When we came in at 5:00, it was warm with a light southwest breeze. Two boats for dinner. When we left the marina at 5:30, the wind had changed to the north... that wasn't predicted. By the time we got out of the protection of Colter Bay, the wind was blowing like stink and the waves were building. Fortunately, our route took us mostly south, so it was a tailwind.
Once on the island, the temperature dropped; glad I had the foresight to bring a jacket. People were pretty decent, considering that cold wind. I let the people vote to see if they wanted to board the boats early to get out of the wind... a unanimous decision. Well, except for the 3 people on my boat who didn't come back with the group. The folks on my boat had to wait another 15 minutes for those 3 people to finally make their way back to the boat, but at least we were all out of that cold wind.
As we pulled away from the dock on the island, the sky grew dark and the rain started to fall. Coming around the east side of the island, the waves were 4 feet, close together, and growing. Again, my passengers had a good spirit of adventure as the bow of the boat would climb, then crash into the next wave. They listened when the marina manager called on the radio, asking about the conditions. And then he recommended that the Elk Island crew not even attempt making it back to the marina. I told him that we would go back for them.
One of my passengers asked, "You aren't going back for them NOW, are you?" as the boat crashed through the next wave.
"No, ma'am. We'll get you folks back to the marina, then we'll head back and get them." Some were relieved, a few were having fun with the roller coaster ride and said, "Let's go around again!" ;-)
I checked radar on my Droid... there was one cell chasing right behind us, it was getting dark, and then another bigger cell coming up behind that. The timing was such that we got our passengers back to the dock before the big rain hit. Joan and the marina assistant manager were waiting at the dock to catch the cruiseboats. We unloaded passengers, then got ready on my boat to head back to the island to get the chef crew. Joan and Mary (the assistant manager) asked if they could come along, too.
"Sure, but it's gonna be a lumpy ride." We headed out with both captains, both first mates, the Blonde and the assistant manager. And the weather was worse. I got the boat up to 14 knots as we surfed to the south, with the wind at our stern. The rain pounded. It was a bit of a "hurricane party" atmosphere on the boat.
When we got to the island, we had the island crew grab lines and I held the boat with power on up against the dock while they transferred food and equipment from the crew boat to the cruiseboat. Quickly! The other captain undid the dockline while I powered against the dock; he jumped on and we were off again. The next cell was moving up behind us quickly.
The boat would rise and fall as the waves continued to build. It was dark and rainy; I was glad to have the GPS and my Droid radar app. We made it back to the marina and I formulated a plan to put one of the first mates on the dock so he could grab lines for us... when we got to the dock, one of our dock neighbors was out there in the rain to catch a bow line. He hollered, "I don't know what I'm doing, but I figured you could use a hand!"
"Put the line on ANY cleat and take a wrap! And we REALLY appreciate this!" We wrestled the boat in, unloaded the chef crew and equipment, and I put the boat away.
It had been a very long day.
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I volunteered to come in early this morning to get the island crew out to the island. Normally, they head out about an hour and a half before the cruise boats, to get set up and the food cooking. So, after a long evening, I was back to work at 5:45 am today. We loaded up the food, the supplies, the chef, and the wrangler, and headed for the island.
It was a cold morning... as in: 34ยบ. Fog rolled up off the water. As we headed towards the island, the sun was just starting to come up... the mountain tips were lit, above a cloud layer about mid-mountain. Gorgeous!
I had mentioned to my assistant manager that a sunrise cruise might be something to offer once in a while... and this magnificent scene took my breath away. I'm sure that there would be some guests who would love to have this (very early morning) experience.
On the way back from the island, the fog really settled in... and my next task was to find two canoes that guests had beached and abandoned when the weather turned ugly yesterday. I waited for the fog to lift a bit, found the canoes, hooked them behind the rescue boat, and slowly made my way back to the marina in low visibility.
The rest of the day was a "blue shirt" day, with the occasional cruise to drive. Never a dull moment.
2 comments:
Great story Jim. BTW, what radar app to you use for the Droid? Just got my Droid X and I have Weatherbug radar on there and RadarNow. Also downloaded the Navionics East Charts. The WiFi hotspot feature works well too!
Hi Charlie,
RadarNow is also what I use on the Droid. It has come in pretty handy on several occasions on the boat.
I had one of the other captains mention my "toys"... I prefer to think of some of this tech stuff as tools... tools that allow me to do my job better and safer. ;-) More information is a good thing.
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