page 2- - June 22, 1977 - North Shore News ‘It was hot out on the water on Saturday. We had moored overnight at West Bay, on Gambier Island, and early the next morning we untied the sailboat from a log boom and motored out around the Grace Islands. In Thornborough Channel, on the west side of Gambier Island, the wind was from the southeast and we raised the mainsail and started a long straight run up the channel. It got hotter right away, with the boat moving in the same direction as the breeze. The scenery in | ‘Howe Sound is really something—I wonder why more boaters don’t explore it instead of going to more inaccessible places. There were few other boats out there. But it sure was hot. I wore my cut-offs and my lady crew . not much more. Hilda took the wheel and I worked around the boat while Mar- ion made lunch below. It was glorious, really—the steep mountains slide down into the sea and every twist in the fjord reveals something in- resting to look: at. Ewan ant FY Wen baby John was sightseeing. I went by the open forehatch and peeked down at him in his crib. He was propped up in a comfortabie position swhere he could = see the clouds and the seagulls and still drink his bottle, and he _ looked very pleased with himself. Rounding Witherby Point was a shock to the eyes. In the middle of the verdant ta tor ~~ landscape lies the townsite of Port Mellon. Huge smoke- stacks belch out rivers of foul smoke and gases. valley behind the mill was filled—right up to the. snow- capped peaks— with pollution from the stacks. When we first caught sight of it we were two miles out, and the scale at the nollution is EvVas Marion came into the wheelhouse; ‘from making lunch, and caught sight of it. ‘‘My God’” she said, ‘‘isn’t that disgust- ing!’’ But, a few miles past the green trees and smooth water had caimed us- down again. We came, in the late afternoon, to the Defence Islands, about six miles south of Squamish, and anchored in. the channel behind one of the islands, in e entire | the lee. . BAD LUCK, JUDGEMENT And I almost lost my boat, through a combination of bad judgement and bad luck. VY like to tell you about it. I may have the exclusive op’ bad judgement, but bad luck can happen to anyone: “ Boaters have a saying that things never go wrong one at a time. It happened like this: The wind was light, and I put down our small anchor. I say ao ell bet 2e& = ee | SitiGii : Gi & Go pyeuu Northhill anchor and 35 pounds of chain and 300 feet of anchor rode makes a fair amount of work. We also _ have a larger anchor, but as I say I used the smaii one. That was my first mistake. The channel behind the smtna Aon nth 151anG 15 avout a quar rter or a mile wide and a third of a mile long. The only spot possibie to anchor is a narrow strip of {faised- bottom, about thirty feet down, that connects the island to the shore. The water on either side of. the strip drops off to over 400 feet, a depth at which most vessels, including mine, find impossible for anchoring. So we anchored and had dinner and did our chores and went to sleep. I was awakened by a nearby sailboat skipper, about mid- night, who told me that we had drifted off our anchor and were too close to him for comfort. I was glad that he woke me, but kind of puzzled. We were near to him, all right, but it was low ‘probably is right. So I started ‘the motor (with some diffi- ‘before. Prior to starting up - for the day, 1 like to crawl -while we ‘fished out the TTA slack water and we may have just been drifting around our anchor. I checked the anchor rode for slackness, but it was tight. Well, I thought, he’s been watching and he culty) and motored out away from him and put the hook down again. We sat on deck for a while enjoying the stars, drinking tea and checking the shoreline for drift. No drift, no danger, and I went back to sleep. That was my second mistake. What I should have done is let down the hook, put the motor in reverse and backed up against the hook and tested it. SHORELINE SLIPPING But everything was still okay in the morning. ‘The wind was blowing a bit, but we were still anchored where we had been the night Pett ed check the oil and Fresh water and other things, and this morning I discovered that the engine oil was contaminated with two to three quarts of anls ates Tha ladiacg ura Sant Warcr. 2nc ladies went about cleaning up the boat and I isolated the trouble— ~plugged cockpit drains that were backing up into the overflow for the salt water cooled exhaust-——and after breakfast I pumped out the engine oii preparatory to changing it. The ladies took up the cockpit gratings and we put them on the deck, debris in the drains—John’ cookie crumbs, paper, hair—the usual. I was wiping my hands when I caught sight of the shoreline slipping by siowiy. A double check on the other side, and it was obvious what had happened. The rising tide and the increasing wind had drifted us off the narrow. strip of raised mud and we were now adrift in three hundred feet of water. And there was no oil in the motor. And the sails were down and furled. And the cockpit gratings were laying on the decks, covering the sheets. A glance astern showed me that Bill Dennet’s Ketchum charter boat was anchored in our drift path. I gave him four long horn blasts and was relieved to pieces Of | ‘see him grasp the situation - Six lucky anglers and their guest will have a chance to WIN $25,000 plus a host of other prizes, fishing in the - . 