+
In Chatam Sound off Prince Rupert Island. In the afternoon we were in Alaska waters and entered a gale which threw us around the ocean like whip cream being beaten up. Loyal even got very worried and called for four life jackets to be brought up to the wheelhouse. Doyal and I put ours on even though we couldn't live more than 10 or 15 minutes in water like that. Too far to swim and the dinghy wouldn't hold us all. During the beating we took in this gale we tipped over so far to the port side that the 300 dollar electric generator was tossed clear off the walkway and over the handrail to the bottom of the ocean The smoke stack worked loose and we lost the muffler. The table, chairs, every dish and every piece of equipment came out of their places and onto the floor below us. Rudder was straining under the pressure and bent. We finally persuaded Loyal (a mistake as it turned out) to head for a nearby bay and wait out the storm which took two days of waiting. Meantime we had plenty of excitement like running aground. (tides do go out further than expected you know.) The boat hit submerged rocks and we were in constant danger of being dashed on the rocky store where we had anchored. We only kept away by Doyal and Loyal using pike poles (note 7) Practically no water under the boat on one side although the depth finder said we had 15 feet. Thats how steep the shore was. Loyal had to get in the dinghy for repairs to the back of the boat. and straighten out the rudder under ice water. Ice water, it was snowing of course. We stayed in three places.
The boat wasn't maneuverable in some of the bays we chose to hide from the storm. Trying (Dixon Entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound,)(8) Each day to see if we could get through and on to Ketchikan. We had to tie the boat to two trees one time because the winds and tides moved the boat in opposite directions all night rolling and tossing almost out of bed. (9) No one slept. Doyal and Loyal were up all night upping and lowering these anchors trying to more favorable spots. The anchors would't hold the boat at all. We had to allow enough slack in the lines to allow the tides so we were in constant so we were in constant danger from the big rocks next to the boat. (10)
Everybody was so sore from pulling anchors they could scarcely walk. I can still hear the anchor chains above. Loyal got in the dinghy on Monday to tie an anchor to a big rock on shore (11) He lost both oars and drifting away fast. The wind was blowing so bad Doyal couldn't do much. We could have lost Loyal and the dinghy that time. The tides and wind is so fast and hard.
Tuesday May 12. The anchors are stuck fast in the mud 110 feet down. With the mechanical wench and two men working a half hour, as hard as they could they finally freed the anchor and we pulled out from the lee of an island where we had anchored the last time. The wind had finally died down enough that we made it this time and an hour or so later we were in a channel being one of the ordinary islands with reasonably calm water. So today we we finally made it. The ocean is never kind to a small boat that pitches and rocks as this one did. Once inside the passage we felt relieved because in a matter of hours we would be seeing Ketchikan at 1 PM. There was snow covering trees, houses and hills. Very pretty but the local people hated it.
Our PBY and jet to Seattle were ready 25 minutes after arriving in town and it was an enjoyable trip home. We declined Loyal's and Dad's invitation to stay another night ob board.
Believe me we all said our prayers on this trip or we wold never have gotten back. During one storm our boat rocked so much the stove which is bolted to the concrete rocked so much we had to put out the fire.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Explanation by Doyal. This might help an understanding of what Kay was not able to tell about.
Explanation 1 I think this shows the boat builder was right about rolling over. The storm in Queen Charlotte sound wasn't really all that bad but with insufficient ballast and the round bottom it bounced around very easily. However it never rolled over the entire time he had it and he even went out into the ocean off Straight of Juan de Fuca. He had made this into a troller.
