Nomad Willy
Guru
Old Salt asked me to do this so the following is an account of our trip home to SE Alaska on our 30' Willard Nomad as shown in my avitar. We left Everett Wash at o dark thirty in the morning in order to reach Provost Hbr by nightfall. We spent the majority of the day at 5.whatever knots bucking this current and that tide. We went through La Conner where we had spent last summer working on the boat. We also had a wonderful time socializing on other people's boats, going to dinner in the dinghy ect ect. At Anacortes we finaly made our normal cruise speed of 6.15 knots. There's only one way to get somwhere in a very slow boat and thats to put in hours and hours at the helm .. days and days or even weeks, depending on how far one wants to go. As it turned out we would be needing 24 days to get home. One thing I like very much about being underway in southern waters is the amazing parade of interesting boats one sees also underway. Walking the docks ( one of my favorite pastimes ) is more fun as there is no gate and the boats are more interesting. What we would see for the next 16 days or so we would see from our own boat for the last time so everything seemed a bit more special. Hours at the helm paid off and we arrived at Provost Hbr and found our friend Jim Briggs tied to the dock .. we rafted to his Albin 25 .. a very nice evening after a long nice day .. the stuff to sleep on .. and we did.
The next morning we got our first taste of choppy water crossing Harro Strait for Bedwell Hbr and customs. All of us, the cat ( ours ) and two boats passed legally into canadian waters. It seemed like the beginning of the trip again as we motored on to Maple Bay. Saw many campers and tents in the sunshine. As we entered Sansum Narrows saw much dancing water and light eddies. We were going to a gathering with the Albineers of British Columbia ( we are members ) and presumably the last we would attend. The Albineers are a wonderful group of Canadian boaters that we will miss. As we left Maple Bay I became more anxious about an unpleasant noise in the stern. Had the boat hauled and all seemed well. We proceeded north stopping short of Dodd Narrows to wait for slacker water. We noticed other boats were going thgough so we headed out and soon we were making 11.5 knots in our 6 knot boat staying to the center of the channel avoiding the whirlpools to the sides of the channel and the main bore of the current just past the gut. Moored in the exciting little city of Namiamo. It's always fun to be in Nanaimo. We had dinner at the same place we did in 03 on our first trip together ( in our Albin 25 ) to Alaska. That boat was 1.25 knots faster but the trip much longer as we had to come BACK as all of you do. We also spent some time in the Queen Charolette Islands where I taught school in the 70s. We ment some friends from the Albineers club and they gave us all the info on the Whisky Golf millitary operations area we would be traversing the next day. End of chapter one.
We had much to do in the morning .. groceries, fuel, phone calls, Port business and showers so didn't get underway untill 11:45. The Whisky Golf millitary area was active so we were close in picking our way around the Islets, Islands and rocks when a loud rattleing noise emerged from the engine compartment. Turned out not to be a serious problem ( alternator pully came very loose ) but was adrift while fixing it and a large yacht came by at twenty some knots and ( you guessed it ) we were caught abeam to his wake. Put some lock tight on it and all seemed fine. A course to the south end of Texada Is would have but us abeam to the wind and sea so we set a course NE to the north end of Lasquetti Is. It was lumpy going out in the center of Georgia Strait. It was only a fair anchorage and several boats were already there so we had to anchor in 75 ' of water. Then a 100 ' yacht entered the bay and spent an hour going back and forth anchoring only to pull up his rode and leave .. just before dark. We ate dinner during all this enterainment out on the aft deck in the sun. The next morning .. not so great. We used the head and some went out the over flow all over the stbd deck. What a mess .. that has NOT happened again .. learning curve steep there. Then soon we were in 4 ' head seas and wind. I throttled back to 2000 rpm ( as slow as I ever go ) and were making about 4.5 knots. We did this for hours and I eventually got used to the rythum of the seas but the cat had growling eyes the whole time. My anchor chest on the foredeck came a bit loose and I feared worse things may happen so ducked behind Dick Island ( the only protection on the west side of Texada Is ). Chris held us on station untill I made things secure and out we went again. We rounded the north end of Texada Is but still too rough to have anything but fruit for lunch. After about an hour more I bumped the throttle up to our normal cruise of 2300. Soon we were in almost calm seas and with much traffic asumeably most going to Desolation Sound. Late in the day we arrived at Squrrill Cove. We went to town and the resturant for dinner as a reward for our hard earned miles. I did a strange thing and bought a mounted photograph. After dinner we went through the gut and into the anchorage of Squirrll cove. What a fantastic anchorage. Some guy on a red sail boat came in at about 3 knots, droped the anchor and rode and let it stop the boat .. never saw an anchor set like that before. The next morning we arrived at Yukulta ( pronounced Youkata ) and Dent Rapids at just the right time. Went through with a bit of extra speed ( always good in a Willard ) and fell in with several other boats going the same speed. None were displacement boats so I assume they were under loading and saving fuel. The people along the way said there was far less traffic this year on the Inside Passage. We liked Big Bay in the past and were sad that it went private ( sold ). We saw large slow moving eddys and boils from time to time in the back channel. Went through Green Point and Whirlpool rapids with some current still with 2 other boats going 6 knots when we entered oJohnstone Strait. We failed to find a good place to anchor in Port Harvey so anchored behiend some small islands further up the channel ( Wallace Group .. I think ).
