Wild Blue Yonder

Vessel Name: Shala
Vessel Make/Model: Sceptre 41
Hailing Port: Nanaimo, B.C.
Crew: Skipper: Harry Nichols Mates: Moe Graham, Laurie Graham
About: Moe and Laurie Graham will be accompanying the boat on the first leg to mexico, departing aug 2017. both are seasoned sailors and wonderful folks.
Extra:
this blog ( and associated philosophy ) has given me cause for much reflection , discussion , and eventual compromise , for the ones i love , and i havent even made a post yet. apparently the time for fence sitting is over. welcome friends and family and loved ones. and for all you spies and [...]
13 September 2017 | ensenada, mexico
07 September 2017 | Ensenada, Mexico
23 August 2017 | off the coast of oregon
15 August 2017
13 August 2017 | ukee
10 August 2017 | uclulet
07 August 2017 | Nanaimo, BC
06 August 2017 | currently in the gulf islands on the shakedown cruise
28 July 2017 | Nanaimo, BC
Recent Blog Posts
13 September 2017 | ensenada, mexico

sittin at the dock of the bay

so i sit in paradise…a week has gone by…more…i cant remember how long ive been here. my crew left me today and suddenly the “irma” of activitiy is over. the first few days were surreal. i awoke the first morning and had to pinch myself. here i am in paradise…somehow ive managed to get my [...]

07 September 2017 | Ensenada, Mexico

Post by Moe

Post by Moe

23 August 2017 | off the coast of oregon

a day at sea

23 aug 2017

15 August 2017

Pedder Bay to Ucluelet

Post by Laurie

pedder bay to ukee

13 August 2017 | ukee
harry
sat aug 12
we stayed up in shifts on anchour watch all night. 25 knts and 50 meters from a lee shore in an unknown anchourage. i was stressing about the next day. forecast 20-30 kts right on the nose. i was thinking of waiting till the weather improved, but the forecast was for several days of the same westerly winds. moe and i thought we might have to go back to victoria and regroup. the downside being that i would have to bring shala up a very long and unforgiving strait for longer than i would reasonably be able to stay alert. after a very sleepless night we decided to "stick our nose into it". out thru race rocks and into a solid wall of waves. we had some current in our favour but , against the wind , to make reasonable headway but smashing thru standing waves. decided to plunge ahead. the day was filled with green water waves over the bow and soaking everything. after about 10 miles we felt like it would be such a waste to turn back so decided to plow on. some times making 4 kts headway and other times making 1.2 kts headway. the pounding was horrible. all i could do was cringe as we smashed down on each wave only to watch the speed fall to zero. as the day dragged on we tried to get some rest in shifts but neither moe or i could sleep. we just kept going. as the sun began to fade we found ourselves at port renfrew. about half way to uclulet. thinking we were doing okay i was about to embark on my first night passage. i felt a lot of fear and anxiety building. fortunately moe has been in this position many times before. nice to have experience onboard. the wind suddenly died and we started to make very good time. after my watch i went down to try and get some sleep but was unable. when moe finally called me back into the cockpit the swell was being felt from the open pacific. we also had wind on the stern and were making good mileage. as we entered barkly sound it was my first night watch. the boat was pitching wildly in every direction...impossible to see the waves that seemed to come from every direction. rain was coming down hard and the dingy that was on the davits was filling with water and sloshing about wildly. note to self....never have the dingy on the davits when wild weather is in the mix. every dish and cup and pot was smashing about the cupboards and it felt like everything was completely out of control. there was banging and clashing in all cockpit lockers and mayhem ensued. i was hanging on to the binnacle thanking god for autopilot and radar and gps. i wondered how captain cook had done this without all the screens that i was watching. i couldnt get over the "completely vulnerable" sensation i was experiencing. moe asked me to wake him as we entered the passage into uclulet. before we entered felice channel when we were abeam mara rock less than 1/2 mile off suddenly both of my depth sounders stopped indicating depth. no problem i thought i still have gps. about that moment i tripped on the wire to the gps and pulled
it out. off goes the gps. panic strikes. i fumble for the ipad...figure ill pull up navionics and carry on. shit...the ipad freezes for the first time ever. im in full on panic mode now. two gps's and both depth sounders down and coming into the broken group of scattered rocks everywhere, in the middle of the night. i scrambled down into the cabin and dug out the electrical kit and found some butt connectors and crimpers and a few frantic minutes later i had the gps back online. the electrical kit now skidding back and forth accross the cabin sole. jezzus this sucks i say as everything is still crashing about everywhere. i decide to wake moe. when i did wake him it turns out he hadnt slept any more than i had, which was none. as we turned north into felice channel the lights on the shoreline suddenly began to bob in opposing directions. shit thats a vessel i say to moe but the lights dont make sense. theyre both white...where is the green and red? we are both quite exhausted now and the situation doesnt add up. i throttle back ...something isnt right. the "vessel" turns abruptly just as i say to moe...i think hes coming right at me. the radar shows nothing and we are both mystified. turns out it was a tug with tow. he turned into felice channel and we followed him in, the nav lights now apparent. just as we gain felice channel the tug turns around right in front of us causing more confusion...what is he doing ...we try to figure it out. he does a uturn and flashes a spotlight on us as he heads back behind us. we cant figure out why he is not showing up on the radar. wow what a stressfull half hour, but we are now out of the swell behind george fraser island in the newcombe channel. the boat feels calmer now and the stress levels fall as we come into uclulet. the approach is pretty straight forward and well marked. we are exhausted but happy to be finally in the harbour. we pull well into the inner harbour and anchour in 30 ft. its 0420 sunday m
orning. we decide to celebrate our exhausting trip with a toast to the first leg done...the hardest leg ever so far for me...my first night passage...my first taste of offshore swell combined with wind waves to make the most rolly and uncomfortable time ever experienced onboard shala. we made it. first trial done. a couple of valuable lessons learned. firstly never underestimate the danger of exhaustion, both of us very tired missed the fact of the radar range being wrong and set for distance and not close range. the tug and tow didnt show on the radar and our confused state could not figure it.
secondly ...when you think you have shit stowed...think again...everything is mobile when the boat pitches from 30* heeled starboard to 30* heeled to port. all kinds of previously "stowed" objects become projectiles. time to rethink stowage. oh ya almost forgot...i saw some whales just before dusk...moe says its i good omen and i believe it. i do have to brush up on whale recognition....i think they were......pretty sure they were.....whales.
Comments
Shala's Photos - Main
9 Photos
Created 10 September 2017
A few photos from the journey
19 Photos
Created 5 September 2017

About & Links

Photo Albums
10 September 2017
9 Photos
05 September 2017
19 Photos