10th Annual B.C. Salmon Derby with a weil known sports or T.V. celebrity. all expenses paid for 2 exciting days. Ho- tels, food, boats, gear, entry fee, ‘the works” are included. Send in your $2.00 donation today. 8C. SALMON OERBY ENTAY TICKETS ARE AVAILASLE AT ALL CLOVERDALE LOCA TIONS {IN B.C. AND AL- BERTA VANCOUVER NANAIMO 1620 Main Street 39 Commercial 3-148 681 754-9533 VANCOUVER PARKSVILLE 6555 Fraser Street 6a. & gine Avenue 3629 Lonsdale Ave 334-2 VEAN ON 3410 - 31st Avenue S45-3465 KAMLOOPS Fogtune Shopping Centre 376-652 CRANBR ROOK LANGLEY 822 Seabrook Stree’ 5560-204tn Street 489-391 2512 QUESNEL ABBOTSFORD 146 Barlow Avenue 32683 S Fraserway . EDMONTON 859-5 5926 7327 - 101 Avenue 46-2030 HAI 11830 22ain Street EOMONTON 7.2912 Pr tocupniad Avenue RED DEER $022 ‘e538 Avenue earaan 1207 - ttn Avenue SW oF 985-082 RICHMOND SURREY 6950 King Geo. Hwy 596-6261 9768 - Sth Street 656-3975. 656-1071 VICTORIA * 264 4 Quadra’ + 382-6148-9:' 362-6140 OUNCAN 561 Canada Avenue © 748-1532 . 3557 Cnarleswood Orive. Brentwood 284-4037 Conate $2.00 or more to Salmon Unlimited. Your contribution will be used to provide funds for educatonal granis to students of fishing sciences and for accredited research in improving seimon sports fieh- ing. Each donation gives you one chance in our drawing for an al! ex- panse paid 2-day fishing trip for 2 with a celebrity angler during the B.C Salmon Derby on a guided trip to the bast fishing spots, plus you will be competing for tha $25.000 first prize and hosts of other prizes in the World Salmon Championships. 4 BIG’ CELEBRITY TOURNAMENT SEEKENDS Howe Sound Zone Pender Harbour Zone * JULY 23-24 Howe Sound Zone Pedder Bay Zone Pender Harbour Zone - The more you aive the more chances you goet-to win! Evory $2.00 is one chance! Please fill in the coupon below before July ist, 1977. Deposit at any Cloverdale locations or mali it to Salmon Unlimited: Drawings will be made and winners notitied by July *Sth. ’ Sowichen Bay. Zone © AUGUST 6-7 Oeposit at any Cloverdale location or Mail your entry to Salmon Uniimited, 17 Coal Harbour Wharf, 566 Cardero Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6G 2W7 Enclosed is my cheque/money order in the amount of payabie to Salmon Unlimited. ‘Tournament Entry — Name: Address: - City Province/State: Zip eee THHOPHONG: | understand that each $2.00 donation entitles me to a chance in the 1977 Celebrity Tournament. And one-year's membership in Salmon Unlimited. / have the Dupex system in my home, VERIFIED CIRCULATION 46,000. . 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4: | OFFICE/NEWS: (604) 980-0511 solved, but rdcky shores and CLASSIFIED: 980-3464 CIRCULATION: 986- 1337 fluky winds, still threatened we us. We worked like’dogs. In a few minutes we had the sails up and tried to come about’ into the wind, but the’ hanging anchor made it immediately and scramble to get his hook up and his boat . out of the way. One problem | know it works. Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Bob Graham /Edltor-in-Chief Noel Wright/News Guillermo Lain/Photos Ells- worth Dickson/Production Marna Leiren/Advertis- ing Kristi Vidler/Classified Berni Hilliard/Circula- = tlon Yvonne Chapman/Administration Barbara impossible to steer our ‘ Haywood/Accounts Sylvia Sorensen. vessel. We freed the cockpit : grates and stowed them, and scrambled to free the fouled ¢ cy As | told you on “T.V."; dupen thermo " glass has “two layers of glass “installed right in your “existing” windows, ” ° dupen has perfected a fool proof system of applying a t o single glazed window frames. Conversion is rront perme Ola unit to 8 0 necessary. And the entire job auick and neat with no sash or framing changes ed in 1 ®@ job can be do . North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an jibsheets. , traditional window replacements. i wore ser i2pprexinately halt the cost a Mwalttied undone "Scheele tea nd | climate and saves heating dollars. Tho dupa. ten yoar guarantee makes thermo glass qualified under Schedule 111, Part 111, TEN FEET FROM ROCKS an outstanding investment, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published cach Wednesday by the North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. the overboard. burden, And speaking of investmont, let dupes insulate your It costs so little to bring it up to maximum and you can CALL NOW 526-0619 or 980-3218 attic and walls as walt" save so much! . The anchor had to go. I tied a fender on the end of rode and = kicked it Freed of the Second Class Mall Registration Number 3885. EN TIRE CONTENTS COPYRIGHT © 1977 NORTH SHORE FREE PRESS.LTD. All rights reserved. the boat came