A Pirate’s Life For Me
Wednesday, June 28th, 2006I got back from B.C. this past weekend, and although I put my photos up on Flickr, I haven’t gotten around to writing about it until now. I have to say that it was a fantastic trip, learning to sail and in one of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen. On the standard scale of 1 to 10, I give it my ‘Spinal Tap’ rating of 11.
Three of us spent one day in Vancouver prior to heading up to Powell River for the actual sailing trip. I think I saw the best and worst of Vancouver - I booked a hotel on the Internet solely based on price and proximity to downtown, and found a place that was only 10 blocks from the Trade Center, in East Hastings. It seems impossible in this day of urban renewal, revitalization, and loft-condo conversions that such a centrally located urban area in a major city would be blighted, but it turns out that East Hastings is stomping grounds for meth / crack addicts - I arrived late at night and walked through a crowd of at least 50 people on the sidewalk, some ambling about, some seated and shooting up right on the sidewalk - Welcome to Vancouver. This was the worst that I saw. The best: Granville Island, which was charming, scenic, with great shops and wonderful restaurants. Next time, I’ll spend the extra bread for a hotel room on Granville Street!
We met Everett Gould, newly designated with the moniker ‘Captain Ahab’, at the airport and boarded the puddle jumper for Powell River, then caught a cab to the Beach Gardens Marina. We met our sailing instructor, Norm, and got the first of our ‘Chalk Talks’ that day - the ‘Learn’ part of our Cruise-n-Learn. I tell you, after hearing about all the things that can go wrong on a boat (Hydrogen gas explosions from batteries, diesel explosions, propane fires, bilge-pump failures, not to mention clogged or broken marine heads) I was a little discouraged about this trip, particularly since five guys on a 36-foot keelboat makes for pretty cramped quarters! Once we set off in the morning and actually began learning how to pilot the boat and trim sails, however, trepidation gave way to excitement about actually being on the water and sailing.
Itinerary - Day One: Learned some sailing basics while the wind was good, and spent a lot of time beating upwind to get out of the vicinity of Powell River - so, lots of close-hauled sailing and lots of practice with tacking maneuvers. Motor-sailed up the Copeland Island channel and moored for the evening in Squirrel Cove, a beautiful little anchorage where we saw our first bald eagles of the trip.
Day Two: Out into Desolation Sound for more sailing practice. The weather was 70 degrees and the wind was ideal for us beginners. Norm would call the bearing or point of sail and each helmsman had to make the correct calls to the crew. Learning the points of sail was, at first, tricky, but with some practice this became comfortable. We anchored for lunch and took the dinghy to shore for a hike inland to Castle Lake, an absolutely beautiful lake with clear water fed by mountain streams. After two days on board the boat, swimming in that pristine fresh water was cold but better than a shower. We docked for the evening at Refuge Cove, a small community (a co-op, actually) on one of the Redonda Islands. I swear this placed looked like a set from the film Popeye - a charming marina with weathered brown shingles on every building.
Day Three: Yes, more sailing, at least until the wind gave out. We then had to motor out to our anchorage for that evening, Melanie Cove. This was my favorite spot - a secluded little cove (hard to access for the shallow passes) with the Unwin Mountains making a spectacular backdrop.
Day Four: Man Overboard Drills (MOBs). OOf. Although we had covered the procedures for a MOB in our morning chalk talk, these were hard. They really require complete command of your points of sail to execute the Figure Eight maneuver, and then you have to slow the boat to a speed that allows for rescue. The adrenaline really gets pumping, too, at the thought of a real man overboard. (Of course, we were using a floating rubber boat fender.) In my first attempt, I almost accidentally gybed the boat (BAD), and then missed the fender; in my second attempt, I made it to the fender but at a speed of 2.5 knots - not a feasible speed to rescue a real person. On my watch, Freddie the Fender had died, several times over, which was disheartening and exhausting. We docked that night at Lund. With a small hotel, pub, Mexican Restaurant (and a decent one, at that), and bakery, it seemed like we had reached New York City. I now get the excitement of a port call, I really do!
Day Five: More MOBs, with better results for all of us. I never lost a fender (”not on my watch!”), and on my last attempt I eased the boat in leeward of the fender for a beautiful rescue at a speed of 0.02 knots. It was exhilarating and a great way to wrap up the sailing trip for me. We got back to Beach Gardens, cleaned up the boat and packed our stuff, and crashed at the Beach Gardens hotel with Pizza and trashy TV. (Who knew E! could feel so luxurious?)
I now have my Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card, and Basic Cruising Standard certification by the Canadian Yachting Association. My only dilemma now: I live in a town that is not only landlocked, but there is NO WATER. How am I gonna practice this stuff if I can’t easily make it to a marina to charter a boat?
