By! KARL BEGRICH “Press the panic button, quick.:My god, the keel hit bottom. We'll be aground i in a -second. Let’s ‘do something. Who said, we have a six foot tide today. . ‘Gee; I should have checked ‘it myself. Oh. no, it’s a ‘falling. tide. We'll sit in: ‘the ‘mud damages the boat?: But he are ini trouble. This. will be. . an excellent opportunity for them. to demonstrate first hand: what they have-lear- . ned. ” y ‘felt suddenly ‘guilty to have. mentioned the pass. What if- be gets stuck and forever.” . ‘ Sounds familiar, ‘doesn’t it, ° - _. A A couple’ of weeks:ago I> was fortunate to. witness .a . demonstration” by Brain Morse and his students of the North ‘Shore Sailing. School, how to handle a full _assured me that everything will be under control. The boat might.run aground fora couple. of moments, but.that will be all. The bottom is soft and muddy and will nots | harm. ‘the: solid. - keel.: “Alright” I shrugged. If. you . “are so sure, Ill be waiting _ with my camera for you.” He . smiled. “This is going to be fun! climbed : laughed | and joked, ‘into | position—and it. worked. The. boat moved. slowly . ahead—30, feet, 40 feet— stuck again. I started to 7 sweat. It was still a long w ‘way to; go. to the end of this. narrow _ pass. But Brian and his:crew seemed to have fun. They and. made it look like a daily routine. A long line was tied — to the top of the mast and it’s other end thrown to. people on shore. With four people. on ‘the- boom and pulling on shofe -.Shiralee _.decided to make it -easy for. everybody and moved gently ‘ahead—and kept on moving. | ARNO SHOWING HOW TO move through a shallow a area a with a deep draught, the crew moves to the e boom, listing the vessel and causing the boat to take less depth. voted .keel cruising» yacht in shallow waters. Being anchored in scenic Telegraph Harbour, I found plenty of shooting material for the B.C. Sailing film which I am trying to produce. The narrow boat passage from Clam Bay to Telegraph Harbour bet- ween Kuper and Leech Island attracted me most and I asked Brian, whether a sailboat is able to pass through the ‘Ditch’ safely. “It should only be attempted with caution on a rising tide as depths are uneven,” he explained. “You see, the passage is curved. That makes it difficult to aa this wen tee Ato : ere ook tike™s Powerboats don’t: have any problems at high tide, but cruising sailboats with a six foot draft should wait for at least 7’ water under the keel. And that doesn’t happen very often. As soon as I mentioned to him that it must look mighty spectacular on film when a sailboat attempts this 40° wide mile long pass, his cycs began to sparkle with ex- citement. he pass will have 5'6" of water at noon today; that should be enough for us to make it through.” “How much does your boat draw?” “Six feet.” “You must be kidding. You can’t make it through here. We'll be stuck forever!” “That's what you think. I don’t only teach my students how ¢o sail, but also what to do, when they Noon. Let’s do it. The 45’ ketch Shiralee hoisted her anchor and steared for the narrow pass. The crew looked relaxed, but I felt the tension in my muscles. No one spoke. Brian shifted the engine into neutral and let the bow of Shiralee ghost inch by inch into the pass. The crew positioned herself on the rail of the portside and the boat reacted slowly by heeling severaldegrees. - Thirty feet narrow pass, nothing happened; 40 feet—stil} nothing. Then—what into ; note bat T had boat didn’t move, but I hadn't heard any ‘ { prvarithng. Brian pushed the engine throttle forward to make sure that he couldn’t move any further. “Alright, three guys on the boom!” The crew was already busily at work to arrange the line that will hold the boom in a right angle to the hull ten feet over the port side. Three guys climbed like monkeys on to the boom and inched themselves to the extreme’ end. Almost 500 pounds were shifted so fdr to port that the boat heeled over further and further, This should, according to theory, lift the keel to starboard and clear . the bottom. But Shiralee didn't’ move. “Let’s have another person on the boom.” Additional 180 pounds this ‘wea! TOTS pe 1 “yin ; an: aye eee oR!” ches TN The line from shore was taken aboard again, but the crew had to maintain its donkey riding position until _ they cleared the pass and reached Clam Bay. It certainly looked amusing to the onlookers ashore watching a_ boat heeled over with its crew clinched to the boom swinging over the water. But I was impressed by the sailor’s confidence and “Know how!” Nevertheless, it doesn’t only reequire potale’ knowledge of boat- handling, but a handfull of gufs to put oneself volun- tarily into a ‘tight’ situation. — fie “wha ‘bat how explain to him that forgot to put film into the camera! Vol. 669-0049 _ ticular’ your article . lations” on page A2i in which ©. “sein: ‘theory "vessels under sail have the ‘right of way | over power | r idi ng. three: oe baled 7 shal 1 "Dear Editor: ‘Reference i is s made to your ~ June » 24 ‘edition of: the Sunday News, and. in. par: , entitled. “Specku-:- “you state’ that,:. driven vessels, ooes This is perhaps a too ~ generalized Statement. which -may have applied under the ‘ circumstances you described | in your article, but it:may be misconstrued by