Ride ’em Cowboys!!!

We warmed up the engine, readied ourselves and the boat, and headed out of the bay from Port McNeill on a misty early morning.  The seas were relatively calm but with enough chop to give a boost to the coffee that helped wake us up.  Our destination was crossing the Queen Charlotte strait or a safe anchorage if the weather and water wouldn’t cooperate. Although the conditions continually changed with wind, choppy water, and rain, they didn’t really worsen (until later). We decided to make the transit after passing the last safe anchorages in Miles Inlet in the BC mainland.

The swells continued to increase in size from a couple of feet to 4-5 feet.  Now, I’ve never been out in ocean swells before, so my experience in these types of conditions is zilch.  Terry and I have been in some terrible sea conditions but usually in areas where we could duck in out of hazardous conditions if we had to.  But this time, we passed the go-no go point as the swells built and there was now no place to go but north.

Rounding Cape Caution is the halfway mark in Queen Charlotte Strait when heading to Alaska. It’s one of two places in the entire journey that take place in open ocean conditions. That means ocean swells, which eventually built to 8-9 feet and were 9 seconds apart. If I were riding a bus, I would have been hastily grabbing the stop cord to exit at the next corner.

But no such luck. It was a carnival ride for the next 4 hours. I looked over at our crew mate, Scott Wilson, for some reassurance because he’s had blue water experience and his only comment was, “this isn’t bad”.  Ha, it sure seemed bad to me.  I was ready to call the Coast Guard for a rescue and had visions of being stranded in the dinghy that was bobbing up and down like I was riding a bucking bronco while watching the boat sink. But in the end the swells drew down, the chop lessened and the seas calmed, as did my nerves. And my rookie ocean swell experience helped me get though a similar but shorter version of the ocean swells the next day. I now land somewhere between a rookie and a veteran ocean swell rider.  I think they would call that JV, junior varsity. 

On a positive note, the clouds were beautiful. The open ocean has a beautiful landscape all its own. We boated though a number of squalls along with the pelting rain and wind. There were periods of cool temperatures when we passed through the squalls then the sun would peek through the clouds and warm us.

We rounded the south end of Calvert Island to calm waters and into protected Pruth Bay where Hakai Institute is located.  They conduct long term scientific research at remote locations on the coastal margins of British Columbia.  Go here www.hakai.org if you’d like more information.  There is a path to the west side of the island where there is a sandy beach a mile wide, wind swept and desolate but gorgeous at the same time. It was open to the ocean, so there were plenty of driftwood treats to look at before we left. 

So, despite the horror of ocean swells, it’s been a couple of pretty good days.  We are in Shearwater, BC, a fishing village. We head out tomorrow.  No pictures in this blog.  Not enough band width to send. 

Ed out.