Saturday, June 20, 2009

North to Alaska: Rocks and Canneries

Caution: nudity ahead ... or just bad legs ...

“Ohio” rock was hit by the ferry boat Ohio years back; a quick decision was made to run her aground in Carter Bay to reduce the loss of life. All that remains is a float marking the spot; nature has taken the bay back.

We stopped in at the Canadian Fishing Company cannery. The caretaker used to work here in the 1970’s before it closed down. In the original days, water used to operate everything; now
the vintage 1912, pelton wheels turn the shaft through the massive, old DC generator to a V-belt driven, automotive alternator; the power lines run down the hill to the community building where the caretaker lives; lots of 12 volt batteries, canned goods, pictures, paintings and BC’s largest collection of VHS movies. It looks comfortable enough for a hermit … chances of attracting female company would be slim given the house keeping ... the resident dog and cat were well fed and friendly. Nature is reclaiming the site slowly; roofs are falling in; buildings are sliding off of foundations.

Speaking of sliding, Robin, in celebration of his 49th wedding anniversary today (and William’s 51st) tried to end it all by sliding across the wet ferns into the abyss; right ankle somewhat damaged. Given our level of medical expertise, we offered to put Robin out of his misery with the flare gun; he chose Tylenol. Stan offered one of his anchors for a burial at sea (we are prepared for everything). We’ll see how he fares ... it would be a shame to waist that anchor ...

The favorable tida
l current we have enjoyed turned on us today; rather than the usual one knot push we have a one knot drag. We are closing in on Hartley Bay, an Indian village; the wharf was installed by the Canadian government and the tribe lets us stay for free. The basin and docks are filled with variations on a fishing fleet; we are the only sail boaters. We must be getting close to Alaska because the mosquitoes are huge and numerous; gin and tonic on the wharf in the rain; Sue is preparing dinner.

News from home is bad concerning my father-in-law, so I will exit to San Francisco. We are only ninety miles from Prince Rupert; this would be a short drive if there were a road. The armada will be there in two days; the quickest and most expensive route is a charter flight; the ferry, Tsimshian Storm, runs today for $45. The armada sails off and I wave from the dock; a little later I will pass them storming along at twenty five miles per hour. A hike from the Prince Rupert ferry dock to the Highliner Hotel for the airport shuttle; then onto the ferry to Digby Island where they hid the airport. My flight is a red eye with a night in the Calgary airport terminal.

North to Alaska: Fiords

Up and out of Fury Cove into the fog, mist and rain. This is the second day of rain and if is getting old already. Tugs tow barges along the Fitzhugh Sound; airplanes fly the channels under the weather. The wind is fickle and we mostly motor toward Shearwater. The town's new T1 phone line does not work right yet so there isn’t any internet service today. An excellent dinner at the restaurant; clean showers and bathroom facilities; a marine chandlery that was going to come in handy. It has been raining for a few days … it seams like forever. Desert Wind has started to seep water from several deck fittings; Stan is spreading life caulk everywhere.

So we thought we left Shearwater after fueling up to head up the fiords. The alternator on Desert Wind quit putting out amps an hour out; the armada turned around and we headed back for a repair. Low and behold, the chandlery had a new
alternator in stock; Stan and Rich made the change out in short order. Motoring out through the shallows, our destination is Goat Cove; we are running about four hours late. The BC ferry preceded us up the channel, heading west; the mega yacht, Archimedes caught up and passed us; I bet they can take a shower anytime they want.

We turned north up Finlayson Channel; the channel is twenty two miles long and between a half to two miles w
ide; the mountains run strait up from the water’s edge to several hundred feet, and are covered completely with pines; snow is still on the north facing slopes; fog rises from the forest like so many camp fires; no people hear. At the water’s edge, the mountains go strait down, two thousand feet below sea level; the water is crystal clear. Our first whale sighting … hump backs and orcas; they are breaching and spouting around us.

