Once again, it starts.
Environment Canada has issued an advisory for tomorrow, calling for northwesterly winds of 20kn to 33kn. Two weeks ago when the massive windstorm sent seven boats up onto the beach and wrecked several more along the coastline, they weren’t calling for much more than that.
I’m starting to think that Kitsilano Beach might be unlucky for boaters. On Saturday night I left the boat at about 6pm, heading off into Kits in search of food. When I returned at about 9pm there was a new sight in the water; at first I thought it was a small tugboat with a boom of logs attached, but at I got closer I saw that the boom was one of those inflatable booms for containing oil spills, and the “tugboat” was actually the upper platform of a luxury motorboat, with the rest of the boat resting on the ocean floor!
I have no idea what the story is, but I watched on Sunday as the tide went out and a few folks in wetsuits went inside, ostensibly plugged the (hole? burst hose? broken through-hull fitting?) and pumped out the boat. I didn’t notice any oil slick, and the boom was gone by mid-morning. The police and the Coast Guard also made appearances during the day probably to check out the damage. I didn’t actually see the boat leave, but I did see a couple of tow-boats hovering like vultures nearby, so I assume the sunken vessel was towed away.
Tomorrow, bright and early, the forecast is calling for a lot of wind – to put it in perspective, at about 10kn of wind, the waves get up to about 30cm tall and the boat is in constant motion. At about 15kn, the waves jump to about 50-60cm tall, and rowing out to the boat becomes a little more difficult, and at about 20kn of wind I have to have everything in a drybag, as I’m not going to get to or from the boat without getting wet. Tomorrow they are calling for 20kn – 33kn of wind, which will mean breaking waves larger than 1m, probably making it impossible to get to or from the boat.
I know – or at least I’m pretty sure – that my anchor line will hold, but it won’t be a comfortable time. According to the weather forecasts, the wind won’t entirely let up until the weekend, so if I don’t get into False Creek before the big winds start, I am unlikely to be able to pull up my anchor and go until Friday. My current plan is to get up really early tomorrow morning and motor for False Creek, stopping at the dock at the Granville Bridge so I can fill up my water tanks, wash my dishes and give my engine a chance to cool down a bit before motoring down to Science World to anchor for a week or so. I guess we’ll see what time the wind starts! If I’m stuck in the waves, I’ll be sure to blog about it.