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West Sea Otter Buoy and the Importance of Charts
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July 3, 2007
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Hi Bob and Marilynn -
You probably hear this daily, but you've done a stellar job on the Waggoner Cruising Guide. When we were stationed at Fort Lewis a dozen years ago, we had a small cuddy cabin trailer boat, and your Guide was invaluable to us as we learned about the Pacific Northwest. Now retired from the Army and cruising for the summer, The Waggoner remains the "Go To" source as we travel these spectacular waters.
Anyway, to the topic at hand: We had a great first trip north through Queen Charlotte Strait and portions of Queen Charlotte Sound. We travel slow: 7-8 knots in our old Grand Banks woodie, but after reading your sidebar on the West Sea Otter Buoy we felt confident in the leg from Port McNeill to Duncanby Landing.
The West Sea Otter Buoy readings were a constant 0.6 meters from our start (0500) to tying up at Duncanby (1430), and the crossing was easy--slight southwesterly swell, not enough to dislodge a single item in the saloon or staterooms. We were concerned about the predicted afternoon winds (15-25 knots, reaching gale force by late afternoon), and identified a few cut-out locations if the weather turned for the worse, but with repeated notifications of light winds and 0.6 meters at the buoy, we continued to Duncanby without incident.
Now to the charts: I'm a "chart" kind of guy; grew up in the Army reading maps, know chart work from Army maritime operations, and am comfortable with navigating by paper. Regardless, we bought a chartplotter this winter and the "Inside Passage Card" to cover Canadian waters. While cruising this season I have been stocking up on paper charts as our fail-safe navigation method, somewhat to the chagrin of my wife.
Well, as we approached Cape Caution, fraught with some navigational issues, "No Map" appeared on the chartplotter display.
Now, as a "map kind of guy", I already had Charts 3550 and 3934 out and had been following along to correct the Chart Plotter. Long story short, we had no drama getting to our destination, and my wife, who had some skepticism with the purchase of charts, now only questions my purchase of the chartplotter. . . .
Warm Regards,
Paul and Teresa Sabin
M/V "Now & Then"
Grand Banks 36-35
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