18 June 2017; Vancouver, Canada.

It was good that it was change over day today as the weather was not up to cruising standards, even for North West standards.  It was gloomy, chilly and rainy. Most guests transferred from the ship directly into a coach for Vancouver Airport or back to the USA; but a steady stream walked their own suitcases off the ship and around the corner to the big parking garage and some even further to the Sea Bus station so they were mostly likely people from North Vancouver who had made a cruise in their own back garden so to speak.

I had to run ashore briefly to comply with immigration requirements. Here in the port of Vancouver it is really confusing at least if you are not used to it. For the Canadian Government I am a regular crewmember as I work on board. If I want to be a passenger then that is fine as well, as long as I comply with the regulations. For the American Government I am a non – revenue passenger. Although I work on board I cannot be classified as a crewmember as that requires a different sort of visa; and I have one that allows me to hop on and off ships in USA ports.  To make things easy I was a passenger for both countries today………….. unfortunately that all stopped when I got back on board again and had to start working again.

I had to be off the ship by 10 am. and could not return until 11 am. after the CBP started their immigration process, so it gave me the chance to go to my favorite 2^nd hand book store McLeod’s on West Pender.  They have so many books there, that they are off the shelves, piled up on the floor and in such density that there is a hardly any room left for clients to browse. Approx. 20,000 sq. feet of a book explosion. Although they do have a very large section on maritime subjects I could not find anything. Not amazing as my library is almost complete. Still there is always the chance…………….

The chart of Seymour Narrows with current vanes. As you can see the current does not follow the mid channel direction but bounces around. Hence the danger to go through with high velocities.

Now back to my story of yesterday about Seymour Narrows. I might have explained once before but once I went through Seymour Narrows with more than 7 knots of following current. I was 3^rd officer on the Noordam in 1984 and we were coming south towards Vancouver. The captain was adjusting the speed for a 3 knots current transfer and then the emergency call came in that the Sun Dancer was sinking. The Sundancer was a cruise ship / ferry boat sailing from Vancouver to Alaska and the idea was that guests could take their own car/camper to Alaska. Coming north, the ship had somehow missed the turn and hit the rocks before coming to the Narrows itself but it did not ground. However the ship was taking on water and as a ferry is a sort of tin can, once a hole is punched in the can, the water can go everywhere. As it was uncertain that she would make the dock, a Mayday went out and we were requested to get there as soon as possible as we had all those lifeboats available. So we went through and that night I learned that you can go through with currents above 4 knots but there is no room for error left. The pilot only gave two rudder orders, one to port and one to starboard and we were through the hole. In the meantime the SunDancer had limped towards the dock at Campbell River lumber mill and settled against the pier there. So we were not needed.

The narrow part north of Vancouver Island. You can clearly see why the currents are so strong. As it only widens up near Port Mc.Neil. (Chart courtesy, Katiekat.net)

There is another strong current area a bit further north called Race Passage. But because you do not have to make a big turn and because it is wider, the current seldom goes above 5 knots and thus we can go through at any time. In the middle is Helmcken Island and if there is traffic then it serves as a sort of traffic cone separating the east and west bound flow. If there is no opposing traffic then all ships use the south passage as it is straighter.

Tomorrow we are at sea, sailing Queen Charlotte Sound and then another part of the Inside passage but the weather is to remain gloomy, rainy and foggy. Amazing because the Southern USA States and most of Europe is sweltering in a heat wave.