All right. I have the steaks, lasagna, garlic bread. There's rum, red and white wine. Ipod - check. Extra gloves, long underwear - check. Water tank is full. Diesel is full. And I remembered the poker chips. So we are good to go.
Now the weather forecast says storm warning on Howe sound with winds to 50 kts and a gale warning on the Straight of Georgia with winds to 40 kts The flurries should end this afternoon before the wind picks up.
Clearly this a test.
Remind me again. Is this a test of courage? Or a test of intelligence?
I think at a certain point (about 40 knots or so) intelligence and courage become inversely proportional to each other.
If you're being tested on courage drink the rum, of course this will lower your score if you're being tested for intelligence.
The problem is that the grading is on a pass/fail basis and the penalty for failure is pretty extreme.
I see.
I think how this works is if I fail the intelligence test, then it becomes a test of courage. If I drink the alcohol first and then try to take any of the tests I should at least wear a PFD so that they are not still looking for the body over Christmas.
I guess it's looking like a poker party at the dock tonight.
The winner of the poker test generally fails the rum courage test. So it's important to figure out whether or not it is preferable to wake up with a pocket full of cash or a hangover before beginning the process...
You west coast owners brag about being able to sail year round.....don't be a wimp.
That said, the courageous thing to do is admit mother nature won, the intellegent thing to do is serve your opponents the rum :clap
Your decision should probably turn on the quality of the rum and the quality of your opponents. If both are low I would opt for the sober route, if they're both high I would start drinking. At least you'll enjoy yourself as you loose your money.
It seems to me that with that kind of WX forcast it's time to stay tied at the dock, warm up the rum and settle in for a nice steak later.
That way you pass the test - of longevity.
Steve - It was blowing about 30kts at 11am on Friday at my slip. I didn't even want to hang around to do another coat on my varnish project. I decided to bring some galley doors and drawers home to refinish in the garage instead. Too much wiggling and clanking in the marina for my tastes. I also didn't want to encounter any snow on the drive back down to Seattle, traffic is bad enough without that variable included in the mix.
Mexico is sounding pretty good right now.
Craig
A good snug anchorge in this kind of weather is worth its weight in...you pick it.
Steve, I'll meet you off Pt. Atkinson in a hour...............oh wait a sec, is that 4 inches of snow outside? That's not supposed to happen...its balmy west coast Vancouver, right?
Memo to equipment list...add snow scraper.
Hey, I was there. Where were you?
We stayed at the dock Friday night. Drank the rum, but filled my wallet. Saturday we hung a right into Howe Sound. There was a storm warning, but I don't think we actually felt anything over 40 knots. A 45 minute run took 2 hours. But they had more rum on Bowen Island.
At Pam Rocks this morning: Winds northly outflow 47 kts gusting 58 kts. The forecast for Howe Sound was 50 to 60 knots easing to 40 to 50 knots near noon. So we waited until noon until we left. And we had a few gusts that were maybe 20 knots. A bit of surfing. Spectacular day. Forecasts are only forecasts.
Back at the slip all the boats have six inches of snow and the channel is starting to freeze up. What's with that?
A few pics...
Steve : There's an old aviator saying : There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are NO old bold pilots!!
Have fun, as I've got a wall full of medals and don't need any more!!
Well Ron, it sounds impressive, but I didn't explain the conditions 10 miles in the other direction: "Jericho - winds calm, sea rippled." So we just dabbled in the entrance to the fjord with the arctic outlflow winds. So if things went badly wrong motoring into 40 knot winds, say a rudder failure, or engine failure, I would have been blown out the end into relatively benign conditions. Not very many places on earth you can play around in a storm warning and not be in harm's way.
I have no desire to be bold or die young. Just increasing my comfort level in more rigorous conditions...
Nice photo of a snowy approach to Fisherman's Cove...I was half kidding and there you were out there...excellent. A little different than the thread on snow covers, though. West coast Canada doesn't sound so bad.
I'm on "G" dock at T-Bird, and WVYC, by the way.
Tom
Tom,
We should start a C34 fleet. I think there are ten boats in Thunderbird alone. I'm on B dock with at least 4 other C34s.
It was absolutely gorgeous coming into Fisherman's on Sunday. We had no snow in Snug, but it was brilliant coming into West Van to see all the boats covered in snow in filtered sunlight with the cove starting to freeze up near the stream.
Now I'm not so sure what was a better upgrade, the diesel heater or the cockpit shower. Maybe I'm allowed a winter favourite and a summer favourite...
Steve,
I had thought that as well. "Fleet 15 Canada Pacific" comes to mind.
This week, upgrade of the month award goes to the Espar diesal heater.
Tom
Steve & Tom - We could change Fleet 5 from Puget Sound to Salish Sea.
Craig
Craig,
Next thing you'll suggest is to change Fleet 5 from Puget Sound to "Cascadia" which is the new country (north/south) that western seperatists wish to create.
......but may be on to something......no more customs hassles arriving into Roche Harbour!
And we would actually be able to bring fresh fruits and vegetables with us when we cruised north.
Craig, at the very least we should be inviting our neighbors to the north to our rendezvous.
Braxton, et.al. - Everyone's always welcome at our rendezvous'. It's not like we'd exclude anyone, like those fleets of larger boats are known to do......
Craig
Craig, OK we'll smuggle down the "Canadian" beer.........
I think we have the beer covered (after all we're quite proud of a few of our local brews).
I just need you waiting with some fresh fruit when we head north.
Cruising into BC doesn't mean beer, it means stocking up up hard ciders to bring back for the Admiral and freinds
What's a hard cider? (It's probably a stupid question since they apparently come from here.)
Maybe it's like Canadian bacon. Ask an American what Canadian bacon is, they'll be able to tell you. Ask a Canadian and they'll scratch their head.
In any case I think we should just seize one of the Southern Gulf Islands or Northern San Juans and declare it a neutral cruising zone called Cascade Island. We can all go there with Cuban cigars, hard cider, good beer from good breweries wherever they may be, Canadian bacon (from the US), all duty free in unlimited quantities with no need to clear customs or be boarded by any coast guard vessel other than the Cascadian coast guard which I believe is Craig in his dinghy.
Sign me up............we north/south "Cascadians" certainly all have something in common this weekend - a foot of snow courtesy of the arctic. Steve, a run to Bowen and back???!
Tom
OK So I've been waiting at Doc Morgan's for 7 hours. Are you coming or not?
.........not tonight but considering Boxing Day............I'm sure Docs is closed so will have to arrive Grog in hand.