The inter island ferry is the Evergreen State. Built in 1954, she was the primary ferry we used as a family going to the cabin in the 60's. The Klickitat, later the Nisqually, and, if you were really unlucky, the Vashon were the other ferries. The Vashon, launched in 1930, was the smallest and slowest ferry, the Evergreen State was the largest. The newest. And the fastest. Now she’s been relegated to inter island work. She's now the smallest, oldest and slowest ferry on the island run. The Evergreen State has become the Vashon. Hopefully the Evergreen state doesn’t suffer the same end fate of the Vashon. The Vashon ran aground near Ketchikan in 1986, rolled on her side, and her remains slowly decay.
My early arrival in Friday harbor wad exquisitely timed as I dropped by the restaurant where Jodi, her folks and Tom and Tessa were eating. There were two half eaten plates of great food. Perfect.
Adverse currents in the morning made for a leisurely departure. Crossing the straits was uneventful. saw a group of Dalls porpoise either playing or fishing with rapid surfacing as if the were chasing something. Or playing tag.
We docked in front of the Empress Hotel. As we came in we did cause a bit of a stir. There were 25 boats there from the San Juan Island yacht club where Dad was a member. The exchange was related to me later, but the organizer of the event saw ‘Cambria’, looked down at his list of attendees, and said “Cambria? Is John here? He didn’t sign up.” Then he caught himself, knowing dad had passed. Another member, hearing this, said “if John is back I’ll drop to my knees right now"
Victoria is nice. Walking. Eating. And the museum. Jodi’s folks hadn't been to to the museum, so we spent some time there. We also took a splendid dinghy ride up an inlet that begs for future exploring.
Just before we hit the sack Saturday night I helped a boat dock in the darkness. It was calm, but it’s nice to have someone on the dock help with lines. The boat was a well rigged sailboat and the skipper was alone on the boat. Although flat calm, he missed his first approach and prudently went around for a second try. As he came, I said ‘long day?”. He responded “you have no idea”. Indeed I didn’t. After tying up he told me what he’d been through. Mid the previous week he had left Vancouver, headed for the horn. As in Cape Horn, South America. He intended to round the Horn single handed, but off the coast of Oregon he found himself in 16’ seas, second guessing his overall plan. If the coast of Oregon could through this at him, what could the Horn do? (Rouge waves at the Horn reportedly can attain 100 feet). His plan was to round the horn then perhaps spend some time in the Falklands, but all those dreams died in wild seas off the coast of Oregon. He turned around and sailed back non stop and Victoria was the first dock he’d come to during his brief adventure.
He asked if the pubs were still open and Jodi said ‘yes’ and pointed out a few.
A few minutes later, we went back to Cambria, grabbed a couple of cold beers and offered him one as a small greeting back to civilization. When asked if we wanted a beer, his head poked up the companion way with a big smile as he said ‘is the pope catholic?’. Good fellow and I hope he someday accomplishes his dream.
Saturday was pretty idyllic, but a leading edge of a weather front tore thru the area in the wee hours of the morning. High winds hitting the stern made for an uncomfortable night in the aft cabin, but the forward cabin was mercifully quiet.
In the morning it appeared as if the front had passed and we headed out. At first it wasn't that bad. A moderate 2 foot lump that wasn't terrible. At that point in time, 2 things started. Jodi went down below to start breakfast and the seas started to build. About 3 minutes after she brought up a platter of food, we were in the thick of some very impressive waves. I hadn't lashed things down nor had I prepared myself or the group for that level of wave action. They were 4-6 foot short stacked seas.
Jodi said “why don’t we turn around”, and in my mind I tried to form an argument to keep going, but the logic wasn’t there. Bad things happen when little things start to go wrong. We had a gas can on the aft deck that wasn’t lashed down. There was clutter in the cockpit. Small things can lead to big things – or at least distract you from the big things. The right thing to do was turn around which is exactly what we did.
We waited a few hours then headed out again. We did hit some waves and had a gear failure. The block and tackle for the main sheet separated from the track. But with everything lashed down and everyone prepared, we dealt with that and continued on. We buried the bow a few times, but Cambria held up nicely. We crossed the straits with rain showers sweeping over us and checked into Customs at Roche. We had an absolutely stunning sail down San Juan channel and tied up without any further drama.
Nice weekend adventure.
The museum was a highlight and below are pictures of the visit.
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