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"Club Jed" - A West Coast Wayfarer
Gathering June 28-29, 2008
...report by Nick Parker (W982) |
 The weather was sublime and the sea state was great for the pilgrimage out to Jedediah Island NW of Vancouver, B.C. for the first "Club Jed" West Coast Wayfarer event. Nestled between Lasqueti and Texada amidst a collection of 30 odd chunks of rock, Jedediah rises up as a jewel in the Strait of Georgia.  Two Wayfarers, one leaving from
Deep Bay on the Vancouver Island (see
Denman I. on chart above) and the other from Halfmoon Bay (see chart above) on the
Sunshine Coast attempted to converge on this Marine Park. Though both
parties made it to the Island, neither connected with the other in a
fluke of Georgia basin weather and such was the pity! On Saturday June
28th, Gary Robinson in Wayfarer 10429, Gosling set sail from Deep Cove
with a Hobie Cat friend in tow while the Parker Clan in Wayfarer
982 Tiddley sailed from
Cooper's Green, Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast. Gary spent 12 hours
on the water struggling with fickle winds to make Jedediah's west
side. Tiddley, on the
other hand, made quick passage through Welcome Passage only to be
windless at the top end of North Thormanby Island. In the end, Tiddley and crew were forced to
row back to Smuggler Cove south of Pender Harbour (above), abandoning any attempt of
making Jedediah by
nightfall.
2
With the dawning of a new day,
Gary and company recognized that the winds were going to be fickle
again, and headed back to Deep Cove, having seen neither "hide nor
hair" of any other Wayfarers. It was a prudent move on his part,
especially with work responsibilities looming the next day. Meanwhile,
the Parkers again struggled to find wind after rowing out of Smuggler
Cove. As time marched on, there was the odd zephyr and then a few
cat's paws and finally a wind as of mid-morning.
 Then came 10
knots out of the Northwest which laid us over on a beam reach (above) for
Squitty Bay on Lasqueti. A great sail was had, which
covered the remaining six nautical miles to the Jedediah Island in no
time flat.
 Multiple tacks later, Tiddley and crew entered Bull Passage against a strong ebb tide and a funnelling wind to find respite in Boom Bay (see "upside-down map above - with north at the bottom) on Jedediah. Anchoring, eating and drying out accomplished, Stephen and I set out to explore Jedediah and to look for Gary and crew, not realizing we had missed them by about three hours. Club Jed was as tranquil and picturesque as always, offering up great vistas, superb swimming and wonderful hiking. Significant tides forced Tiddley into deeper water for the
night with crew bedded down under its boom tent, while swinging at
anchor. Perfect positioning allowed us to fall asleep with 3.5
meters of water under the keel and to awake with .5 meters keeping us
afloat. Sensing that the weather was changing we departed Jedediah on
Monday morning rowing several nautical miles before feeling the wind on
the back of our necks. Indeed, the wind had broken from its Norwest
routine and swung 180°. As Tiddley
danced with the wind's thrust, we inadvertently rendezvoused with the Silva Bay Raid. We learned that
Jan Sabine's Wayfarer 616 Toppsy
had sailed with them for the previous few days but had
been unable to continue. Again, the West Coast Wayfarers were
within a few miles of one another, but alas, to no avail!
  With an unusually calm sea but
a brilliant wind, Tiddley picked
up her heels and raced across the 8
nautical miles to the sands of North Thormanby, where Stephen and I
spent the afternoon frolicking between the sand cliffs and the waters
flooding over the warm sand beach (see
photos above).
With our sunscreen quota
filled, Tiddley and crew
headed further east to Secret Cove and our final destination: the Royal
Vancouver Yacht Club's outstation. All in all a great trip, albeit, a
bit shy of participants, but a good start for the future!
... |
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