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Fear

5/27/2018

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I’m not sure where to start.

I am an ‘analyzer’. Love it, love doing it.
If it says to turn the handle left, I want to know why. I want to know what happens when I turn it right. Will it break? Will it even turn? I’ll look it up.

Here I am, cruising full time, in foreign waters, on a sailboat. Now there’s fuel for the fire!
Weather, tides, equipment, motors, sails, marinas, wildlife.

Analyzing has become a full time occupation.

Now, add to my analytical nature a severely over-active imagination and worrisome nature, and you have someone who over-analyses everything there is to worry about, and anything my imagination tells me I need to worry about.

What will the weather do?
How strong will the current be?
If the wind kicks up will the anchor hold?
If the engine quits can we sail to safety?
Is there enough wind to sail?
And if we do get somewhere, is it a safe place to stay?

I worry allot, but I try and not let it get in the way of living.

In one of my favorite movies, the hero is, at one point, consumed with fear. 
He’s afraid. 
As I remember it, his love takes his hands in hers, and explains that being courageous isn’t about being fearless, it’s about having the courage to face your fears.

We have been sailing now for over a year. In that time my love has been helping me to understand and deal with my fears, and it’s paid off. 

Today we transited Dodd Narrows.
This was a very big deal. BIG.

Dodd Narrows is what they call a ‘gate’. It is one of the major paths from one large area of the Canadian Islands to another.

Sounds fun.

Unfortunately, at this gate, several miles of water channel through a space only 100 yards wide and fifty feet deep. Lots and lots of water, twice a day. Boaters are warned that the current can reach 10 knots. 
To put that into perspective, picture a river with enormous whirlpools, water moving so fast, that with our little engine running flat out, we would be moving backwards faster then you could run. If we tried to go with that current, we would loose all steering and be pushed into the rocks that line both sides of the Narrows.

Oh ya, big fun.

The advice given to those new to Dodd Narrows is to go through at slack tide, that magical time when the current changes direction, smooths out, allowing safe passage. How long is slack water? How long does a small boat have till the water is moving the opposite direction? In Dodd Narrows, less then six minutes.

No kidding.

If a boat misses that six minute window, does it get sucked down a vortex or crushed against the rocks? Of course not. But how about 12 minutes? 20? Is it better to miss it on the ebb or the flood? If we’re late should we try it? 

See? These things keep me awake.

This morning, at 9:20, we pushed Odyssey into the Narrows. The current was against us, but should be changing soon.

We were 10 minutes early. Just 10.

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At the narrowest spot, with engine at full throttle, we were making 3.5 miles an hour. A fast walk. Our sailboat has a full keel, lots of boat for the water to play over. As the current pushed us about, it took a surprising amount of force to turn the wheel. We needed to keep in the middle of the channel.

Soon we were out, the boat accelerating, clear water ahead, smiles and kisses from the crew.

Relief and a sense of pride. Not for making it, but for doing it.

Boats transit Dodd Narrows every day. During the hight of boating season, many captains, with no sense at all, make it through on a whim and a prayer. What little encouragement that brings is added to my analysis, concerns, and yes, worries.

Today’s accomplishment, for our ship, captain, and crew, is all about building confidence and courage. Knowing what we can, accepting what is, doing the best our capable crew and ship can do.

It’s been a pretty good day.
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Quiet Sleep; Shrimp

5/18/2018

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PictureYesterday's Sail
Last night it got rather pleasant after the party next door broke up. Then, with the wind dying down, the waves lost interest in slapping against the dock. The marina was quieting. 

Without a ferry terminal nearby, we slept without motion. The drone of distant trucks, unfamiliar, woke me several times. 

This morning, calm and quiet, we lounged, loved, ate a great breakfast. By noon it was time to explore the shopping center a block from the marina. We picked up some snacks, alcohol, and shrimp. This is the first time we have found local shrimp for sale in a market. I’ll grill them for dinner.

Tomorrow we leave Mill Bay Marina for a short trip down Saanich Inlet to Brentwood Bay and Butchart Gardens. We’ll launch a little early and see if we can sail the whole way.

I’ll let you know how the shrimp goes.