As we reach Goat Cove we spot a fish farm at the entrance; lots of controversy about Atlantic salmo
n, parasites and the ecology. The cove runs so deep through a narrow gap that we could wait out a hurricane in here. Erebus drops anchor near a water fall and Shonto and Desert Wind raft up. It has been a long day that started with maintenance uncertainties; time for gin and tonic with a wine chaser. This gin is Canadian customs water… life is good.

North to Alaska: The Jump Across

Re-Disclaimer: nothing written here is completely accurate .... there are observations, theories, fantasies and speculation. Any match to real events may be purely coincidental.

The geezers gather at Gus’ Bar and Grill, the hot spot (only spot?) in Port McNeill; most of us are left over from the casting call on Grumpy Old Men 5. Today is Robin’s birthday; Sue got a cake and only two candles due to local fire ordinances (photo pending); Robin is either 07 or 70 years old
depending upon ones perspective … Robin can’t remember which. One thing is clear … by out society’s measure, he is too old to be here. I thought I might tell 70 year old jokes for the occasion, but William had already heard them all … he is a couple of years older. Rich will reach Robins age in the fall; Stan has three years to go; Sue is as young as the morning breeze across the bay and the youngest of the group… besides, we don’t ask women their age. I am fifty seven and figure by seventy to be in the old folk’s home trying to remember how I got there.

Out into Queen Charlotte Strait, there is no wind. The clouds promise rain. We are to cross the open gap of water north of Vancouver Island, past Cape Caution, to the shelter of the inside passage. With no wind, the crossing is uneventful. Our good fortune with the rain comes to an end. Shonto has a newly crafted dodger and bimini to keep the rain out; Erebus’ bimini only slows the drops down as they soak through; Desert Wind’s bimini provides dry and wet spot seating choices. My new foul weather jacket, bibs and ski mask work great … I am dry.

We arrive in Fury Cove to raft up for the night; three other boats share the hideaway with us. The white sand beach beckons Lucita for her evening constitutional. A pot luck dinner caps a successful crossing.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

North to Alaska: Johnstone Straits


A one and a half knot favorable current takes us north through more sparsely populated areas. Winds are strong and on our nose. We have not heard from Shonto as yet; the day travel day ends early at Port Neville; we increase the boat population from two to four. Only three buildings of which the post office has been here since 1895; from the looks of it, there is not much mail coming and going on weekly deliveries.
Lorna is the fourth generation linked to Hans Hansen who settled here in 1891. Besides the post office, she runs an art gallery and gift shop. Lorne challenges William and Robin to a game of Cubb on the lawn. Combine lawn darts, lawn bowling and horse shoes, make up rules and you h
ave Cubb, an old Viking game. The dynamic duo (William and Robin) cleaned house; Stan and I came in third place ... or is that last …

Lorne and Colleen travel the islands each summer in their Danish built, LM 17 sloop, Shaunsea. The enclosed pilot house and diesel heater are well suited to the islands here. A young couple and their year and a half old baby girl are heading to her dance teaching job in Ketchikan; their 36 foot sloop has new safety nets all around the life lines; he will find work when they get there. Shonto arrived late in the day. The lift operator at the boat yard worked overtime to get them back in the water; he and his wife plan to visit
Stan and Sue in New Mexico in the fall. Rich is pleased with the repairs and the bilges; one and a third boat dollars … bad rock, seams everybody knows about it but us.

Cast off at 0600 bound to Port McNeill, some forty miles away. I put on my ski mask to ward off the cold and possibly knock off a bank; the water is 49‘F and the air is drizzly with a low hanging fog and overcast at 100 feet. The currents run up to a favorable one and a half knots. The Empire Princess and Norwegian Star are heading north to Ketchikan; we will likely cross their paths many times. Cereal in milk for breakfast, the same as served on the cruise ships; life is good, just a little cold.

