Fleet Captain's Report - Summer Cruise
After all the planning, reservations made, considerable e-mails and correspondence to take care of, the first week of the Summer Cruise came off with nary a hitch. The only minor change to my schedule came on Saturday, 7/30, with the plan to anchor in Fossil Bay on Sucia Island. The bay was full, so the fleet moved to Echo Bay where a raft of 10 boats was made and all participants had a great time.
While I could go into detail about every stop we made, I would rather write about several situations that arose that will make those who attended smile a little:
V/C Don Wilson didn’t fall asleep while entering the Swinomish Channel.
On a not so funny note, Captain Gordon Foote lost an engine coming out of locks and didn’t make the trip. Bummer!
The trip from LaConner to Sucia saw the Fleet heading in one direction and the Jacqueline in another. Both came out of the fog at the same time and place however.
The weather was spectacular.
The trip to Roche Harbor was uneventful except for the fact that after arriving some of the first mates hit the sportswear shop before the Fleet Captain could hand out the 20% off coupons that were available. I think all received their discounts, however.
The Fleet Captain had to show a little muscle to evict the Ranger Tug folks from our reserved party barge. It started to get a bit ugly when cooler heads prevailed and the person in charge moved his group to another location. He did come back later with a peace offering, but I was out to dinner and he gave a carrot cake to V/C Wilson. I asked where it was and he said “we ate it!” What’s up with that?” The following morning the tugs got back at us as they were leaving Roche. At about 6:30 AM they departed and all 20 or so used their bow and stern thrusters to the max!
R/C to be Bob Myers learned that he should have a spare fresh water pump on board after a straw vote by a disgruntled 1st mate Laurean of the other captains.
How was QCYC, after only one day, able to take over the entire floating dock at Reid Harbor? 12 boats all flying the burgee enjoyed two wonderful days there.
Captain Dan Wilshin decided after 4 years to try and start his tender motor. I for one gave him little support. After many pulls the job was taken over by Commodore George and after many more pulls it started and actually ran quite well. Go figure!
Watching Karen VanWagenen trying to take a picture of another person’s bras hanging out to dry was very amusing.
Our daughter was getting married in Friday Harbor August 5th. The plan was for me and Jacquie to take a dinghy over to Friday that afternoon. Dan and Marilyn Wilshin would have no part of that and offered to take us and pick us up later on their boat. What special friends!
Many thanks to all who assisted me in putting on this cruise:
Commodore George and Nancy for storing food and beverages and our wedding clothes on Grey Goose.
Dan and Marilyn Wilshin for their help on the dinner at Roche.
Jim and Karen VanWagenen with helping on the Roche dinner and Pizza night at Deer Harbor.
Arlene Oberg for two wonderful breakfasts.
Brian and Carolyn Barton, our guests on Jacqueline, for all they did, which is too much to even start writing about.
Special thanks to all who attended this cruise and others who didn’t attend but supported the Fleet Captain’s events throughout the year.
FLEET CAPTAIN’S REPORT---PRINCESS LOUISA
About 10 days before we left on the Summer Cruise I had 9 boats signed up for the trip. On the 6th of August we departed Deer Harbor for Canada with six committed boats for the trip north. By the time for us to cross the Strait of Georgia I was down to only 4 boats. In one day’s time 5 boats dropped out and I as Fleet Captain was very disappointed. While I was in a bit of a downer concerning this, the show must go on, and did it ever. After a captains’ meeting the next morning we all decided the wind was not that large a factor and the courageous 4 made the crossing in fine style and were having cocktails at 4:00PM in Egmont. The crossing was lumpy but never unsafe and only a few stray logs got in our way.
The trip up to Louisa the next day was made in sunny weather with a following sea. It was noted by the captains that Jacqueline traveled 45 miles on this 30 mile run. Jacqueline, like most power boats, doesn’t track well in a following sea and auto pilot is nearly mute. Brian Barton was the captain on this stretch of the trip and I finally had to take the chair and manually drive the boat. Brian, bless his heart, is used to flying those big jets over the oceans of the world and couldn’t give up trying to use the auto pilot. I think he finally understood the concept.
Princess Louisa was as gorgeous as it always is, but perhaps more so. With the large snowfall of this past winter the waterfalls off of the mountains were more pronounced. The new comers to Louisa, Don and Judy Wilson, Brian and Carolyn Barton, and Bill Gray and Ron LaFayette were in Brian’s words, “awestruck.”
We left for Pender Harbor Wednesday morning August 10th and arrived about 3:00 pm. One last get together at the Pub in Garden Bay and it was time to say goodbye. Thanks to Captain John and Mary Louise Alving, Captain Bill Gray, and V/C Don and Judy Wilson for making the trip. Jacquie and I will forever remember this time in our life. In hindsight it was probably best that 9 boats didn’t all go. Logistically it would have been very difficult to find moorage and anchorage for that many boats and my record of having done a pretty good job would have taken a big hit. As a side note, after 13 days with the Fleet in tow I was unable to award a screw-up flag. Nice job, Captains!
The rest of the trip was spent with Bill Gray and Ron LaFayette on the GrayMar and our first stop was in Squirrel Cove in Desolation Sound. Bill and Ron are retired educators and they committed to stay with us as long as we wanted them to stay. We spent another 10 days in Desolation and exploring the Gulf Islands. On the 13th of August we said goodbye to Brian and Carolyn as they caught a plane out of Refuge Cove for home. During our stay up there we only had two stray thunder showers to get in the way. Bill and Ron were a joy to travel with and my life and Jacquie’s have been enriched by getting to know these two wonderful people. Bill and Ron, we thank you.
Steve Weiss
Fleet Captain Retired