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Otter Bay to Mill Bay

5/17/2018

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PictureSaanich Inlet
Leaving Otter Bay this morning was effortless, yet heart felt.
Weeks? Months? We will be back. We just aren’t sure when.
The passage to Mill Bay would take from 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Little wind was in the forecast till after 2pm or so, and then only in Swanson Channel.

Past Swanson Channel we started to pick up a following sea, with wind at 10 knots. Not in the forecast. From everything I’d read, Saanich Inlet was calm. Always. When we rounded Moses Point, the entrance to the Inlet, I expected to find a windless expanse of smooth water. Right. It just kept building.

I always watch for whitecaps. They tell me it’s time to pay attention. Now there were whitecaps as far as I could see. The anemometer was reading a constant 12 knots, so no fear of storm winds. It is surprising what 12 knots of wind can do with several miles of fetch. By the time we approached the marina, the wind chop was creating a lot of noise. Three feet or so up against the hull. That’s when the crew said “Let’s put a sail up.”

Now, I had a PLAN for the day. That PLAN did not call for sailing. Get up, pull anchor, get to Mill Bay. Simple. Raising sails in building seas didn’t fit THE PLAN. I guess my crew hadn’t been fully briefed on THE PLAN. Doing the only thing I could think of, I mumbled something and prepared to raise a sail. 

Main first. Of course it stuck on something before fully raised. It was close, but close doesn’t count. It goes up or something is wrong. After a bit we found the offending snag and fixed it. By this time I was getting into the spirit of things. We hadn’t been blown over, the wind wasn’t gusty, and there were miles of water for us to mess around in. Out came the headsail.

Odyssey started to accelerate. 5, 5.5, 6 knots. Amazing. Her hull speed, the theoretical maximum speed she can go, is 7.1 knots. We made it to 6.8 in only 13 knots of wind. We were sailing faster then we could motor (unless we kept the engine at full speed.)

It didn’t last long. We were running out of water while I was trying to guess a lay line to sail right into the marina. Sarah was amazing. Wanting so much, yet willing to do as her captain wished. A nice tack headed us right in. At some point we had to just relax, put the sails down, and motor in.

At the dock, we are facing the Saanich Inlet and the wind waves pushing against the breakwater. Looking out from the cockpit, it wasn’t the whale we had seen, or the new vistas that held my attention. I was captivated by a sailboat approaching the marina, on a familiar path. I smiled as he tacked as we had, letting the wind power him towards safe harbor.

Sarah had been talking, but stopped and smiled. We had been discussing what of today’s trip was most important to me, what captured my attention. She knew. I excused myself and headed to the bow to watch the lone sailboat’s passage.

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THE Day

5/16/2018

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PictureOff the dock!
Today is the day. Finally.

Sarah and I spent last year exploring the American San Juan and Canadian Gulf islands. As Fall gave way to wintery weather we snuggled into our warm boat and protected marina, safe from all the elements. We continued to venture out in-between storms, often spending the night anchored in our little bay. 

The short days and long nights provided time to plan for next year’s sailing season. Turns out we didn’t need much time to plan. The goals were simple.
  1. Decide when to leave.
  2. Leave the Gulf Islands.
  3. Head North.
There was only one decision to make. When to go?
That turned out to be simple. When our winter moorage was up we would leave the marina and head North for the next 4-5 months. 

Today is that day. Wednesday, May 16th.
With a warm sun and gentle breeze, we backed out of our slip, cleared the breakwater and began the first leg of our summer adventure.
15 minutes and 1700 feet later, we dropped anchor. We have an extra day,  so why not spend one last night anchored in our beloved bay? 

Tomorrow we head to Saanich Inlet, and with several days travel, will end up in Brentwood Bay. After spending several days exploring The Butchart Gardens by foot, and the highly touted Todd Inlet by boat, we head North to traverse Dodd Narrows, making our way out of the Gulf Islands, to the town of Nanaimo. 

North we go to the Sunshine Coast and Desolation Sound.
We can’t wait!

​

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    Odyssey


    Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
    Learn as if you were to live forever.
    -Mahatma Ghandi-

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