Sam's Big Adventure

dotnmarty · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:56 pm Post subject:

No matter where you begin, where you end, or how long you spend, as noted in the comments, this adventure is indeed a serious matter. Last evening, while following Sam's SPOT, he reached the open water between the mainland and Port Hardy and then doubled back to a cove on the east side of an Island. He was still there about 8 this morning. Fog? Wind? A log? No blog entry. I went for my walk and returned a few hours later to find his SPOT showing progress toward Port Hardy. Whew! Way to go Sam.

rogerbum · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 3:54 pm Post subject:

Yep - he's now in Port Hardy - one of his planned fuel stops. I assume weather kept him in anchorage yesterday.

20dauntless · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:46 pm Post subject:

Yep, weather has been slowing us down yesterday and today. Was hoping to get around Cape Caution this afternoon, but the 10:30 AM forecast said we'd have 15-25 knots of wind at Cape Caution this afternoon (rising to 30), instead of the 15 knots previously forecast. It was already sloppy in Queen Charlotte Strait, so we headed for Port Hardy to wait for a weather window. Looks like we'll be here for several days too. Oh well.

As it turns out getting stuck here isn't all bad. I had strep throat a few weeks ago and finished the antibiotics on Saturday. I felt fine, but yesterday I felt my sore throat returning. This morning it was much worse, and a trip to the doctor here in Port Hardy confirmed that the strep has come back. So more antibiotics and I should be feeling better by the time we have good enough weather to continue.

I'll fill in some more details on the blog today or tomorrow, and try to get some more pictures online. Great trip so far, even though our progress has slowed. It looks like we'll have to hustle through the rest of BC, but I'll get to take my time on the return trip and visit some of the places I'm missing.

Captains Cat · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:18 pm Post subject:

Get well Sam. We're all watching. Be safe too.. Thumbs Up

Charlie

ghone · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:36 pm Post subject:

Good on you Sam to hole up and look after yourself. You want to be in good shape to launch past C Caution. It can be a brute. I would not want to cross if 15 knots is forecast. I crossed in 25 knots nw in a sailboat and it kicked up 10 foot seas out there close together ones. I would wait for a dawn crossing and as calm as you can stand and do 20 knots. 2 plus hours would get you past most nastyness. Calvert island has a nice cove on the southeast corner. Get well. George

NewMoon · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 4:55 am Post subject:

Hi Sam,

You may already have heard much of this, but just in case you haven't, here's a bit from my book that might provide a good tip or two:

Crossing the Queen

Beyond the more protected environment east of Vancouver Island, “Crossing the Queen” (Queen Charlotte Sound) to the BC North Coast represents a significant milestone for many cruisers. This open water crossing including some 30-40 exposed miles can provide a real challenge in winds and seas. It can be rather long but no big deal, or in the wrong combination of wind and tidal currents it can become a small boat’s worst nightmare.

Obviously you wouldn’t want to be out there in strong winds, but there’s more to the analysis than just wind speed. In our experience, one combination to be avoided is a strong ebb current flowing west with westerly winds greater than 12-15 knots. Similarly, a flood current with a southeast wind might not be a good choice. Small aluminum mail boats cross the Queen regularly, and they tell us that even 20 knot winds can be no great challenge, if not opposed to current. I’d stick with a max of 15. BC’s VHF marine weather gives actual conditions at key points, like Pine Island and Egg Island, which can really help you decide when to go.

In ”normal” weather, with wind primarily from the NW, calmer in the morning and building in the afternoon, a fast boat with an early start can avoid much of the challenge. But crossing at slow speeds you’ll be out there for quite a while, and you’ll want to pay careful attention to tides and weather. You don’t have to run all the way from Port McNeill or Port Hardy up to Rivers Inlet in one fell swoop. There are protected anchorages at Blunden Harbour, and closer to Cape Caution at Miles Inlet, Skull Cove, and others near Nakwakto Rapids.

There’s a special situation along the way you certainly want to avoid: wind from the west at the same time as a strong ebb current through the Nakwakto Rapids, flowing huge quantities of water from Seymour and Belize Inlets out through the narrow Slingsby Channel. This can set up a train of large and steep waves, starting in the mouth of Slingsby and continuing on westward for a mile or more in the open ocean. Check the Nakwakto current tables to see if this combination is likely, and if so steer clear, further out west than you might otherwise.

20dauntless · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:09 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the advice on getting past Cape Caution! It looks like tomorrow morning may be our chance...we'll see if the wind calms down as expected and then if the waves get quite a bit smaller and spaced further apart.

In other good news, the antibiotics I got here have made me feel better quickly and hopefully will get rid of the strep for good.

I just put a new blog post online and am hoping to be out of here about 5:00 tomorrow morning. There'll be several other boats heading out around then for the trip around Cape Caution, but most are sailboats and I'll be traveling much faster than them.

dotnmarty · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:51 am Post subject:

Brought it back up just in time. Whew!

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?&glId=05A79EKjlj9Lx9mS5yyhIIWd9cAynA1KB

Is there a scale somewhere on the SPOT map? I'd like to be able to easily measure the distance between beeps, if possible.

Jazzmanic · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:47 pm Post subject:

Fascinating! That Spot map in real-time sure paints a great picture!

Thanks Marty for posting the link.

NORO LIM · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:11 pm Post subject:

At the moment (6:00 PM PDT) it looks like he's at Klemtu. If Sam's looking for fuel this evening, I hope there's someone there to help him. In my experience, the fuel dock attendant's lunch and dinner breaks can take a while. On our last stop there, we managed to find a guy who knew which house the attendant was likely to be having lunch in, and also had a phone that worked in Klemtu and got a message to the attendant that he had customers. That was at 2:00 in the afternoon. We only had to wait a couple more hours. Laughing

If he doesn't get lucky, he may be there a while. Next likely fuel stop is a ways - probably Harley Bay if he's still trying to take the most direct route to make up for lost time.

Glad to see he got around the cape apparently in good shape! Thumbs Up

bridma · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:45 pm Post subject: Sam's Big Adventure

My son-in-law says he saw Retriever in Jacksons Pass about 5pm today bombing north. Way to go Sam.

Martin.

NORO LIM · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:09 pm Post subject:

dutch123 · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:38 pm Post subject:

Wow Sam your moving at a good speed! Next fuel stop is Hartley bay, I was just down at butedale and louis has no fuel. Hope there is time to stop at bishop bay, it's unfortunate to have to race past all the sites. Good luck with the Dixon entrance.

NORO LIM · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:30 pm Post subject:

Looks like Sam is at Bishop Bay right now. Glad he has time for the detour.