The water has turned to glass. We enter Port Mcneill on a favorable tide to fuel up, add food, buy charts and spend the night.

North to Alaska: Seymoure Narrows

Doug Folkins and the Molly Hogans were keeping the Quisam Country bar lively tonight. Doug was raised in New Brunswick and headed west with his forestry degree to work in the timber industry. He sells and service software that manages tree harvesting from planting to mill yield. That is Doug’s usual forty hours a week; five nights they are at the Quisam with a dedicated following by Annie and the others. The band is quite good; they out perform many of the Friday night acts at Cesar Chavez park in Sacramento. The small crowd is middle aged, ex mill employees. When the band finishes up for the evening a few drift to the Voodoo Lounge, so I drifted too. Two ID’s are required at the door; from the looks of the girls in their jet dresses, forged ID’s are easy to come by; the girl at the door takes my five dollars and does not require any ID from me … I am obviously the oldest person in the place. The DJ plays thumping sounding noise that reminds me of Erik’s thirteenth birthday party with MC Hammer, only worse. Girls dance in two’s and threesomes without boys. Most of the guys look drunk. Time for me to walk back to Desert Wind.


Erebus was dropped into the water this morning for a boat buck. I used to use airplane spark plug units, $56 USD each, as a measure of cost … there are about eighteen spark plug units in a boat buck. William is happy with the repairs, so all is well. Shonto is still being worked on, so Erebus and Desert Wind head out to catch the favorable tidal currents through Seymoure Narrows. We are a little late for slack water; the current pushes the boats up to thirteen knots as we accelerate through the narrows.


Otter Cove is a quiet little inlet with favorable anchorage. Erebus drops a hook and we raft up. It has been a short travel day, but continuing on against the tidal current really won’t get us anywhere. There are clear cut forest areas, new growth planted and old growth pines all around us … no houses … no signs of civilization

other than the logging road. Everyone takes a nap, especially me since I was out past my bed time last night. William makes fresh salsa and we have chips and wine on deck. Stan cooked up a spaghetti dinner; we ate on the fine china ….


Eggs over easy from Robin and Williams potatoes for breakfast. As

we haul anchor, two black bears come out on the shore to start their day of foraging. We are on the edge of the Johnstone Straits and need to time the tide through. We start out with a one knot favorable current. Traffic is one way; no one can afford the diesel to buck the current.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

North to Alaska: Campbell River

Heading north past the Canadian Air force base, Vancouver Island, the F18’s are scrambling for one of those defensive runs against Sarah Palin and the Alaska National Guard …. Canada is the land of liberal government, BC excluded. We thought we might ping the tower with our radar, but since we forgot the potato gun we would have been defenseless against the jets. The islands are more populated than I had expected; most of the water views seem to have a home on site; ferries run everywhere. Stan fixed Auto’s corroded wiring and now Auto does the steering when we motor. Auto is the best helmsman in tranquil waters; also, he doesn’t drink beer, which is a bonus in steering and sharing.

Cape Mudge, at the entrance of Discovery Passage, is notorious. We arrived to whirlpools that were two feet deep; the speed log read 4.8 knots but the GPS varied from 7 down to 2. Erubus ventured across the surge first (we already covered that expendable part); they were immediately swept west, downstream and toward the shore. Shonto decided to head upstream to the east. I chose through the center toward the shore; Auto was no help … he acted like he had gotten deep into the beer supply. It was a slow slog and we all made it through to Campbell River and the boat yard.

With a bad economy, the boat yard is surprisingly busy; the travel lift operator is literally running, full tilt, pulling boats and setting them back to sea. Shonto came out first … there was a deep cut in the lead keel and evidence that the keel and hull had moved in different directions. Inspection and theorizing came up with an action plan that would re-launch and put us on our way again. Erebus was pulled late in the day; the work list grew. Stan tackled the head leak again. Victory appears to be at hand.

