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Log #10Click Here to See More of David & Irene's Pictures
Part 10:The Last Days & Nights In Canadian Waters
By David & Irene Axup
Editor's Note: Northwest Boat Travel Club members and designers of the NBT Club burgee, David & Irene Axup, of Melbourne, Australia, have spent over two years carefully planning for "an adventure of a lifetime". Several articles were published in our club magazine, describing their preparations. Now they are here - on our lovely waters, sailing northwestward on their adventure of the next four months. We asked them to share their cruise with our members and with us.
5th SEPTEMBER - Wednesday
Today is to be a day to catch up on bits and pieces. The diary needs bringing up to date and there is a pile of washing to do.
Shirley makes her laundry available and so Irene amuses herself with the washing.
E-mails are downloaded and sent.
The afternoon is spent reading or chatting to Shirley Atkinson. Dave and Patti Ogilvy are going to New Zealand in January. Both islands of New Zealand are familiar to us and so we spend some time on their itinerary with suggestions of places and things we think they would be interested in. Unfortunately they are not coming to Oz so that we could return some of their hospitality.
Dinner is with Shirley and Bruce and their eldest son, John.
6th SEPTEMBER - Thursday
0820 We were going to get up early so that we could be away early - so much for that.
After a quick breakfast we say farewell to Shirley who has to go into Victoria and Bruce runs us down to Maple Bay Yacht Club where SKyamsen has been tied up for the last three days.
1120 Our farewells are said to Dave and Patti and to Bruce and we cast off and head to the fuel dock to top up on diesel as there is no wind and it does not look like we are going to get to sail much today.
1150 We are away and motor our of Maple Bay and turn down Sansum Narrows towards Saanich Inlet. The current is under our tail and we make good time with the motor just idling. There is not much boat traffic around - a half dozen that we can see and all but one of them is heading in the same direction as us.
As we turn Cape Keppel we can just spot the Atkinson house over on the shore of Vancouver Island.
There are a number of boats with sails up in the distance towards Swanson Channel and with a bit of luck we will get to sail. There is no wind at the moment.
1440 Chad Islet near Portland Island is to starboard and David hoists the sails and as we head towards Beaver Point the motor is turned off and our boat speed drops dramatically as the wind is very light.
The easy motion is too much for Irene who promptly curls up in the cockpit and goes to sleep while David tweeks the sails to get as much as possible out of the light breeze.
Rounding Portlock Point on Prevost Island the wind is completely gone and so the sails are brought down and the engine turned on to motor diagonally across Trincomali Channel to the entrance to Montague Harbour between Julia Island and Phillmore Point.
1710 We had hoped to pick up a mooring buoy near the public wharf but they are all taken so we motor down into the SE corner of the harbour and drop the anchor.
Reluctantly it is time to start the process of packing up so David takes the staysail from its stay and bags it. The sheets are coiled, tied and stowed and the running blocks removed from their rails on the cabin top. We'll go across the Strait of Georgia on Saturday with just the head sail and main.
The big genoa also has to be stowed but that will wait until Saturday.
There is not a breath of wind, the water is glassy smooth and there is the most fascinating light and cloud display away to our north.
7th SEPTEMBER - Friday
We are at anchor in Montague Harbour and intend staying here for the day as it provides us with an easy jump off point for Active Pass tomorrow morning. Slack water is at 0900 turning to the flood which will be to our benefit.
David goes ashore in the ducky to get milk and to post some last cards which we hope will beat us home. Phone calls to John Hall at S & H Custom Yachts and James Way at Emotrans [our Shipping Agent] to confirm our arrival back in the Fraser tomorrow. John informs us that the cradle for shipping SKyamsen will be delivered tomorrow.
It is a lovely sunny day with a brisk breeze but the temperature is not high. Channel 16 is alive with boats calling each other as they head south towards the lower end of the Gulf Islands and back into the United States - it seems summer is also over for them.
This is our last anchorage on our adventure and there is a tinge of reluctance in starting the work that has to be done to get SKyamsen ready for shipping. The three months have slipped away from us and their is the realization that, much as we would like to, we may not get to cruise these beautiful waters again.
We have left so much untouched but to counter that a browse through the Marine Atlas in which David has marked our path from Sidney makes us realise that we have also seen a great deal. We feel our decision not to press on above Vancouver Island was a good one.
The mooring buoys at the other end of the harbour are emptying but we decide to stay where we are and swing to the anchor.
1440 Back to the reality of the sea. There is a Mayday call to which Coast Guard Seattle responds so it is assumed that the vessel in trouble is in that area however Seattle is quite clear on the VHF here in Montague Harbour and so we assume is audible around us. This does not stop the bozos on #16 from calling each other with their inane chatter and eventually Seattle has to ask for silence - and still there are pleasure boats calling each other. The afternoon is turning into one of the best days weather we have had - Sod's Law of the Sea strikes again - our second last day on the water. We take the ducky and head to the Montague Harbour Marina with its gleaming white freshly painted buildings and indulge in an ice-cream out on the patio overlooking the harbour.
