Above the Salish Sea II 2016

[David Patterson]

At the height of the tourist season a steady stream of varied craft can make for interesting viewing. Still in port, or nearby, after my extended cruise in May/June/July, I enjoy the ones I spot. Here are a few. This coming weekend the local yacht club sponsors the Shaw Island Classic, a sailing race around Shaw Island, right in the center of the San Juans. Participants can circumnavigate the island in either direction. Local knowledge of currents and winds is paramount. The wakes of ferries, mega yachts, and cabin cruisers are influential. My interest is in the boats that will gather, some of them likely to be as classic as the race...I hope.
** The first photo is of Shaw Island. Next is someone's nicely done home-build of a power boat. I really liked the cabin interior as well. Last is a fine old ketch. The sloped forward part of the house, I assume, must be to handle green water over the bow, lessening the danger of its power against the structure. Some designer had off shore use in mind, apparently, though the cabin windows look vulnerable to me. WOODWIND of Port Madison.

[David Patterson]

Friday Harbor, two interesting boats; Bedwell Harbor BC, fog lifting in the morning. LORELEI of Seattle was a pleasure to look at, docked at the courtesy dock, with her wood decks. The engineless wood yawl had interesting features to study, including one on the port side not visible in the photo. The owner's aging dog had trouble getting from deck to dinghy. A fold-up shelf on chains gave it the necessary transitional step. The yawl is flying its Canadian courtesy flag still after a recent visit north. Bedwell Harbor is a seasonal pleasure boat customs station for many boaters out of the US. Here dog is lifting above the busy (for Bedwell) anchorage. I'm back in Canada's Gulf Islands for a couple of weeks. Locals joke that August should've been called Fog-ust.

[Sea Hunt Video]

David:

I am sure it is just an illusion from the lighting, but the wood foredeck on Lorelei looks like it is more slippery than a sheet of ice.

[David Patterson]

Here is a better look at the wood deck, Roberto, and I agree. Unfinished would be safer. Charming boat though.

[barfwinkle]

GA David

The little yawl, is that a Rob Roy? Sure looks like one!

Fair Winds

[tjr818]

It looks like on of the Nimble Yawls to me a 24 I would think. If I can't have a Cape Dory, Nimble boats are right at the top of my wish list. I would love to have a little Nimble Kodiak to tow around the country and leave our CD-27 here at home..

[barfwinkle]

Hey Tim I almost bought a Rob Roy in March. Truly wish I had done so, but alas. And while I might be incorrect, I'm pretty sure that the little yawl is a Rob Roy (actually they may be built by Nimble, not sure).

Fair Winds

[David Patterson]

Not sure, Bill, but I think so. Clearly set up for good cruising.

[David Patterson]

Back in the Gulf Islands in August, one finds a different cruising situation than in May. A Force 3 wind is a rare treat among steady days of light airs. And, veritable mid-day rush hours of motor traffic can occur in straits and channels. Still, sails speckle the scenes. Weather is generally gloriously sunny and yet mild. Waters in many areas are warm enough for swimming as well. In Wallace Island Marine Park a geologically-minded person can seem to see the bones of the earth exposed. One of my elementary-school-aged grandchildren has informed me that tectonic plates move at about the rate your fingernails grow. Two such plates meet under Canada's Gulf Islands, creating alternating ridges and troughs of islands and channels, oriented SE to NW. The photos are of exposed rock in Conover Cove, of the view southeast in Trincomali Channel, and of the space-saving stern-tie anchoring custom adhered to during busy seasons in these waters, in Conover Cove.

[David Patterson]

A scenic narrows, Sansum Narrows, is a more pale version of others in the Salish Sea and above. Sports fishing is excellent in it. Nonetheless, it can be challenging...in certain conditions VERY challenging...to negotiate under sail. No other way to gain "local knowledge," though. My recent transit included some close calls as the winds dropped mid-narrows and currents grabbed the keel. Quick work with the sweep kept my little cruiser off the rocks at one point. The inexorable movement of the boat when captured by a current can be wonderfully activating! [I keep my sweep easily deployable along the port side lifelines. One key to adventure is right there in your instrument panel. Just turn it off now and then. Nearly a decade ago, simply putting up the sails was adventure enough for me. How jaded I've become.] First photo: Sansum Narrows chart (in meters) with tide rip and typical whirlpool locations evident. Second photo: a track through the narrows of a 19.5 NM sail-only passage over 7 hours, anchor to anchor. Conover Cove of Wallace Island to Genoa Bay, off large Cowichan Bay of Vancouver Island. 3rd photo: comparatively tiny CLOUD GIRL among local pleasure boats (yes, that is a 3-masted schooner nearby) at anchor a day later in Tod Inlet, an all weather anchorage near world-renown Butchart Gardens. 130 acres of high-level gardening entice the cruiser or traveler here, complete with Saturday night fireworks displays in summer. Vacationers from all over the world seek out the plantings, especially in summers.

