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WAGGONER CRUISE, WEEK SEVEN
by Bob Hale
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This is being written on a Saturday afternoon, exactly seven weeks into our cruise. Rain has fallen on all but about six days in the past seven weeks, and it’s raining again now. People have told us of experiencing a month or more of rain in Southeast Alaska, but this is the first time we’ve had it on the B.C. coast.
Right now we’re waiting for the Strait of Georgia to settle down. We had near-calm conditions when we rounded Cape Caution, and flat calm between Port Hardy and the Broughtons. Johnstone Strait was nearly calm. Desolation Sound was almost calm when we left Refuge Cove after a short shopping trip, and headed south for the Strait of Georgia.
That’s when the wind began. It started as a gentle breeze, and I counted five sailboats actually sailing, having a lovely time. (Most sailboats are under power most of time on the B.C. coast. The channels are narrow and the winds can be contrary.) The wind increased as we worked south across Desolation Sound proper. At Mary Point on Cortes Island, with the full sweep of the Strait of Georgia before us, the southeast wind got serious. Fifteen knots. Twenty knots. Twenty-five knots with higher gusts. We were in an ugly Strait of Georgia chop, 4-foot-plus seas close together, whitecaps all the way to the horizon.
Four-foot-plus seas are nothing when you’re rounding Cape Caution or out on the west coast of Vancouver Island. They’re simply long, lazy ocean swells, and the boat rides up and down with no drama. Strait of Georgia 4-footers are full of drama. They’re close together, and therefore steep. The boat doesn’t ride up the back of the wave. It noses up, sometimes—if they’re 5-footers—pointing toward the sky. At the crest of the wave the boat plunges down, often into the back of the next 4- or 5-footer: 10,000 pounds, 20,000, 40,000 pounds or more of boat driving at 8 knots into seas traveling toward it.
A well-designed, strongly-built boat can take this pounding all day and not show the strain. The crew, however, gets tired of it in a hurry, especially when a log sweeps past close aboard, unseen until it’s abeam. If we were to run over such a log and it took out our running gear. . . . All eyes forward, with renewed intensity.
This is why I’m skeptical of those who don’t take these conditions seriously. If one little thing should go wrong, all at once it’s not a little thing, it’s a big thing. A boat disabled, wallowing in the troughs, rolls heavily from side to side. A small boat such as a skiff might tip over, but a larger boat won’t. It’ll just feel like it’s going to tip over. Doors fly open, lockers spill their contents, furniture slides across the cabin sole. Walking is impossible. You grab whatever you can hang onto and pull yourself along, struggling for balance and not always keeping it. The advice to never have anything loose that you wouldn’t want flying at your face becomes more than a joke.
Well, enough. We didn’t break down, nor have we ever broken down. But the possibility always exists, and good seamanship includes trying to avoid it. If conditions had allowed, we would have crossed the strait, probably to Comox on Vancouver Island. Instead, we made for Cortes Bay and the security of the SYC outstation docks there.
It was a straight line from just south of Mary Point to the mouth of Cortes Bay, but for two reasons we didn’t make an immediate turn. One reason was the presence of rocks along the way. Especially with electronic navigation we certainly would have avoided the rocks, but if anything were to have gone wrong, rocks are so unforgiving. The second reason was the southeast wind. A direct course would have put the seas exactly on our beam, and the boat would have been rolling, rolling, rolling.
So we headed off as much as we could without putting the seas beam-to, and plunged on until they would be on our stern as we made for the bay. In a flat spot after a particularly large set of waves, we made our turn. Suddenly spray no longer washed over the front windows and the boat settled down. Waves still grabbed the stern and tried to turn us sideways, but that’s what rudders are for. A few minutes later we entered Cortes Bay. The docks lay ahead, with an empty space right where we needed it. Friends took our lines and helped tie us down.
The wind has built up again and rain is lashing at the windows. A gale warning is issued for tonight. The low pressure area off the coast that is causing all this weather is moving slowly north, however, and by tomorrow or the next day comfortable travel should be possible. We’ll wait.
Cape Caution. Northbound or southbound between Vancouver Island and the safety of Fitz Hugh Sound, the big question is, “When will conditions allow for a good rounding of Cape Caution?” The answer is that there is no one perfect reply. A good rounding depends on the way many elements blend on a given day. The weather forecast, certainly. If a fresh westerly is forecast for the afternoon, an early morning departure is called for.
But the weather forecasts can be on the cautious side, calling for more wind than actually develops. So we listen to the reports from the Addenbroke, Egg Island, Pine Island and Scarlett Point light stations. Addenbroke and Scarlett Point are in more protected waters, but if Egg Island and Pine Island are reporting 5-foot “moderate” seas, it’s too much for us. Even 4-foot “moderate” is more than we volunteer for. We want “two-foot chop, low westerly swell.” “Seas rippled, low westerly swell” is even better.
