Sailor Stories

The Strait of Georgia is a big body of water. It's wide and it's long. When leaving from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and you look south out at the Strait, water is all you can see. There is no land in sight. With all that distance, it gives the wind and waves a lot of room to build and get rough. It has been a source of contention for many a sailor in the Northwest.

Our path across the Strait of Georgia was from Nanaimo to Pender Harbor. About 40 miles. 40 miles you may say is no big deal. That's like driving from Seattle to Tacoma down I-5. I can do that in 30 minutes if there is no traffic. You have to remember that we travel at the pace of a fast jog. That 40 miles takes us about 6 to 7 hours. If the weather is rough, that is a long time for things to go wrong.

We have been paying pretty close attention to the weather for the crossing. The forecast didn't look very good for a few days but we were ready to move on. We had our fill of Nanaimo and we were ready for a new spot. The forecast called for 20-30 knots of wind and rain for a few days however if we got up early, we could catch a window in the morning before the storm rolled in. It would just mean that we would probably get hit with the weather somewhere in the middle of the Strait.

Sounds like a good plan to me. We stay up late the night before and make sure the boat is prepared for the worst. We strap everything down. Brenda makes some lunches just in case it gets too rough to cook. We get all of our safety gear out and prepared. We are ready.

In the morning, we roll out of bed, have some coffee, and check the weather one more time. The forecast is a little worse. 25-35 knots of wind. I still assume that most people who are reading this are not sailors so I am going to tell you a little something about 25-35 knots of wind. It's a lot of wind. Throw some rain in the mix and it is a movie in the making. When you see a movie with sailing involved in it, it has either of 2 scenes. One is the romantic, peaceful, sunny sailing scene with somewhere in the realm of 10 knots of wind. The other scene that you will see is the storm with rain, waves, lightning, and about 35 knots of wind.

We still think it's a good idea to head across the Strait and try to beat the weather. Off we go. It is idyllic. We head off with about 10 knots of warm wind that is gently coaxing us across. This is the romantic part of the movie. It's 80 degrees out, the sun is shining, and Brenda is laying out on deck working on becoming a bronze goddess. It's working and she is getting an amazing tan.

Somewhere at about 2 hours out of Nanaimo, I can see the storm coming. There is a definite line in the sky where the blue meets the black. It is coming and it is going to be fierce. It's time for the sunbathing to end and time to get serious. We get our safety gear out and put on our foul weather suits and prepare for the worst.

In a matter of about 30 minutes, the sky goes from a clear blue to black and the wind is howling. The seas pick up and we are now in a washing machine. The rain comes at us sideways and anything that wasn't strapped down has left its home and is now residing on the other side of the boat. We are calm and collected but I have to yell “is this all you've got?” Of course it's not. The wind picks up a little more and the waves get a little bigger.

We have a good boat and we are prepared for this, so this little storm isn't really that big of a deal. We shorten the sails so there isn't as much force on the boat and settle in for the ride. We are flying across the Strait and are actually enjoy this. It's bumpy and rocky and rolly but we are having fun. Brenda is driving for a couple of hours during the worst of it and is barking orders like a boss. She scares me more than the storm so I do as I am told and we make it across unscathed.

We end up pulling into a place called Secret Cove instead of Pender Harbor and we ride out the worst of the blow at anchor. It's a loud night. The wind sounds like a freight train going through the rigging during the big gusts. We don't really sleep very well due to the wind and the noise but get up in the morning and head for Pender Harbor. I should say that “WE” don't get up on our own accord but Brenda is up and says my 4 least favorite words in the morning, “are you still sleeping?”, which really means “get up because we have things to do.” There is supposed to be another short break in the wind before the next system rolls in.

We haul up the anchor and head to Pender Harbor which is only about 10 miles away. We have 15 knots of wind to start and end up with 27 knots of wind as we are turning into Pender Harbor. Brenda drives the whole way, still like a boss, barking orders and me abiding. I can tell she is having fun because she is singing in her head and dancing just a little the whole way.

After we get our anchor set and take the dinghy to shore, I hear a couple of sailors on the public pier talking about the big blow. “We saw 40 plus knots of wind” says one to the other. The other says “we saw 45 knots of wind and the seas were at least 10 feet tall!!!” Sailor stories. They get better every time they are told.

We are heading out to Princess Louisa Inlet tomorrow morning.  It is considered one of the most majestic and beautiful places on Earth.  You can only get there by boat and we just happen to have a boat.  Google it.  It has been on my bucket list so we are going to cross it off the list.  It will take us about 8 hours out of our way to get there but it will be worth it.  I'm excited!