The next morning we got our first taste of choppy water crossing Harro Strait for Bedwell Hbr and customs. All of us, the cat ( ours ) and two boats passed legally into canadian waters. It seemed like the beginning of the trip again as we motored on to Maple Bay. Saw many campers and tents in the sunshine. As we entered Sansum Narrows saw much dancing water and light eddies. We were going to a gathering with the Albineers of British Columbia ( we are members ) and presumably the last we would attend. The Albineers are a wonderful group of Canadian boaters that we will miss. As we left Maple Bay I became more anxious about an unpleasant noise in the stern. Had the boat hauled and all seemed well. We proceeded north stopping short of Dodd Narrows to wait for slacker water. We noticed other boats were going thgough so we headed out and soon we were making 11.5 knots in our 6 knot boat staying to the center of the channel avoiding the whirlpools to the sides of the channel and the main bore of the current just past the gut. Moored in the exciting little city of Namiamo. It's always fun to be in Nanaimo. We had dinner at the same place we did in 03 on our first trip together ( in our Albin 25 ) to Alaska. That boat was 1.25 knots faster but the trip much longer as we had to come BACK as all of you do. We also spent some time in the Queen Charolette Islands where I taught school in the 70s. We ment some friends from the Albineers club and they gave us all the info on the Whisky Golf millitary operations area we would be traversing the next day. End of chapter one.
We had much to do in the morning .. groceries, fuel, phone calls, Port business and showers so didn't get underway untill 11:45. The Whisky Golf millitary area was active so we were close in picking our way around the Islets, Islands and rocks when a loud rattleing noise emerged from the engine compartment. Turned out not to be a serious problem ( alternator pully came very loose ) but was adrift while fixing it and a large yacht came by at twenty some knots and ( you guessed it ) we were caught abeam to his wake. Put some lock tight on it and all seemed fine. A course to the south end of Texada Is would have but us abeam to the wind and sea so we set a course NE to the north end of Lasquetti Is. It was lumpy going out in the center of Georgia Strait. It was only a fair anchorage and several boats were already there so we had to anchor in 75 ' of water. Then a 100 ' yacht entered the bay and spent an hour going back and forth anchoring only to pull up his rode and leave .. just before dark. We ate dinner during all this enterainment out on the aft deck in the sun. The next morning .. not so great. We used the head and some went out the over flow all over the stbd deck. What a mess .. that has NOT happened again .. learning curve steep there. Then soon we were in 4 ' head seas and wind. I throttled back to 2000 rpm ( as slow as I ever go ) and were making about 4.5 knots. We did this for hours and I eventually got used to the rythum of the seas but the cat had growling eyes the whole time. My anchor chest on the foredeck came a bit loose and I feared worse things may happen so ducked behind Dick Island ( the only protection on the west side of Texada Is ). Chris held us on station untill I made things secure and out we went again. We rounded the north end of Texada Is but still too rough to have anything but fruit for lunch. After about an hour more I bumped the throttle up to our normal cruise of 2300. Soon we were in almost calm seas and with much traffic asumeably most going to Desolation Sound. Late in the day we arrived at Squrrill Cove. We went to town and the resturant for dinner as a reward for our hard earned miles. I did a strange thing and bought a mounted photograph. After dinner we went through the gut and into the anchorage of Squirrll cove. What a fantastic anchorage. Some guy on a red sail boat came in at about 3 knots, droped the anchor and rode and let it stop the boat .. never saw an anchor set like that before. The next morning we arrived at Yukulta ( pronounced Youkata ) and Dent Rapids at just the right time. Went through with a bit of extra speed ( always good in a Willard ) and fell in with several other boats going the same speed. None were displacement boats so I assume they were under loading and saving fuel. The people along the way said there was far less traffic this year on the Inside Passage. We liked Big Bay in the past and were sad that it went private ( sold ). We saw large slow moving eddys and boils from time to time in the back channel. Went through Green Point and Whirlpool rapids with some current still with 2 other boats going 6 knots when we entered oJohnstone Strait. We failed to find a good place to anchor in Port Harvey so anchored behiend some small islands further up the channel ( Wallace Group .. I think ).
