Alaska Trip Day 90

9/11/11

North Cove, Helmcken, Island, B.C.

Miles Travelled:  49 miles 

(Tor reporting)

The word of the day was FOG!  Jess spent most of the day glued to the radar down below and Tor spent most of the day staring into a white mass with anywhere from 1/8  - ½ mile visibility.  We love our little radar!  It was the smallest unit made when we launched the boat and on days with poor visibility (like the last three days of travel) $800 seems like a real bargain. 

This past few days has made us ponder how Captain Vancouver and his crew explored this area in the 1790s.  Hell, even making this trip 50 years ago was a completely different deal.  When we are underway we always have paper charts in the cockpit in a waterproof envelope.  But, we also have a very small and inexpensive handheld GPS in the cockpit with a crude color map of where we are, and the laptop running down below with an exact position on a digital version of the same paper charts we have on deck.  When it is foggy the radar screen is located right over the laptop with the digital charts which makes “seeing” where we are easier. 

Eventually the fog did lift and the wind came up from behind, so we got to sail!  In fact the wind came up so much that with just the main up (no reefs) we were scooting along at well over 6.5 knots.  As this is over our hull speed I am assuming that some of this speed was due to currents.  We love sailing, but we aren’t good enough to bend the laws of physics!

Currents are another issue that is a bit perplexing.  In Puget Sound there are very few areas that don’t just make sense.  In fact there is a handy little publication made in the form of a graphical picture that shows current directions and speeds with little arrows for every hour of the tidal cycle.  Canada is a bit different.  They have a booklet like this for the area from Puget  Sound to Vancouver (the city) but north of Vancouver one must rely on a text table of limited stations.  Often we have planned days around a speed of say 4.5 knots and had our reality changed by 40% in either direction.  Just proves that local knowledge is a big deal.  If river runoff is high (freshet conditions) the flood currents north of Seymour Narrows can and often does entirely disappear.  And, the winds have a huge impact as well.  Most folks now days have fancy chartplotters with software that shows arrows of current flow on the laptop.  We aren’t there yet.  Our system hasn’t caused any problems, its cheap, and makes for quite a bit of noodling through the coming day when we pour over the tables and books with the charts the night before.

Just because we are off cruising doesn’t mean we can allow our minds to mush, right?

We sailed to within a mile or so of Helmcken Island and then tucked back into North Cove to anchor for the night.  Gorgeous sun and 70+ degrees was a fine way to finish such a foggy day.

A gorgeous night at Helmcken Island