This has truly been a miraculous voyage. William has turned water into gin (that tops that previous event). Rich turned water into ice; although less spectacular, it is still quite a feat on a 12 volt boat. The combination is wonderful; gin is my friend. A visit to the best bar in town Tuesday night, netted me and the bar tender as the sole occupants. The economy has reduced patronage; the bar has cut out live music Monday and Tuesday evenings. The bar tender and her laid off, logger husband have their house going on the market; they will move back into the smaller home that they used to rent out. A 2100 square foot, near new home on a large subdivided lot lists for $347,000 CAN; I doubt our 3400 square foot house in Sacramento would sell for that … housing appears to be expensive here. The lumber mill in town has shut down permanently with the loss of 835 jobs; Campbell River’s population has shrunk by 10M to 30M; people think there may be more work in Alberta. We are helping the local economy with boat repairs, food and drink purchases; I now have a strategy to adjust the balance of payments south. The British Columbia lottery is at $24MM CAN. I asked Tammi how I could win it and she suggested I buy a ticket; she sold me tickets on the next 26 drawings. Now here is the best part … I filled in my home address and mailed it off to the lotto commission ... they will start mailing the winnings home … I don’t even have to interrupt our voyage. Mia, don’t throw out any junk mail!!!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

North to Alaska: New Mexico Armada

Three boats set sail with the tide (Shonto, Erebus, Desert Wind). Puget sound's large tidal swings and currents are strong in the narrow passages between islands … eddies can spin a small boat around … this would require planning and timing. We sailed through the San Juan Islands; the wind favored sailing at the start, but dwindled to motoring into Bedwell on South Pender Island, BC, Canada to clear customs. It was late in the day; further destinations would be after dark arrivals; we would not be able to see the logs and dead heads … we anchored for the night. Erebus and Desert Wind rafted up so that I could get one of those good gin and tonics from William (stirred, no ice, no shaking). Stan barbequed steak … it was the end of a good day.


Our New Mexico Armada started out like the proverbial herding cats …. we have gotten better at this along the way. Up this morning at 5:30 am to time the Dodd Narrows and ride the rapids into Nanaimo. Winds were weak through the day and required motoring up to Dodd Narrows. When the tide rises and falls there is a high speed flush through the small gaps between islands. We had been motoring at 5 knots; about one knot was the favorable current. Erebus lead the way … due to Williams experience or the fact that his boat leaked anyway, so what did it matter. Erebus shot through the narrows at about twelve and a half knots, followed by Desert Wind and Shonto. We were ejected from the narrows into the bay near Nanaimo, Vancouver Island.

Nanaimo has grown since I last visited. High rises and luxury apartments on the coast. Cathy and Alan joined us for dinner at the Dingy Bar, just a water taxi ride across the bay to Protection Island; they live on Vancouver Island and have a getaway power boat in the marina. Dan Miron was the one man band tonight, including a groupy in spandex. We had one of the ugly male waiters … (the things we have to put up with for equal rights … harrumph) … men home from the sea like views that are easy on the eye. The waitress that Stan remembered from two years ago had put on weight but was still very easy on the eye (I don’t think any of us look the same … only in the mirror of our minds). Tight tops, short shorts and boots, those were the days …. now-a-days we are geezers, but we are not dead yet.

The water taxi was full so Stan and I hitched a ride back in Cathy and Alan’s dingy. Alan got us an invitation aboard HMCS Oriole. This is the Pacific Fleet sailing training vessel; Marconi rigged ketch, 31.1 meters LOA. A beautiful yacht built in 1921; crew is five plus 16 trainees. Alex (in training for captain some day if he stays out of trouble) gave us the full tour from the engine room, berths, ward room, kitchen and liquor locker (this is a Canadian military vessel, of course). Trainees are aboard for about five weeks and are mixed gender; the male trainees said that was good to very good, depending …. Sailed at over 17 knots in the 360 Island race and ripped every sail; no winches, cut the spinnaker loose for Davey Jones to keep from foundering; that is racing.