Next, what is the West Sea Otter buoy reporting? One meter or less is ideal. Anything under 1.5 meters usually is positive, but not if the westerly is a-coming or a big ebb is pouring out of Rivers Inlet. It also pays to look out the window. Black clouds on the horizon might override other indicators.
We had good roundings both ways this year, especially southbound, which was unplanned. We’d departed Shearwater, 50 miles north, in late morning, and we got to Addenbroke Island around 1500. Our intent was to quit for the day and overnight in Frypan Bay or Fury Cove and cross the next morning. The reports sounded too good, though. Addenbroke, Egg Island, Pine Island and Scarlett Point were low winds and seas. There was no westerly. The tide was flooding, so we wouldn’t have big rollers outside Rivers Inlet. West Sea Otter had been varying between 1.1 and 1.2 meters all afternoon. With all such crossings, our operative rule is, “If the window is open, go,” and we went.
Port Hardy. The Quarterdeck Marina continues to be one of the best-run marinas along the way. Other marinas do have better docks, but the Quarterdeck staff is always on top of things, and always helpful. Dinner in the pub was good, too. I’m sorry, though, to report that I.V. (“Ivey”), the marina manager, refuses to change his mind about retiring at the end of this summer season. Ivey is special. He helps you land and tie up, he helps you in the store, he helps you on the fuel dock. He’s everywhere doing everything, all at the same time, always with a smile. In the early evening he was helping pull the starboard shaft from 50-foot Riviera that was hauled out with two bent props and a bent shaft—it’s what happens when a boat runs over even a log at 25 knots a little south of Cape Caution.
In front of town, something like 1,200 feet of new summer-season-only floats have been installed at the wharf where the Coast Guard boats are located. This wharf is called the City Dock, the Seagate Dock (for the tired Seagate Hotel at the head of the wharf), and—among old-timers—the Whiskey Dock.
A small but complete grocery store is a short block away, and a large Overwaitea supermarket is an easy walk. Many of the items at Overwaitea have annoying “Regular price/Member price” stickers on the shelves, although visitors still can get the Member price. Just tell the checker you want the Tourist card. You don’t get a card but you do get the price. On large orders Overwaitea offers to pay the taxi fare back to the boat. The definition of “large order” wasn’t very precise; around $100 would be a good start.
If you have electronics problems, Stryker Electronics probably can help. Merchandise old and new is piled everywhere, and Doug Kemp, the owner, really knows his stuff. Stryker also is a Suzuki outboard dealer, and has a mechanic on staff.
Broughtons. Tom and Ann Taylor at Greenway Sound Resort report a busy season. You need to make dinner entre selections by 3:00 p.m. They can be made by radio. Shawl Bay Marina lost a generator and didn’t have power on the docks. Lorne was in Port Hardy, getting a new generator. Son Robbie (now in his early twenties) handled the docks and made the signature morning pancakes as if he’d been doing it for years, which he has. Part of the Shawl Bay experience is settling up in the morning with Auntie Jo, shown here. Cash only, no credit cards. Be patient. Auntie Jo is very careful with her calculations.
Pierre’s Bay lost a generator, so most of the promised dock power isn’t installed. The new washrooms and showers are running, though. Tove (pronounced “Tova”) has lost a lot of weight, and she looks great in her short skirts. Lady Di, the bakery lady, is still in Bellingham, recovering. Maybe she will get back to Pierre’s this summer. People were signing a big get-well card, urging Diane to get her buns back up north.
This has been a bad year for generators in the Broughtons. As noted above, Pierre’s Bay and Shawl Bay lost generators and had to cut back dock power. Echo Bay Resort lost all its generators in that awful fire in early June, and is only partly operational. I understand that Nancy has been further diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Bob and Nancy can’t get a break.
Anchorages. We anchored in Port Alexander, off Browning Passage, after we crossed Cape Caution southbound. Lovely spot, lots of room, good choice after a long, long day’s run. We had a good night in Douglas Bay, inside the mouth of Forward Harbour, prior to running the rapids on the way south. We came in late and left early, so there was no time to try the trail over the saddle in the hills to Bessborough Bay.
Slow speeds. Among powerboaters, the chatter on the docks is about how slow the boats seem to be going. Fuel at $4-$5 per gallon does have an effect. Our fuel usage at 8.5 knots is much less than at planing speed. We’re a trawler much of the time. We enjoy having a two-speed boat, however. We used our speed going around Cape Caution both times, and again when we got to the Yuculta Rapids just after the current turned against us. Running the speed up is good for the engines, too (if I need further justification).
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