Regarding the danger of when we lost power off Vancouver Island. The channel there is narrow. We had stayed the night anchored off the mainland. As we started out before dawn it was pitch black. So when we lost electric power the engine just kept going but the steering wouldn't work because it also was electric. One of Loyals inventions, I don't know if he ever turned it into conventional steering but I think he did. When we lost steering on up in the Queen Charlotte Sound it might have been because of the electric steering had put more strain on the rudder because of the manner power to it is applied. I cant remember the name of the bay we tried to take shelter in but it was no shelter when the wind was blowing straight down it. Which it was that night. I had a small early tape recorder (Norelco) and every time something would happen on the trip I would go to the recorder and make a recording of my impressions.I will include my real time descriptions plus the weather report and ocean conditions so you can see what we were up against. As I recorded everything it would give a more complete description of our trip as it happened. It was originally on 3 3 inch reel to reel tapes made on the Norelco recorder. Not much of a tape recorder but the best I could afford at the time. But as we were heading into the narrow channel with no way to see where we were, we had to get the boat shut down. All in the dark, He should have a flashlight though. I am sure he finally found the oil valve and turned the fuel off. The engine was damaged and he had to get it repaired in Ketchikan before he went fishing because of running out of oil. This was a brand new marine diesel too. A real shame.
Another indication of how the boat bounced around is the generator that got tossed overboard. I don't know if it got tossed over the hand rail or under the hand rail. But it was sitting on the hatch across the walkway from the railing.
If we had kept going another 15 minutes we would have been behind the lee of an island and safe. But Loyal did not have the charts of that area out for viewing so did not take the time to go get the proper charts. As a result we had an awful time because of that. I had a double hernia operation when we got back. Our main problem while riding out the storm was that we had pulled into a cove that was just a little longer than the boat and we were sideways. Like up against the a dock. But we were up against a sharp rocky shore. What would be considered two man rocks in the construction trade. As you cant drive a boat sideways and we could not push the stern or bow out because of the waves meaning we also were being pushed onto the shore which was rocks almost straight up and down. Most of the shorelines not open to the ocean are rocky. This was the reason Loyal decided to take a line tied to the winch on the boat out to a tree on down the shore to in the dinghy. In doing this he lost his oars and if the line-- had't been tied to the wench he would have been swept down the channel and probably lost. But somehow he got it tied to a tree and we pulled the bow out headed into the channel and we went behind another island where Kay mentioned the anchor was stuck 110 feet down.
Kay mentioned going aground. We had first taken shelter in a bay which was no shelter with the wind in the wrong direction. We had gone there because we did 't have much steering capability. It was also very shallow and almost dry when the tide was out. But he had to get the rudder fixed or we could not steer the boat. So he had to get into the water and the only thing he could do was tighten up the bolt that held the rudder on if that was the problem I don't remember now exactly what the trouble was. The tides were the reason we had to get out of there and to the lee of another island which we could see. All this was available to him in the charts he had stored up above him in the wheel house.
We had another experience I'd forgotten about. We had stopped at a little bay I cant remember the name of just at the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound near the tip of Vancouver island. When entering the bay we could see the sandy bottom and the chart said 6. It looked pretty close though then Loyal noticed it was 6 feet and not 6 fathoms. We wanted to be sure there was good weather when starting across the sound.
I don't think Kay ever fished a day in her life.
Yes. Loyal did some dumb things but even experienced sailors do stupid things too. I went up to Juneau , Icy Strait, Sitka and so on with the purse seiner Lovey Joanne to make a film. The day after I left the boat was anchored off a shore waiting for the season to resume and the boat capsized. It capsized because the captain piled his nets on deck and it was top heavy and tipped over. Probably on account of a rip tide. He was a very experienced fisherman even on the board of directors of Alaska Fish and Game. But experience didn't keep him from making a bad decision . Fortunately no one was lost in this incident but who knows if I had been on they would have had the same result. But the result of his decision the boat was taken back to Seattle to make it shipshape. He lost his season and Loyal lost any money he got from me when he repaired the damaged engine. Bob found the tapes except for one I lost and I will add them to this story as soon as I can figure out how to do it in an intelligible way. He is copying them on to a digital stick or DVD
Keep looking for an audio recording of the trip as it happened. Recorded while the trip was in progress. Soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment