Salish Sea Again

[David Patterson]

Back up in the south Gulf Islands of Canada I found a mystery death in Swanson Channel. One of the sleek and powerful harbor porpoises died from non-obvious causes. There were no evident wounds, not that I handled the body. I just swung by for some photos. Below is a look south down Swanson Channel from Captain Passage. The two small islands are the Channel Islands.

[David Patterson]

Approaching Dodd Narrows at the top of Stuart Channel, before dawn. When the table says slack before the flood requires getting there in the dark, that is what I do. After my transit, and after dawn, the Narrows don't look like the 8 knot saltwater rapids they can be. Last, from the Winchelsea Islands, Strait of Georgia, this fellow cruiser shot by, reaching in 20mph winds. I was on a run, the boat rolling like a blob of mercury in a tilting saucer. The sea state was far from settled. I'm amazed the shot came out level.

[David Patterson]

In the Strait of Georgia, mid-way up, are a fascinating set of islands. (See CN chart 3512) Encouraged by comments from fellow Alberg design owners (CD40) familiar with them, and by a book entitled Jedediah Days, I visited Jedediah Island in the midst of worsening, at times, fall weather. Trying to leave toward the end of my time there, I was driven back to my anchorage by SE wind and waves in the narrows of Bull Passage along Jedediah. One "bail out" anchorage can be the one you just left. You already know how to get in and out, though conditions may have altered, of course. The Strait of Georgia has a very long fetch in south easterlies. I'll post more photos over the next few days. Here are a park poster, a fine anchorage called Sunset Cove (open to the NW) after my return to it (between Otter and Indian Coves on the map), and a look at some northwest vegetation. Scoured bare by glaciers only ten thousand years ago, the granite has a very thin layer of soil and vegetation that is very fragile. CLOUD GIRL is on two bow anchors at 180*, with the rode of one led outside the toe rail to a stern cleat and chock. It was an easy matter to reverse the heading of the boat later in a wind shift. I simply released the anchor rode cleated at the stern, bringing the other anchor's rode back along the opposite side. Quick and easy reorientation. Naturally I had to ease and re-tighten the rodes. In the narrow cove swinging was not an option, if I was to have adequate scope...a Bahamian mooring and a two-anchor set combined. The tattered bark tree in the second photo is arbutus (Canada) or madrone (US name).

[David Patterson]

Anchorages and anchoring in the Salish Sea can be wholesome entertainment for the cruiser. I'm ready and willing to play with anchoring. Here are some photos of coves and bays of Jedediah Island. First I've shown Home Bay, usable for a few hours at high tide, with care, but drying extensively at low tide. Tidal range is 13 feet or so. Next is Sunset Cove, which I'm sharing with a 40' steel junk-rigged boat off Allen Farrell's locally built CHINA CLOUD design. The owner lost, by sinking, a glass-over-plywood boat to a deadhead, in Boundary Pass, and has gone to steel. Stove in the possibly rotten bow. With that experience I might be tempted as well. I'm on my primary bow anchor toward the entrance, a 225' shore tie, a light stern anchor over under the junk's stern tie, and my secondary bow anchor out forward. My need was to stay in one place and to orient toward the SE winds threatening to get strong. They didn't, in the good protection. I slept exceptionally well, essentially fixed in place. Without his lateral movements restrained, my neighbor came very close to the rock ledge connecting that entrance rock to shore, steel hull or no. Last is attractive Long Bay, yet it dries as well. Cruisers anchor in the mouths of these bays and coves, on the best protected side of the island for the current winds. You can see the oyster shells underwater to the left. TAZ, the junk, has been in there at low tide, settled on her bilge keels. Swim-able warm waters even in September, because so shallow. The cruiser studies his charts with care here. Every time I open a Canadian chart my mantra is "meters, meters, meters." On my earlier cruises in the Canadian part of the Salish Sea I made some concerning errors.

