Patrick Hill - Home on the Waves

HOME ON THE WAVES

A Pacific Sailing Adventure

by Patrick Hill

Home on the Waves
Copyright 2015 by Patrick Hill

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any matter without prior written permission.

Promontory Press
www.promontorypress.com

Cover design by Marla Thompson of Edge of Water Designs

ISBN: 978-1-927559-94-9

Printed in India

My Thanks

My thanks go to my wife, Heather, whose positive thoughts and unstinting support made the whole dream a wonderful reality and to Jeremy and Erica, our children, whose enthusiasm and reactions to the many adventures were a delight to experience.

As this story is being written I thank my family again for their support and their input and recall of so many happenings that have been cloaked by time.

Also, my thanks to our good friend, Joanna Gould, who provided format and text improvements and supporting thoughts.

Foreword

While trekking recently in the vastness of Nepal, we were treated to breathtaking scenes of huge snow-covered peaks, moss-covered forests, deep gorges, roaring rivers, barren open table lands, steep terraced hillsides, mule and yak caravans, tiny villages some remote, some derelict looking, and a wonderful variety of friendly Nepalese and Tibetan people.

I was travelling with my wife, Heather, our guide, Chyangba and his porter, Guncha. As we trekked up and down the many steep trails, cliff-side paths with dizzying drops below and mountain ridges, we moved at our own pace leaving much time for my thoughts to range far and wide, uncluttered with the multitude of home life activities and only the wonder of nature around me. Scenes from the past kept whirling in and out of my mind from work, my early life, trips we had made, trips I would like to do and thus in this thought process, hopefully not the first sign of old age rambling, I decided I would write a book.

Books are perhaps mans widest diversion. They entertain, inform, instruct, philosophize, titillate and most cause one to think and dream. Also with the dreaming may come the realization that one can achieve objectives earlier thought not possible. This book is a simple story of one of the key events in my life with Heather, that of a sailing trip to the South Seas with our family. I hope it will provide a refreshing reminder for our children of a years trip we had together. Hopefully too, it may help to motivate those who are poised but hesitant to explore life further. No words can express this better than those of the poem of our late young friend, Richard Ellott of Whistler, British Columbia:

As an eagle takes flight
And is borne above the clouds
So too must I spread my wings
And embrace the power of the wind

Patrick Hill, Kathmandu

For copies: www.patrickhillcruising.com

Contents

CHAPTER 1

Planning

as a wind works its magic on the sails

1970 From my office window I watched the yellowish silt-laden waters flow around Spanish Banks and ease their way into English Bay on the incoming tide. With this natural process the shallow Banks continued to grow outwards sometimes to the inconvenience and surprise of the unwary yachtie as he touched bottom. Dark silhouettes of freighters high in the water, waiting for berths at the harbour facilities, swung at anchor in no particular pattern as currents and winds produced conflicting influences. Faintly in the distance across the Strait of Georgia shadows of mountains loomed through the misty air. These magnificent views which enchanted and enticed me so many times were lessening with the continued growth of high-rise buildings as Vancouver discovered itself and emulated the big-city look. It emphasized my sense of confinement that had been growing over the past year, perhaps years.

I sat there musing and asked the very familiar questions that most of us experience from time to time, What am I doing and where am I going? It seemed some further challenge, some further fulfillment was needed. I should not just continue to sit on my comfortable pot. Yes, the pot was pretty nice. Here I was, age 38, happily married to Heather, and with two children: Jeremy (9) and Erica (5). That dreadful millstone, the mortgage, all $8,500 of it, was more or less under control, and we could see that day when the loan agreement could be appropriately destroyed while consuming at least a moderately priced champagne. I was a professional engineer with a major international engineering company and was fortunate to experience challenging and variable work while travelling extensively. Still, there were so many other things to do and see besides work. Those who advocate play now and work later do have a point.

Sailing was our passion so the oceans beckoned. Gliding through calm waters as a wind works its magic on the sails, dropping anchor in lonely bays, just getting the maximum speed out of a boat regardless of the wind, or just lolling around with family and friends what better way to go?

We had experienced two boats. A centre-board 16 Snipe which we had kept anchored off MacDonalds yard next to the Kitsilano Yacht Club years ago. We sold her when we went to Australia. Our next boat came four years later back in Vancouver. We were then a family of four and reckoned we needed about a 26 boat. Most fibreglass ones were out of our range, unless I dropped my old fashioned ideas of paying outright in cash. Finally we zeroed in on the ubiquitous 26 Thunderbird going at a reasonable price and bought one in partnership with a friend who had a similar shortage of cash.

I have never been a great one for nautical terms but, when I went to view an earlier Thunderbird, the owner insisted on taking me out for a sail, believing I think that I would be a quick buyer. He threw me two bundles of ropes saying that I could put on the sheets while he got the genny hanked on. Not wishing to expose my ignorance as to what a sheet was, I spent the longest amount of time blowing my nose until he picked the bundles up and attached them to the genny. Then I knew what sheets were!

This somewhat tender boat, designed for the lighter, average winds of the sheltered areas of the west coast, provided some marvellous and exciting sailing with its extra expanse of sail. It was a fine and sleek looking boat in the water and out, with its highly efficient fin keel, clean underbody and large cockpit. It was quite influential on the kind of boat we were looking for. I managed, with some adjustment, to get a 10 HP outboard long shaft motor, usually hung on the transom, to fit inside the transom lazerette; by rotating it out of the water and within the line of the hull, a cover plate could be installed to make a completely flush hull when sailing. It was a fine buy, certainly compared to some production boats, one of which actually had an outboard motor installation right in the middle of the cockpit!

saying goodbye to a very inbred work ethic

A year later, we bought the other half from our friend and kept the boat, Kolus, for another three years of fun sailing holidays in the warm waters of Desolation Sound and the Gulf Islands. Destinations at Plumper Cove, Keats Island or any of the four bays on the south side of Gambier Island, were convenient weekend sails, all this within 10 miles of our city berth.

On Friday nights, Heather, equally enthusiastic about sailing, would meet me at my office with the kids and all the goodies required for a weekend. While Heather drove to the boat I would change out of my office gear and wed be gone early and back late Sunday night. By 6pm we would be headed up the coast with work forgotten and looking for a place to anchor.