Slept in this morning. The focus was on hauling Erebus out to fix the leak in the bottom. The boat yard said Erebus could be pulled out 30 days; between that and the flat tire on the travel lift, it looked like even that was questionable; William prepared to set sail. Stan installed a new head on Desert Wind this morning; hopefully the leaks are behind us. Boats = maintenance = $$$$. Coffee and a scone at the Java Hut overlooking the marina with Stan, Rich, Sue and Lucita. Bird bombings garner a free replacement cup; good luck for the rest of the voyage!

We fueled up and headed out the passage to Departure Bay ... there were a few channel markers and there were rocks ... Shonto found a rock, a very hard one ... raised Shonto about five inches out of the water and laid her over ... checked for leaks and we sailed on.


Into the Strait of Georgia and a turn north, destination Hornby Island. The wind was fresh and we set our sails. By the time we had reached the turn to the west, the wind died away and we were motoring. The sky has cleared and it is around seventy degrees out; I keep out of the sun. We dug into Mia’s cookies to fortify us.


Entering Tribune Bay, the water was a mirror for the island and sky. Anchored in 30 feet and with Erebus raftedup. Shonto anchored closer to shore to enable Lucita to go for a walk. Margaritas on deck; taquitos and guacamole for dinner … it doesn’t get much better than this … of course we all envied Rich and Sue on Shonto … that’s better.

Weighed Anchor at 0800 … tee shirt weather on Tribune Bay. Headed south west around the island skirting the rocks. Speaking of rocks, Shonto is taking on water now … slowly …. another adjustment. Two boats leak from the bottom … Desert Wind still leaks from the top. We are heading to Campbell River.

North to Alaska: Rendezvous at Anacortes

Disclaimer: nothing written here is completely accurate .... there are observations, theories, fantasies and speculation. Any match to real events may be purely coincidental.

Three trucks, trailers and boats left Albuquerque, New Mexico; one boat left San Francisco bay but was turned back by bad weather, waves and equipment. I set out on Interstate 5 to visit family and friends in route.

Cousins Liz and Andre were the first stop in the Salem/Portland area. We had a great time catching up; who is doing what in the family, politics, talk of retirement ... since they work and I don’t, it was on to Seattle to see George; George crewed on the last Viking II voyage down to Mexico. Dewayne and Shirley took me into their home in Bellingham; Dewayne was the best boss I ever had. It was hard to leave … good friends, good food, good conversations …. But, the Iron Men are arriving in Anacortes.

Mia and I lived in Anacortes around 1975. It has changed since then. The JC Penneys store down town is now a collection of antique and collectable shops; hopefully the Christmas parade still runs by there. Most traffic through town is still out to the San Juan Islands. The old construction yard where we built the modules and shipped them to Alaska has been mostly empty … even the plant in Kenai Alaska has ceased to operate. You know you are getting older when you can see your major endeavors have run their life cycle … the old folks home where Mia worked is still operating … not obsolete ….

Every major move to sea starts with a maintenance list. The Viking II lists were never completely finished before we set sail. Erebus was lifted off her trailer into the water and started to leak; a boat that is usually dry is a concern when it starts to take on water. Boats that leak all the time at a modest rate are typical. William and Robin adjusted to the new bulge pump cycle and planned to set sail. Shonto had running lights to repair and a plugged up sanitary line; the work was done and Rich and Sue bought supplies to set sail. Stan had a list back in New Mexico of over a hundred repair items that were paired down to a few last minute findings. A head that never leaked before would try everyone’s patience. We made a few repairs and got ready to set sail.

Rich, William and Stan were the Baja Ha-Ha iron men on Desert Wind; we had been travelling companions with Viking II. Now Viking II is staying at home in Vallejo to be sold; I am off to Alaska with the New Mexico Armada.

William, Robin, Erik, Sue, Rich, Stan