has expanded its guest moorage and encourages visitors. They have three docks, just inside Slag Point. Visitor moorage is along yellow-painted bull rails on the middle dock. The western dock has boat houses, so you won’t be tempted to tie up there.
Silva Bay. The grocery at Silva Bay Inn is small, but carries pretty much what a visitor needs. What a welcome change from a few years ago. Upland, the old motel now houses a couple boutiques, and a New Age style boutique just opened next to the grocery. The new owners of the property have worked a miracle here, and they aren’t done.
The Silva Bay Marina has ambitious development in the works (we saw the drawings), but for this season it’s the advertised fuel, moorage, dining, laundry, washrooms and showers. Everything was in good condition. The restaurant was busy and people were smiling.
Next door, Gloria and Ken Hatfield and their kids Nicolas, Stephanie and Michelle, have finished their first year as the Page’s Resort and fuel dock new owners. Gloria is the daughter of Ted and Phyllis Reeve, who owned the resort for many years, so this remains a family operation. We spent at least an hour with them (see late departure from Silva Bay, above), and were charmed. Great people.
Pender Harbour. Those who think nothing changes from year to year should go to Pender Harbour. Because much has changed in Pender Harbour, and continues to change. Painted Boat, the old Lowe’s Resort, has been developed into quarter-share million-dollar condos, 31 of them, plus elegant restaurant, pool (for guests), spa (open to the public and due in 2009), and meeting room. We had lunch on the deck, looking west. Bring money, but it’s classy. Everybody’s talking about it. The Madeira Park IGA has added something like 2,000 new items since the new owner took over two years ago. New walkways and gardens keep being added to the village. Ian McNee is the new manager at the docks at Madeira Park, replacing Diana Pryde, who retired. Up at the golf course, a chef (not a cook) has brought new ideas to the restaurant, which has been re-done. The docks and uplands at Fisherman’s Resort & Marina in Hospital Bay are in good shape, with constant improvements. Owners David Pritchard and Jennifer Love have brought astonishing energy to an already popular destination.
Buccaneer Bay. Beautiful, although deep except around the edges at the south end. Open to the north. We anchored in calm, but a predicted northwesterly arrived on schedule a short time after midnight and we did bounce. The anchor held solid.
It’s bedtime and we’re heading for Desolation Sound tomorrow morning. Rain just began, landing soft on the overhead. We’ve restocked the ship’s stores, done the laundry, emptied the garbage, checked the engines, and filled the water tanks. Cruising is one of life’s great pleasures.
Bob and Marilynn Hale
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