Change of Latitude in the Pacific Northwest

Change of Latitude in the Pacific Northwest

Who: Don/Debbie/Katie Baxter/Sarah Leu
Port: Bellingham, WA

To Blind Channel, West Thurlow Island

17 July 2015
We planned to go to the Octopus Islands Marine Park today. To get there, we had to plan the transit of a tidal rapids at Hole In The Wall. The area between Georgia Strait and Johnstone Strait is chock-a-block with islands and nearly every route north has a tidal rapids that must be carefully timed to pass during slack tide. The current in these locations can get up to 15 knots or more with whirlpools, overfalls, standing waves, and confusing currents. Our boat's top speed is 15 knots. These can be dangerous waters if you do not watch your charts, tide tables and timing most carefully.

We planned our transit of Hole in the Wall for slack currant at 11:57. I plotted our course and could tell our arrival time, given departure at 9 am. The computer estimates current at different points on the way, given an average cruising speed, which I usually estimate at 8.5 knots. We do 8.5 knots at 1400 rpm and use about 5.5 gallons of fuel per hour.

On the way, I noticed that we could go through a different tidal rapids, at slack, a bit farther north and end up in better position for the following day's travel up Johnston Strait. Johnston Strait is a long exposed section where the winds build, generating waves that run against the current, creating steep waves that pound and make travel challenging. The route would take us to Blind Channel Marina, a place that daughter Katie and I had stayed at a number of years ago. They had a wonderful restaurant. I quickly plotted courses, checked tidal flow, ETA at Yaculta Rapids and things looked promising. As we were traveling we made the decision to change our route and head through Yaculta Rapids rather than Hole in the Wall. Our chartplotter and computer allowed us to do this quickly and effortlessly. It is an awesome system.

We made it through Yaculta Rapids without difficulty, passed by the whirlpool called Devil's Hole, a whirlpool that had previously sucked down a large fishing boat, and transited Dent Rapids, all without difficulty. Debbie called Blind Channel Marina and got us a spot. The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful.

After docking, another boater came up to us and introduced himself. Noel Diefendorf had chartered our boat previously and, when backing out of our slip one of the throttle links failed so he could not put the engines in neutral and Change of Latitude ran into the boat house behind us. It dented the door but did little damage to our boat. It was all taken care of by insurance. Noel and his wife Bonnie had brought their Grand Banks 42 Europa, M/V Time Out, up from San Francisco for a summer of cruising. They were now headed back south. Noel introduced us to their cruising friends, Harold and Lisa Kleiderman, who owned M/V Paridiso. They invited us for drinks on Paradiso and then dinner up at the restaurant. We did and had a wonderfully special evening together that ended all too shortly. We said our farewells and made plans for an early morning departure. We needed to get through Current Passage in Johnstone Strait by 7:30 before current and wind made the waves dangerous. We planned to get up at 5 am and depart by 5:45. Before going to bed, we put down the Bimini canvas top, on the upper deck. No use having it rattling around in high winds tomorrow.
Comments
Vessel Name: Change of Latitude
Vessel Make/Model: Grand Banks CL 42
Hailing Port: Bellingham, WA
Crew: Don/Debbie/Katie Baxter/Sarah Leu
About: We live on the East Coast but enjoy wilderness cruising in the Pacific Northwest.
Extra: We enjoy crabbing, shrimping, fishing, and clamming. Some of us are crazy enough to swim in Northwest waters during the summer.

Change of Latitude in the Pacific Northwest

Who: Don/Debbie/Katie Baxter/Sarah Leu
Port: Bellingham, WA