[David Patterson]

Tod Inlet, off Brentwood Bay of Saanich Inlet, allows a NW cruiser easy proximity to the stunning Butchart Gardens of Vancouver Island, near Victoria, plus simple bus access to the city with its classic waterfront, Victorian architecture, and fine museum. All around protection, rare in the area, suggests winter visiting as well. Some do. A chart view and a couple of garden views might whet an appetite, in some, for a visit. The area is well-covered in guidebooks, of course. (Photo credit for the last photo is to Karen Schafer.)

[David Patterson]

Full moon, spring tides: stupendous amounts of water flow through the San Juan Islands into and out of the Gulf of Georgia, as it used to be called. As the volume and current speeds increase with the moon's pull, dramatic surface conditions develop in places, east of Spieden Island being one of them. On the first photo, in the middle part of this 6 hour passage's track, you can see the current first pushed me one way, then the other, since I was there at the tide reversal (a poor choice). In 2 (and at times nearly 3) foot choppy waves, my little pocket cruiser bucked and rolled, bucked and rolled, on a run, my least favorite point of sail in disturbed waters. Motor vessel wakes added to the motion, at times dangerously. I was appreciating the stability of a full keeled design. At the customs dock LADY WASHINGTON had entered, putting a typically calm and competent officer under undue pressure. The customs detachment seems understaffed for the August onslaught here. That divot low on her bow drew my attention. Perhaps she hit a deadhead. Look at the tall ship's rigging. I try to imagine "learning the ropes" aboard her. We all probably saw her in a starring role in Pirates of the Caribbean, among other movies. Maybe I'll get aboard her at the Wooden Boat Festival in a few weeks. I hope so.

[David Patterson]

On the theme of boats-seen-in-port: TEMPTRESS indeed looks tempting, that elegant tumblehome at the stern being part of the reason, for me. The disadvantages of a wheeled helm aside, what a fine craft. Bronze-colored GIZMO of San Francisco reminds me, in terms of styling, of an early 1950s Oldsmobile or Buick. Very attractive. She is a cat, rafted with another, more local, cat. Her rafting mate, LIGHTSPEED of Friday Harbor, has auxiliary sails. I think I've seen her use them. GIZMO sports not a single solar cell, reducing her to engine use for battery charging. Last, at the port docks I saw this bright and unusual motor craft. I don't think the large dog evident at the stern is the cause of her trim issues, but with its even larger canine companion, the two dogs add up to enough weight to definitely tilt the boat.

[Sea Hunt Video]

David:

S/V Temptress does look beautiful (and tempting). Do you (or any readers) happen to know the mfg. and model for this particular sailboat. I am old and have very little knowledge of sailboats but, to me, S/V Temptress is what a sailboat is supposed to look like. It is what attracted me to Cape Dory sailboats. To me they look like sailboats. Mr. Alberg obviously knew a little something about what a sailboat should look like. I have absolutely zero interest in the "new" models being offered by various manufacturers. They do not look "salty" or "shiply" (is that even a word )

On an important note, David, are we making any progress on putting together a draft manuscript for your upcoming book (tentatively named "Above The Salish Sea") with what will hopefully be many hundreds of your photos

[David Patterson]

You've been encouraging, Roberto. Thanks. I hope to interact with some NW publishers at the wooden boat show in Port Townsend in a few weeks (if I can get across Juan de Fuca successfully). I choose cruising over much else. Just finished two weeks in the Gulf Islands, working around Salt Spring Island. Not really "challenge cruising," but I spiced it up with a few mistakes. They aren't all in my narrative. I continue to learn with almost every passage, especially when under sail. Anyway, I'll keep at the reportage. As for TEMPTRESS, I'd only be guessing. For some reason I think she is a boat built in this region. Great lines. Someone will have an idea better than mine.