Nanimo to Blind Channel, May 2 -6, 2015

Sunrise Roche Harbor

It is a beautiful sunny morning. We are heading to Nanaimo, 46 nautical miles.  Departure is at 6:10 as we have to cross the dreaded Dodd Narrows, a short and skinny dogleg, at exactly slack tide – 9:59 AM.  The current in the narrows run at 9 knots and the cruising books devote several paragraphs to the dos and don’ts of crossing.  This is not our first time through but we respect the wisdom of experienced sailors.

House on a Cliff

Entering Dodds Narrows

We leave the calm of our harbor, and as soon as we poke our bow out into Haro Straits, we are faced with a wall of white caps.  Immediately we are bucking and Wiley is hurling.  Clearly, the sun is not the friend I thought it would be.  We are in a full moon phase and it amplifies the tides and boosts the currents.  By the time we get to Dodds Narrow, we are one hour and 31 minutes late. 

There is much debate about an alternative course of action but we, along with four other boats, line up and one by one forge through.  It is calmer than our entire trip has been.

We dock in Nanaimo, an old coal mining town recreated as a technology, manufacturing and tourism destination.  The wind is howling, making docking, and our entire stay, uncomfortable.  We remember a great sushi restaurant from 3 years earlier and spend hours walking the town searching for it only to find it has also recreated itself -  into general Canadian fare.  Jim spies poutine featured on a sidewalk restaurant sign – Pirates Chips – and that is where we have dinner.  Their claim to fame is 8 deep fried “signature” desserts – everything from deep fried ice cream to deep fried cheesecake.  The poutine was good.

Dodging logs

 

The next day we head for Pender Harbor, across the Straits of Georgia.  Those darned straits.  The wind report is for 15 – 20 knots and yes, it is sunny, with white caps and walls of waves greeting us. The currents are strong on our stern and we ride the crest of the surfing waves at 12 knots, drop, roll, wallow in 8 knots and repeat.  I feel like a Blue Angel pilot spiraling into a nose dive.  Our belongings are flying, my computer sails by, the camera crashes down, it is so bad Jim dons our Scooter helmet to stay safe.   

Sunrise Pender Harbor

 

From Pender Harbor we head to Blind Channel requiring one more difficult passage through
"the rapids,"  a series of 3, Yuculta, Gillard and  "The Devil's Hole," Dent Rapids.  They are each approximately 2 nautical miles apart and timing is the key. 

There are complicated tables and diagrams,  math calculations - about speed, distance, full moon, slack turning to ebb versus ebb turning to slack - all detailed with precision in the Tides and Currents Book.  Every publication on board devotes paragraphs, if not entire pages,  to these rapids. By the time we finish reading the cautions, study the pictures and digest the horror stories of someone who knew someone who didn't follow the directions, we conclude only a fool would try this -  so right up our alley. 



What Rapids?

Of course hundreds of people cross these rapids every year without dying and so do we.  This time we are not late and we have a perfectly calm crossing. Although my stomach hasn't been the same since.