Our little corner of the harbour is filling up with yachts.
The evening view from our anchorage is straight out of the harbour and up Trincomali Channel to the islands and mountains in the distance. The water has a marbled appearance as it is shining glass with long low ripples and the reflections of anchored boats reach out to us coming together just beyond reach. In all it is a picture of unparalleled beauty which even the power lines across the harbour mouth cannot diminish.
8th SEPTEMBER - Saturday
0600 The alarm goes off and we are out of bed to prepare for our last day on the water in BC
0745 The anchor is up and secure. There is a light NW wind blowing in Trincomali but the forecast for Strait of Georgia is 15 knots - we hope it is favourable to our course as we have to be at S & H early in the afternoon.
As we run down the side of Galiano Island towards Active Pass the Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay ferry pops out ahead of us - that means we have an open go at Active Pass.
The last of the current is with us and we head into the pass and the boat speed picks up. Two large power boats coming the other way on the plane cut across our bows and give us the benefit of their large wake. We are getting to hate these people and their lack of courtesy and seamanship.
0905 We are near Fairway Rock at the North end of Active Pass and the Tsawassen - Galiano Island ferry is approaching but will be well clear of us - we hope.
We are pleased to have transited the Pass without encountering anything large being in it at the same time.
Have you listened to the ferry people on #16 warning of their approach to the Pass? Some rattle the little spiel off so quickly you cannot understand anything but Active Pass and others are clear and precise and leave no doubt that they are letting everyone know that they are going to dominate that piece of water while they transit.
The Strait of Georgia is rough and the wind is right on the nose. The decision is made to go for the straight crossing to the Fraser which means we motor rather than sail and we are in for 12 miles of butting almost head on into the sea. The alternative is to beat our way to the Fraser which would mean a trip of about 20 miles and John Hall is waiting for us at S & H in Cannery Channel.
Around the middle of the Strait the seas flatten but we can see no reason for it - there is no change in the depth and we are too far out for the effect of the Fraser River. We won't look a gift horse in the mouth and make the most of the improved conditions. They do not last for long and we are soon back into the conditions we encountered on entering the Strait.
Had we motored the 10 miles to Porlier Pass along the sheltered Trincomali Channel we could have scooted across the Strait on a reach - such is life.
1100 We are actually in the waters of the USA and will be for 1.6 nautical miles as we cross the very tip of the dividing border line. We are not going to change the courtesy flag for 1.6 miles and so we hope our American freinds will forgive us crossing their waters with a Canadian courtesy flag at the yard.
The short sharp seas are reminiscent of not uncommon conditions on Port Phillip - our home waters.
The entry to the Fraser is quite nasty as there is a large sea running across the bar at the mouth and it would be wise to take this entrance by heading over to near the Sand Heads structure and then turning into the river instead of following the red buoys as we have done.
As we approach the Steveston Bend there is a large freighter heading down river and it will be interesting to see if we reach Cannery Channel before it does. We don't and this rather large RoRo passes close by on our port side. We are in about 12 metres of water and it is interesting to see the effect of this large vessel moving at about 5 knots and what it does to the water with its large displacement in shallow water. The effect is taught in seamanship courses but there is nothing like seeing it and feeling it in real life - so long as you are at a safe distance. We turn into it and our bow rides the first wave and then dips into the second of the waves to throw the water high and wide.
1415 Into Cannery Channel with all its activity and, as usual, it is the recreational boaters you have to watch for. The professionals know the rules and abide by them - with the others you can never tell. A Beneteau yacht and a large motor vessel come close to collision as neither skipper is watching where they are going being busy talking to their passengers and looking at the shore side activity at Steveston.
1425 Alongside at S & H Custom Yachts and tie up to their dock. After letting John Hall know we are here and collecting the bags we had left with the shipping agent it is time to start packing clothes and equipment.
The starting of the packing process finally brings it home that this is the end of the cruise. The head and stay sails are stripped from the for'd stays and the main sail from the boom and placed in their bags - there is nothing quite so bare as a yacht with no sails attached - it is as if she has been stripped of part of her soul.
SKyamsen is about a half mile from where she was built twenty years ago and will be prepared here for shipping out of Canada never to return.
1930 We call a halt to the packing for the day. Our last dinner aboard in Canadian waters is a simple affair and we take an early night to return to the packing first thing in the morning.
It has been an unforgettable experience for us and made so much easier and richer by the the advice and information given to us by so many people during the planning stage - some of whom we did not get to meet - and those people we have met along the way during our adventure who, without reservation, gave their time and friendship.
It will be Monday before we finish the packing and cleaning and tomorrow Phil and Gwen arrive and we have so much to tell them that the thought processes are somewhat chaotic.
Monday will also bring a meeting with James Way of Emotrans who will tell us when SKyamsen will leave Canada and when it will arrive in Melbourne.
The Daily Observational Log of the sailing vessel SKyamsen for its last cruise in Canadian waters concludes. The next entry in her log will be in Australia 7,000 nautical miles South West.
