Wind: Feast or Famine

Since we brought the boat home we've been frustrated by weekends of fog, rain and most of all, light winds.  Even our best sails have been no more than a couple of hours before we were becalmed and had to motor home.  But we've had our fair share of time on the boat over the last month so neither of us had plans to go out this weekend.  Then the wind came.  Near the end of the week we were finally seeing real wind in the forecast - 20 - 25 knots and more out in the strait.  The forecast for Saturday was sunny skies and brisk winds so we decided to use up a little more goodwill from the ladies and head out.

The forecast for the day - ominous

Oddly, on Saturday morning there was no wind - in spite of a gale warning issued by Environment Canada.  We decided to take it on faith and we met at the boat at about 11am.  Even then there was only 2 knots of wind indicated at Point Atkinson.  It seemed the most gorgeous sailing day yet as we left the marina - the sun warm in our faces.  The breeze picked up as we turned toward First Narrows and it seemed certain we'd get a decent sail this day.

Current conditions - calm before the storm

It quickly became apparent how seriously we had underestimated the weather that day.  As we neared the bridge we started bobbing over ponderous rolling waves that were coming in from English Bay, almost like the wake from a large ship that was nowhere to be seen.  Once out in the bay, these rollers became more regular and pronounced.  Before long we were pitching quite a bit and occasionally burying the bow in water.  Looking around there were no other sailboats on the water.  These waves began to remind me of a similar day a few years ago when, on a training course, my boat was knocked down by a gust of wind.  We toyed for a few moments with the idea of flying a small headsail but soon thought better of it and turned the boat around.  The ocean spit us back into Coal Harbour at about 8 knots and we motored back home with a mixture of disappointment and relief.