 |
|
|
| RESEARCH CRUISE 2008, WEEKS SIX & SEVEN
|
|
August 4, 2008.
Johnstone Strait. You have to be careful with Johnstone Strait. The mountains on the mainland and the mountains on Vancouver Island create a funneling effect that accelerates the cold ocean air moving in from the Pacific Ocean. Other areas may report 10-15 knot winds; Johnstone Strait might be recording storm force winds. To or from the Broughtons, morning is often the best time to make the necessary 12-mile run in Johnstone Strait. To get an early shot at the run, when we are southbound we usually anchor either in Burial Cove or Port Harvey. This year it was Burial Cove. The afternoon was growing late, and there was ample room. What if Port Harvey, another 30 minutes away, were full? (Later, we heard that there is much commercial activity in Port Harvey, making it less attractive.)
High winds had effectively closed Johnstone Strait for the preceding three days, but light winds were forecast for the next morning. At 0700 the anchor was up and we were under way. Already, at least six inbound boats had paraded past the mouth of Burial Cove, some with running lights still burning.
Out in Johnstone Strait, we were faced with a wall of boats coming north. The boats were large and small, sail and power. For three days they had gathered at Shoal Bay, Cordero Lodge, the Cordero Islands, Blind Channel, Forward Harbour, and Port Neville, waiting for a break. We heard that Forward Harbour, at the north entry to Whirlpool Rapids, held more than 60 anchored boats the previous night.
In answer to the concern about fuel prices killing boating, the approaching armada argued otherwise. We did note that the entire fleet was moving as one, meaning hull speed, even if higher speeds were possible. Boats burn so much less fuel when they go slow.
Summer at last. On July 21, six weeks and three days after leaving home, we found summer. We were in Desolation Sound, Prideaux Haven to be exact. The temperature was 78 degrees F, the water was warm, kids were jumping from flying bridges into the water, dinghies and kayaks were all around. We had avoided wind during the previous six weeks up the coast, but not rain, low-hanging clouds, and fog. Day after day of rain, low-hanging clouds, and fog. Day, after day . . . after day.
The sunshine felt wonderful. I put the 4-horse Johnson on the dinghy and Marilynn and I putt-putted through Prideaux Haven, Melanie Cove, Laura Cove and Roffey Cove. All were filled with boats, in some cases rafted five across. The Coast Range mountains were in our laps. Dramatic, cone-shaped Mt. Denman oversaw it all. It is not by accident that photographer Neil Rabinowitz chooses this area for boat shot assignments. For a flavor of Northwest cruising at its finest, nothing surpasses Prideaux Haven.
I mentioned kids jumping into the water. We hadn’t seen many kids up north. Maybe we had gone too early (school lasts deep into June), and maybe it’s too far. Given the glories of Desolation Sound, why bother? Desolation Sound scenery is exquisite, the anchorages are interesting, and there are no rapids to figure out. Not to mention the warm water. The kids can dive and splash and swim.
Thurston Bay Marine Park. Working south from the Broughtons, we followed the usual pattern of running Whirlpool Rapids and Greene Point Rapids one day, with Dent Rapids, Gillard Passage and the Yucultas the next. We stopped to say hello to Mark MacDonald at Shoal Bay (always entertaining), but we realized that it had been years since we had spent any time at Thurston Bay Marine Park, off Nodales Channel. So down Nodales Channel we went. We anchored sort of behind Block Island, in the mouth of the first bay that makes up the park complex. I say “sort of behind,” because after paying out a little more than 150 feet of chain, we weren’t as behind the island as I had planned. We were looking right out on Nodales Channel. Three other boats already were in the anchorage. A fourth boat came in around sunset and was gone shortly after dawn.
Well, the weather forecast was mild, and perhaps any wind that might develop would blow up or down the channel, but not into our bay.
We carry two outboard motors for the dinghy, the 4-horse Johnson that weighs 35 pounds and is easy to carry around, and a 15-horse Mariner. Both motors are stowed in the cockpit, the Johnson on the port side and the Mariner on the starboard side. The Mariner turns the dinghy into a real hot rod, but the motor weighs 85 pounds. It’s a real effort to move 85 pounds from the cockpit out to the swim step, then into the dinghy, then onto the transom. The reverse is just as challenging. I can complain that my advancing years play a part, and perhaps they do. But 85-pound outboards have always been an effort. Once in place, though, the Mariner sure makes the miles disappear. (We’re thinking about a boom to lift the Mariner and swing it between the cockpit and the dinghy, but the angles are awkward. Also, we’re having trouble with the appearance. We don’t want it to take away from the lines of the boat.)
My heroic muscles bulging for Marilynn to admire – wringing her hands is probably more accurate, hoping my back wouldn’t fail – the Mariner went on the dinghy, and off the two of us went to see the rest of the park. The little lagoon with the shallow, dogleg entry was the first destination. We nosed tenderly in, seeing no other boats. We bent around the dogleg turn, still no boats. We went further. Abruptly the lagoon opened up, and we counted five boats, anchored as snug as can be. Not small boats, either. Fifty-footers.
We left the lagoon and went around the peninsula and into Cameleon Harbour, where we saw one boat anchored behind Tully Island, and another boat anchored at the far end of the bay.
We found the wind when we motored out of Cameleon Harbour. It wasn’t big wind, just a bit of a breeze, and it created some waves – not big waves, but it doesn’t take big waves to knock our 11-foot Avon RIB around. Hang on, Marilynn. I twisted the throttle, and the bow rose as the dinghy climbed out of the hole. Then the bow dropped as the dinghy got over its bow wave, and we were planing. Our anchored boat was in the distance, and it got closer, fast. Well – fast and bumpy.
