Well, as I sit at my desk, we are approaching the Hecate Straits and in Queen Charlotte Sound, making our way towards the Chatham Strait and our pilot embarkation point tomorrow morning. I am taking this, longer route, as opposed to west of the Queen Charlotte Islands because I have some shelter from the terrific swell which is still present after the gales of last week. We have been banging into it since midnight, after leaving Seattle and then entering the Pacific once more.
It has been one of those moments when I’m envious of Vancouver-based ships. They have the luxury of using the Hecate Straits and then the Canadian Inside Passage, sailing in relative calm water. We on the other hand, have to stick our bow out into the Pacific eventually and quite a time we’ve had of it too.
As I wrote in my last post, our route to Seattle was going to involve traversing some nasty weather and so it proved to be. Leaving the dock in Ketchikan, the wind and weather was a portent of what we were going to experience, driving rain and 30-knot gusts in the relative shelter of the Tongass Narrows.
A fish-packer heading into the weather (and still in ‘sheltered’ waters
Disembarking our pilot 45 minutes later involved a 90° turn to give the pilot boat a lee, (shelter) from the wind and sea. Doing this involves the turn and keeping a ‘swept path’ to keep it calmer. Keeping the turn on and the mass of the ship, ‘sliding’ sideways as well as ahead, leaves a calm patch of water immediately near the hull, thereby creating a nice lee. The another 90° turn to resume course.
The Hecate Straits were devoid of fishing boats, as sure sign that the weather has kept them holed-up near the coast. Once past the relative shelter of the Queen Charlotte Islands, boy, then we met the wind and swell, riding high and then dipping down into the next one. In comparison to some ships, the “Amsterdam” takes seas well, however it was a rough ride to the Juan de Fuca Straits.
A large, 15 feet swell
Our wind speed indicator
Banging into the swell
There was eventually some respite as we actually passed Cape Flattery at the western end of the Washington coast, 13 hours after leaving Ketchikan. Not out of the woods though, Victoria having 50 mph winds and Seattle, maximum recorded, 87 mph, trees and power lines down…… All I can do is hope it abates, otherwise Victoria will be a no-go. It has a live web-cam and a great automatic weather transmitter on the breakwater and I access it frequently that day, watching the wind abating slowly. 3 hours later, it’s as if we’re on a different planet, winds have dropped to 20 knots.
Approaching Victoria and the “Norwegian Pearl” is over a pot of gold 🙂
Onto Seattle for Sunday morning and only 20 knots there too; into our berth at pier 91 at an uncivilised hour and another day starts. We have some anchor chain to add to the existing on the port anchor, another shackle to add. A shackle of chain is 15 fathoms, or 90 feet. We have ‘break’ the existing chain and put in the additional length, all done in the blink of an eye 🙂
A barge maneuvers under the bow
On its deck, the additional length
Existing length of chain is pulled onto the barge deck, the joining shackle taken out and the extra length put in……..
Leaving Seattle and heading north, 2 photos
Following the “Pearl” along the Puget Sound
Port Angeles, on the Juan de Fuca Straits and on the north coast of Washington state
I will put a separate post after this one, with photos of the grandchildren, sent to me today.
