Friday, September 11, 2009

Change of Plans







We headed out of Neah Bay by noon on Tuesday Spetember 8th, knowing that there was a low-pressure system in front of us making its way for the north end of Vancouver Island, and the winds in our path were to die after midnight. The first day of sailing wouldn't be great, but managable, and we would have 3-4 great days after that of good weather to help get us down to San Francisco. We spent the majority of the day motoring south taking us 30 miles off the coast. After dinner time (thank you mom for the beef stew!) the winds picked up from the east and we were making great headway down Washington's cost, sailing at 7-8 knots with winds at 12-15 knots. Great sailing! But at around midnight this all rapidly changed. The low-pressure system that was supposed to make its way well north of us decided to head straight over us. The winds kept increasing, rain squalls developed like nothing we had ever experienced, the only visibility was sheet lightening on the horizon, and other shipping was difficult to pin-point on the radar as the rain squalls domminated the screen. At this point it was impossible to penetrate forward along our intended southerly path. At 12:30am, we had fully reefed our sails, and the winds were gusting to 25 knots. There are no boat-holes with safe protection on this part of the coast (we were now 40 miles off the coast), so captain Jerry decided to run with the storm at our back towards Neah Bay where we had started 80 miles away!! The next 14 hours many of those in pitch black darkeness and continuous rain squalls, was a roller coaster ride...literally! with waves up to 20 feet, lifting our stern and propelling us at 10 knots over ground.

By dawn, captain Jerry had been at the helm for 6 hours, having had no sleep for 2 days, and was completely exhausted. Grant regained his sea-legs sufficiently and came to his rescue and relieved him for the next hour (from 5am-6am). All the while Claire was below decks continuously charting our course. By 9am we had reached Cape Flattery, our turning point for the protection of Neah Bay, but the seas prevented this and took us a further 40 miles north onto the South coast of Vancover Is. We ducked into Barkley Sound and sought refuge from the storm in the quiet anchorage at Bamfield, a small fishing town.

It is clear that the Pacific High has disintegrated being replaced by a series of low-pressure systems across the Pacific Ocean. This prevents us from having an adequate window of favorable northerly winds to take us to San Francisco. So we are making the logical decision to follow the southerly winds northwards up the coast of Vancover Is. Our new plan is to circumnavigate, in a clock-wise direction, around Vancover Is. x 1 month. We will miss not having the sun-tans in the middle of the winter!

Pictures to Follow!

The 14 hr storm from Claire's perspective: I was woken up at 12:30am with a bang! I quickly put on my rain gear and PFD and poked my head outside to see rain squalls and howling winds. Grant quickly told me that we were turing around to head back north to Neah Bay b/c we were up against a strong low-pressure storm. My hands and legs quickly began to shake. The boat was being tossed around over the growing waves and there was thunder and lightening above us. In my mind I thought we were going to die! Images of the movie White Squall ran through my mind, as well as other fatal boat stories that I have read. I kept telling myself to breath and to stop my imagination from getting the best of me. Grant and dad told me to stay below and chart our course to make sure we were heading in the right direction...north! I was thankful to be needed, as well as be occupied every 30 minutes to plot our course. I can't tell you how many times I prayed to God that night to calm the seas. My body was tense x 14 hrs and no sleep was had as I had to make sure that my dad would stay awake at the helm. Both Grant and dad were my heros that night. Thank you God for getting us out of that storm safely!

The storm from Grant's perspective: During the storm there were only two places that I could be without feeling sick. At the helm, which was not a place a wanted to be, and laying on my back in the salon with my eyes closed. Any other place would make me start to feel sick. The storm and the seas, though horrible, were not the worst part for me. What made this night so rough was knowing that the closest safe anchorage was 70 plus miles away, and we ended up having to go 40 miles past that. The idea of having to be wet, sick, and tired for such a long period of time was no good. I was so proud of Claire for charting the whole time and very impressed with Jerry for being able to helm for such a long period of time, in the dark, with very little sleep. No sleep has ever felt so good at the nap I took after anchoring in Bamfield.

Tuesday Night from Jerry's Perspective: We are obviously disappointed that we are not heading to San Francisco, but am very releived that have come through this storm with both the boat and crew fully intact. While we were all reaching the point of near exhaustion by the end of this experience I was most appreciative of how well we all worked together in a very calm and cohesive fashion. The Osprey performed flawlessly and I was most impressed at how she handled these very rough conditions. While standing at the helm in the driving rain and pitch-black conditions feeling but not seeing the giant waves there was never a point that I felt we were in danger or couldn't handle the conditions. It was merely a question of how long could I stay awake and think clearly. Claire and Grant were absolutely wonderful and performed all of their tasks without question.

12 comments:

  1. Holy cow, be careful guys. At least it wasn't like the Truman Show and you realized you were in a glass dome. Wouldn't that be something?

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  2. I'm so proud of you guys for making a wise decision to turn around - quite humbling, I'm sure. I can't imagine the anxiety you must have felt during these rough conditions and I'm certainly glad I wasn't on board. Good work all three of you - sounds like a great treo! Enjoy the sailing up in Vancouver! Love and miss you guys.

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  3. Ahhh I am just so happy and thankful you are all safe! No regrets family! You did a wonderful job and the fact that you are all accounted for and safe means more than anything else. I'm so impressed with how well you guys have worked with each other. Know that you've probably endured the worst so enjoy what's ahead of you now. We love you and miss you so much. Hugs and kisses from your little misses.

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  4. You imbicile! Not going to San Diego? Not staying away for a year? Damn you! I suppose you're gonna want your car back and I'm going to have to clean the clown car. All I can say is, you really went the distance to scam me into paying for your car tabs.

    See you when you get home...we'll talk.

    Da Ol' Man

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  5. I'm so glad you're all safe and sound! Does this really mean you won't go south after the new northern route of your trip? Should we all cancel our plans to come visit you in Mexico? Sending thoughts of calm seas your way, Lauren.

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  6. keep a stiff upper lip laddie after all you have
    vikings in your background, max

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  7. I think God just realized we can't live without y'all for a whole year. I'm so glad you're safe!
    Anna

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  8. I'm with Anna and am glad that you will have the opportunity this month to think of your future adventures for the coming year. Stay safe, enjoy the wonderful Canadian coastline and I am sure you will have lots of people including me wanting to come and sail for a few days with you.
    So glad that you and the boat were all so capable. Carol

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  9. What a change in plans!! You guys sound like an amazing crew! To think, Sue and I couldn't even handle the cold of sitting up there on deck with hot chocolate :) I will certainly miss hanging out with the three of you in the Alameda Harbor, but I'm glad to have you alive!!!

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  10. Just had the news from Joyce and read the blog. Very scary, but congratulations all three of you for the way you have pulled through. We know you will be disappointed but enjoy the rest of your adventures. Love and Best wishes from Frank & Mary

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  11. What an adventure that must have been...I was reading this practically holding my breath! I'm so glad you all are okay and so glad you all had such great teamwork through it all.
    Maybe that means you'll have time to come have in an adventure in Baltimore. Selfish I know. :)

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  12. Captain Sig called. Said there's no way you wusses can join him and Edgar on the Northwestern.

    Da Ol' Man

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