[John Schafer]

Congratulations on another successful solo voyage to one of the most unique places in the Salish Sea. And also, for making it through some of the worst September weather, with a 933 millibar low, just north of your position. 45-knot winds were reported and gale-force winds for three days. We followed the weather reports on our computer and thought about you dealing with those conditions. Hopefully, October will bring some settled weather, and you can enjoy an Indian Summer. John

[David Patterson]

Thanks, John. I was prepping for 25-30 knots SE. Had I known of 45 knots I might have had the boat draped with spare rodes tied ashore. Had the weather been NW I would have had to get around to the other side of the island, say, Codfish Bay, a challenging prospect. Or better and much closer, anchored nearby at Skerry Bay of Lasquiti. As it was I had a grand no-engine sail to get to Jedediah from Nanoose Harbor, that included a two hour beat, short-tacking against wind and tide up Bull Passage, before anchoring at Boom Bay's entrance (it nearly dries too). My aborted attempt to leave--and I was a fool to try to get back out in the Strait before the weather had fully passed--was also against wind and the end of the flood in Bull Passage, in hopes of good tide timing for my passage legs. Perfect conditions the next day, when I anchored in the dark at Ganges (why won't people use proper anchor lights for late arrivers?) after 55nm and 13 hours of passage. I took Dodd Narrows at 2kts head current, and the wash of an inconsiderate CN CG boat roaring by. He almost had a rescue to deal with. Other than the wash CLOUDIE powered thru the current fine. Canoeing experience helps when reading the currents in that Narrows! Higher and I would not have attempted the transit, but anchored over by False Narrows. The photo is of perfect conditions for my boat in the Strait of Georgia: Force 3 winds and a mild sea state. Judging by that sheet I am motor sailing, probably under main alone with the boom centered using the traveler, and nearly on the wind. I'm not a purist, sailing or otherwise. David, Friday Harbor

[David Patterson]

Some Salish Sea sights: a freighter at anchor outside Nanaimo at the top of Northumberland Channel is typical of those seen plying the traffic lanes, or at times even being towed outside of them; an older version of the big tugs in the Salish Sea, BREEZE was built in 1942 of local wood, had long service, and is now moored in Ganges Harbor with a caretaker or owner aboard the friendly giant; a public service of the town's Rotary Club (I believe) to about half of the population anyway, the distinctive mermaid of Ganges town greets arriving cruisers and tourists from a small park at the public docks. She is my favorite mermaid statue of the Sea. The bronze Galatea in Port Townsend is better art, but then she is not a mermaid. Ganges is to the South Gulf Islands as Friday Harbor is to the San Juans. It is the attractive stopover, the population of Ganges and Salt Spring Island reaching 10 or 12 thousand. At an excellent arts fair/farmers market in the summer, French conversations sprinkle among those in English. Ganges is the local metropolis, with most ordinary services available. Guide books have the details.

[David Patterson]

At the end of any somewhat extended cruise is the reprovisioning. In the Salish Sea my chosen "home port" is Friday Harbor, where I maintain a mail pickup and can resupply by foot, using a collapsible luggage cart as an aid. At times I will use the courtesy dock to save some rowing from the anchorage, though both the walking and rowing combined make for some balanced exercise. Not on this return, however, for the courtesy dock has been occupied by a barge and crane. Note the day symbols over the barge, of a ball under two reversed cones under another ball. Three photos: the barge and crane occupying the breakwater dock; the open inner marina of the port with half of F dock removed; and two handsome old wooden craft. The renovation of the port marina will take the rest of 2014, cost $4 million (well worth it, for the port is the lifeblood of the area), and replace docks/electrical lines/pilings/other services. In place since the early 70s, replacement is needed. No easy courtesy dock for some months, though the well-managed port has made some adjustments. The resident boats are being shuffled around from dock to dock as the work progresses. This Port will never attain the elaborate size of Blaine's, fortunately. Of course poor Blaine has the limitation for cruisers of a single shower for each gender, in that huge facility, not to mention no easy resupply points without a car, while such accommodations are far better in Friday Harbor, in my experience. Not to mention being in the center of the San Juans and the Salish Sea.

[Sea Hunt Video]

David:

Have you given any further thought to, or explored, the possibility of putting together a book or photo journal of your travels in the Pacific Northwest

I think the only real difficulty you might encounter is convincing people that the photos were taken with a cell phone camera. Frankly, I still don't believe it. The depth of field and color clarity and richness is impressive. You have an amazing eye for composition. You should share your efforts with sailors and non-sailors outside of the small Cape Dory community.

[David Patterson]

Thanks, Robert. I will consider such things, as I ride out weather from time to time in protected anchorages this winter, though I'll be away from my trusty little boat some for family visits. (My grown children threaten to come extract me now and then.) My attention is usually fully engaged with this marvelous context, a cruiser's paradise, at least for my style of cruising. Your praise of my photography is very meaningful, coming from someone who has done it professionally. Actually, I have graduated to an iPhone5s, after the buttons on my 4s hung up. Salt air? Forced not to wait, I have missed getting the improvements of the iPhone6 camera. Oh well. I'm getting by. The missing telephoto lens is problematic. There was a time when the engineers wanted the computer to make your shelf stereo shake in its boots. The phone camera won't do that to the electronic SLR until the lens problem is solved. The bright diffuse light up here is very kind to amateur photographers. You will notice my reframe of the two wooden boats ended up indistinct. I think you and John are the first to open my posts. Thanks for that interest too. Posting here at capedory.org remains very satisfying for me. Enjoy your fall on the water there. I sure am here. David, Friday Harbor [This photo is from Bedwell Harbor, looking across Boundary Pass to Stuart Island in the US, 9/29/14. I like that quarter of moon up there.]

[David Patterson]

A few more scenes from Jedediah Island before I let go of that cruise. A very memorable cruise, many of the images will remain on my mind for awhile. The Spanish exploratory expeditions of the late 18th Century in this area (they claimed it as did Britain) were not unlike Captain Cook's a couple of decade's earlier, when he carried animals to leave on Pacific islands. The Spanish left goats to increase on Jedediah Island. Here is the bachelor herd. From a different source but equally feral, there are sheep as well. I enjoy the sheep photo mostly for the quality of the light. Last is a look from a high point SE along the tip of tall Texada Island, out to Sabine Channel, a scene that might be found on either North American coast near 50* of latitude, I assume. To go ashore in lightly developed and less often visited marine parks is to step back in time. This one doesn't even have signs on the trails. Delightful. If I get to it I suppose I could show some of the unusual vegetation of this area.

[Jim Walsh]

Your prior posts photo with the crescent moon is beautiful. The sloop in the foreground is a Grampian 26. I had one in high school. This shot makes it look it's best.

[David Patterson]

My first boat was a Montgomery 17. Loved it and learned very much. How fine to look back, especially from the deck of a Cape Dory.

[David Patterson]

Last pics from Jedediah Island, finally. First is an old cedar, clinging to a rock and to life itself, on the edge of Home Bay, the original house site of the island. Second is a young arbutus, loaded with ripening berries. The Salish peoples used every part of these trees, I have read. Third is CLOUD GIRL anchored fore and aft, my dinghy Windin' Boy afloat in the rising tide, framed by a tree I'm not sure of. I have re-anchored, in this photo, after abandoning my second of two attempts to get out of Bull Passage, against the end of a low whose winds reached 45 knots, I was later told. The vegetation of the Salish Sea shores is varied, lovely, and very interesting to me. Old growth trees remain on Jedediah.

[David Patterson]

Fog in the central San Juan Islands this week, dense and lingering, rolling up against the windward side of islands, filling Upright Channel and others for most of the day, at times. Possibly there is even more in Juan de Fuca Strait, as some cruisers indicate. Below are: a photo of San Juan Channel, the upwellings of the full flood evident in the water; Friday Harbor this morning with the fog usefully lifted 50 to 100 feet (the crane barges' lights at night are vertical red-green-red, with a flashing red at the top of the crane, useful for any late-arriving sea planes); a carved-wood mermaid from the tourist shop Mystical Mermaid. (No connection to me. I like the Celtic Art look on her face, like the queens of the Lewis chess set. I can easily imagine that someone just summarized the world news for her.)