SUDDENLY SAILING
MAY 12, 2015
DAY 5 – CIRCUMNAVIGATION – VANCOUVER ISLAND
It’s 5am in Lund and Omoo is bathed by the morning dew, perfect after our salty sail across the Salish Sea. The crew and skipper are sound asleep, our sailing friends on Sea Sparrow are tied up at the dock in front of us and all is well with the world. Birds are ushering in the morning with their cheerful chirping and the ocean is gently shifting with the ebbing tide.
LET’S LOOK OVER THE TRIP SO FAR.
May 8
DAY 1
Skipper, “I can’t believe we left on the day we said we would.” In reply, the first mate, “I can’t believe we feel like we haven’t forgotten anything!!”
The night before we celebrated 5 years since Omoo found the skipper with a G-Dock party and all our fun neighbors at Maple Bay Marina. Sideways Sally put the skipper to bed at an appropriate hour and wandered back down the goat trail with a box of Australian “Fish Eye” shiraz tucked under her arm. (For those who haven’t med SS she came aboard last year in Sointula and joined the crew forever.) A couple of boaters kept the midnite oil burning till the wee hours, howls and hoots of laughter annoying the moon. 2 am found the cabin and SS put to bed for “leaving day” on our circumnavigation around Vancouver Island.
Out we went into the Bay under motor into Stuart Channel, and were welcomed to our trip by a pod of Orcas between Vesuvius on Saltspring Island and Crofton on V.I. They’d been eating seals in the bay in the morning and were playful and majestic in the travels to the next meal. WHAT A TREAT ON THE FIRST DAY OUT!!
Sea Sparrow was waiting for us in Clam Bay and joining us for the first leg of our journey. Len and Judy Pringle came aboard and happy happy hours commenced.
May 9
CRUISING to DODD’S NARROWS
Went to pull the anchor up and it won’t budge. How many times have we been in Clam Bay?? TOO MANY TO COUNT. This time we dropped the anchor right on top of a fish farm. Down and up the anchor winch worked with inches of progress in tons of mud. Finally a release on the chain and up came an oyster farm – NICE!. Yup, after closer inspection it turned out to be a non-producing stray line of empty shells on a line dug into the mud, but kinda pretty, like a wind chime hanging off the bow. (pic)
PLOP, back it went in the ocean and away we go.
RADIO CHATTER
LUCY LUCY LUCY – OH YA BABY, OH YA BABY, OH YA BABY (this is how we call another boat)
Makes my heart go pitter-patter.
GO 70
SPECIAL K SPECIAL K SPECIAL K
It’s kinda early but that don’t matter.
At Dodds waiting for slack tide and anchored, skipper snoozing, crew fishing and Sea Sparrow sail-floating. (what we do in light light wind)
Thru Dodds no prob and into Nanaimo at Newcastle Island on the mooring buoys. Ken and Tanis Wilson come aboard in time to go to the Dingy Dock Pub and then back to Omoo for a spectacular view of Nanaimo at dusk.
MAY 10 – WOWZERS
Out of Nanaimo (what’s in a Nanaimo bar?) through Departure Bay racing the BIG ferry and into 15 knot winds close hauled at 5-7 knots headed north to Jedadiah Island. YEEHAW! (hookers and sailors)
CONVERSATION UNDER WAY…
Pilots, captains and skippers put their planes and vessels in jepreody when leaving the cockpit to go to the head (toilet). Then their seats should be toilets.
TRUE STORY – If you put a casserole (pollo con mole) on the gimbeled stove (without locking it in position) while at anchor and you set it closer to the back it will drop behind the stove (SWEAR LOUDLY) and permeate the cabin for three days. If you can quickly retrieve it you will save roughly 2/3 of the meal your hungry guests have been anticipating. The rest can be used for crab bait but it only attracts sea cucumbers. But in your imagination you saw crabs with sombreros dancing the Tango right into your trap.
Anchored and stern tied in Deep Cove alongside Sea Sparrow by 4 pm – looking pretty!! (pic)
MAY 11 – ANCHORS AWAY AT 8 AM AND INTO THE LUMPY SEAS. Wind NW 10-12 knots, tacking at 4-6 knots the loooonnnng way around to Lund. Makes a 37 NM trip into a 60 NM trip, but we got a close look at Hornby Island!! Best part of the day – wind came up as we tacked back to Texada and we reached 7.5 knots with 2 crew on the rail. (pic)
LIFE JACKET DEMONSTRATIONS
The skipper asks everyone to wear their lifejackets outside the cockpit (while underway) in order to recover the body. At times, in haste to photograph some sea life, cameras come before life jackets and a quick reminder makes people scramble into their life jackets. However, if you step on deck with the straps of your lifejacket tangled around your anKles it is unlikely to help you keep your head above water in such an unlikely event. If you find your straps over your shoulders instead of under your armpits it looks hilarious, keeps your chin up and chokes you.
LOVELY LUND AND NANCY’S THE DESTINATION BAKERY.
On the dock and hungry at 5:30 pm. Sea Sparrow made it in time to make a mad dash up to the bakery for the BEST sourdough bread to accompany the salmon fettucini (great pressure cooker recipe) for our dock picnic. The locals visited and one “was not your average tulip”. He pulled up along side the dock in his 18 foot fishing dory and shared his years of wisdom, along his beer.
The herons fished off the breakwater in the setting sun, the breezes blew softly and halyards chimed in.