Our conclusion: Thurston Bay Marine Park is lovely, and probably overlooked. Carry a bell or some kind of noisemaker if you go ashore, though. We saw a large brown-furred bear. We weren’t able to see if it had the hump at the base of its neck that marks a grizzly bear, or if it was simply a brown-furred black bear.
About the breeze. It was local, and didn’t extend to our anchorage. We had a quiet night.
Bliss Landing. Next year’s Waggoner will contain a listing entry for Bliss Landing, located near the north end of Thulin Passage, the popular route from Lund to Desolation Sound. We’d always heard Bliss Landing was private. Earlier this spring, however, they contacted us to advise that visitor boats might find moorage. So we stopped to learn more.
Bliss Landing indeed is private, for the benefit of its property owners. To raise a little extra revenue, though, unused dock space is available. The concrete docks are excellent, with 30 & 50 amp power and potable water (no boat washing). Sparkling clean laundry and showers are ashore. Internet access is available, both wireless and land line. Lovely grounds.
Fred and Anne Stern are the managers. They monitor CB channel 22. Best to call on your cell phone, (604)483-8098.
One caution: there’s no protection from the westerly wind. If the westerly is blowing, it’s apt to be a rough ride.
Pender Harbour. When we’re on the east side of the Strait of Georgia, we usually tie up at the club outstation in Garden Bay. On our trip north, only one other boat was there. Coming south, the docks were full. Garden Bay itself was filled with anchored boats. Fisherman’s Resort in Hospital Bay was busy, the public dock at Madeira Park was packed, and the Garden Bay Hotel & Marina docks were well occupied.
Mike and Linda Duffy were tied across the dock from us. Mike is one of the more enthusiastic people you are apt to meet, and around 6:00 p.m. Mike decided dinner should be at the Garden Bay Hotel pub at the head of the bay. Some boats were already into dinner preparations and weren’t interested, but without too much effort Mike recruited three more couples, including Marilynn and me, to take their dinghies down to the pub.
What a great idea. Eight of us had dinner on the deck (good, too, and reasonably priced), and then at 8:00 p.m., surprise! – live music. The performer was Jerry Yuzon, who could sing, play guitar like crazy, and play a lively fiddle, too. He’s been doing a couple gigs at the pub each summer for 20 years. The place was packed with locals, and it rocked. I think I was ripe for a little relaxation, because, “Sure, I’ll have a little more wine.” I got out intact, but it could have been a close call. It also was the best evening of the trip. Gosh, I had a good time. Jerry Yuzon will be back for a final gig August 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20.
Strait of Georgia weather forecasts. Heading south from Pender Harbour, the forecast was for light southeasterly winds dying mid-day, and becoming light northwesterly in the afternoon. Cape Mudge, Chrome Island, Cape Lazo, Sisters Islets, Merry Island and Entrance Island all reported “nothing” winds. If ever there was a prospect for a quiet crossing, this was it.
Some quiet crossing. The light southeasterly didn’t die, it freshened. By the time we were halfway across, out in the middle with nowhere to hide, the wind had built to 15-plus. Worse, the wind direction shifted more to the east. Three-foot rollers developed, coming from just forward of the beam. We twisted, we crashed, we salted down the boat. Our objective was Northumberland Channel and Dodd Narrows, but to keep from rolling seaweed onto the side windows we had to work our way east, away from the protection of Northumberland Channel.
The weather report continued to lie about light breezes, despite the soaking we were getting. At last, we were able to turn west and put the seas more or less on our stern, and we got to the protection we longed for.
We were never in danger; the Tollycraft 37 is one of great seakeeping boats. Time and again, we’ve felt the hull handle ugly seas with ease and poise. The boat did well. It was the people who were uncomfortable.
We did have one amazing bit of luck. Slack, turn to flood at Dodd Narrows was predicted for 1:54 p.m. Without adjusting our speed in any way, we arrived at Dodd Narrows precisely at 1:54. Great planning? No. We departed Pender Harbour when we were ready to leave, with no intentions other than to get across the strait. Dodd Narrows simply worked out for us.
Remainder of the trip home. I remember when simply getting to the San Juan Islands was the high moment in my cruising life. To cross the border and go all the way up to Nanaimo, not to mention Desolation Sound and beyond, was more than I could imagine.
I say this to explain that the trip through the lovely Gulf Islands and San Juan Islands and down to Seattle was pretty much a non-event. We anchored in Montague Harbour, we tied up in Ganges to attend to some business, we crossed the border and we anchored in Blind Bay (Shaw Island) to visit with the Mason family at the Shaw General Store. The Strait of Georgia experience was behind us. The weather was mild all the way home.
As Marilynn and I have ventured up the coast these many years, our reference points have moved. On our way south, when we got to Port Hardy at the north end of Vancouver Island Marilynn actually thought we should be clearing Customs. She insists it was merely a fleeting thought, quickly corrected. Once we are south of Cape Caution, though, we feel we’re as good as home. It’s startling how perspectives change.
It was a good trip, rain and fog notwithstanding. Some years are like that. Radar, windshield wipers and cabin heat exist for a reason. We met some amazing people, including a Harvard University professor, and a Distinguished Professor from the University of California, San Diego. The coast is changing, as it always does. Some of it, such as the ruins at Butedale, is disappearing. We learn more with each trip. If you can manage it, go see for yourself.v
|
|
|
|
