Comocean Sets Sail: Nanaimo and the Octopus Islands

DODD NARROWS

We left Let Freedom Ring (LFR)and Silent Waters in Montaque Harbor Wednesday morning and headed towards Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. There wasn't any wind and LFR caught up to us as we approached Dodd Narrows, just south of Nanaimo.

Let Freedom Ring

Nanaimo is a busy port; we share the water way with tankers and cruise ships. LFR chose to take a slip at one of the yacht clubs while we took a slip at the Newcastle Island Park across the harbour. Newcastle has a wonderful forest and is home to "blond raccoons".

After a short stroll on the island to get ice cream cones we settled down to a pleasant afternoon on Comocean. That night I awoke to horrible animal screams and a ruckus on the dock. I thought a racoon must be killing some poor bird; it was horrible to listen to. Then I heard a racket in our cockpit. I grabbed a flash light and found a raccoon staring at me through the companion way windows. A rap on the door scared him and he abandoned ship.

The next morning Greg discovered that the varmint had crawled thru the tiny aft stateroom port light in the cockpit. There he had dined, making quite a mess in the process, on crackers, cereal and tortilla chips. He sampled the shredded coconut but apparently didn't care for it much.

The next day we provisioned in Nanaimo in record time and headed back to Newcastle. Gale force winds were forecast for that night so we sat tight. The following afternoon the sails went up in 14 K and we were making 7-8 knots over ground. By 16:30 we were going over 9K as we surfed down the rollers.

A mayday was announced by the BC Coast Guard and we listened as the drama unfolded. The Howe Sound Queen ferry had come upon a catamaran (headed to Salt Spring Island) that had capsized and they were searching for crew. Eventually another boat found the sole crew member and rescued him.

Clam Bay on the east side of Thetis Island

Just North of Thetis Island

We got as far as Jedidiah Island and anchored in Long Bay just before 8pm.

We were underway by 6am the next day with 24K winds from the SE and heavy rain which cleared by 8am. At 8:05 I was hailed by the Island Voyager. The captain, who was towing a barge, informed me that .3 nm was "too close" and he wanted me to move farther away. This guy, I thought, is really cautious. I don't know what he was towing but he thought it might move around a lot.

The winds died and we motored all the way to Savory Island while dreaming of crabs. It rained off and on through out the day (so much for being called the "Sunshine Coast") but we did have our crab dinner.

We awoke the next day to a beautiful morning and after a leisurely breakfast we prepared the sails, retrieved the crab trap and departed at 11:00 heading to Rebbecca Spit, one of our favorite places.

Winds built to 20-23 k, then 25 k and our speed over ground grew to 9 k. We struggled with the sails and after five accidental gibes we gave up on Rebbecca Spit and continued on to Beasley Passage and eventually the Octopus Islands.

An important aspect of sailing in British Columbia is understanding tides and currents and knowing when to attempt going thru narrow passages. You plan to arrive just before slack tide and wait around for the current to drop and then go like hell to get through. You can go through with a little current if its going in the same direction that you are. If it isn't, well....

Some power boaters don't give much thought to passage currents (Wayne for example) and rely on their huge engines to push them through. Sailboats don't have the luxury. Now I don't know if Greg has just spent too much time around power boats lately or if he had a temporary lapse of some kind. We had made a mistake in calculating the tidal change at Beasley and the current was running 8 k against us. I was willing to float around and wait it out but Greg got impatient and sped into the passage. Our progress slowed to a halt and we started drifting backwards. Greg revved the engine higher. We held our ground - for 30 minutes, with the engine screaming, we sat in the middle of the passage - drop offs and whirlpools on each side of us. I worried about blowing the engine to pieces. Since Greg has done that with a few Porche engines when he raced at Sears Pt, I thought it was a valid concern. "I want to see what the engine can do." He forcefully told me that NO, you can not just let the current push you back out. Once you are in you are committed (I thought I might soon be committed to the cemetery). After the thirty minutes the tide dropped slightly and Greg revved the engine once more. Slowly, very slowly, we crawled through. There was very little conversation between us for the rest of the day.

Octopus Islands Marine Park

It rained throughout our first night at anchor in Octopus Islands Marine Park. The next day there were sprinkles off and on but it was nice and warm. I enjoyed watching the Eagles, kingfishers and crows. I saw a very unusual fish that looked like a very small, delicate oarfish. It actually looked like a delicate brown and gold 3-ft ribbon as it swam by the side of our dinghy.