RE: [Paddlewise] Will the real Doug Lloyd please stand up!

Bob said:


> ...MICHAEL EXPECTED TO CROSS NEWFOUNDLAND WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24
> HOURS...WINDS TO NEAR HURRICANE FORCE AND HEAVY RAINS ARE
> EXPECTED...
>
> Doug, you are living on the wrong coast!

Near hurricane force, eh? That's normal winter weather here on the left
coast, a little further north of where I live (I get the spill-over for
local paddling, usually minus a lot of the rain - bonus!). 50 to 90 foot
seas. Often the norm off the top of the island, some years. 

With the recent movie release of the movie "The Perfect Storm" and its
popularity here in Victoria, our local newspaper printed a story as
related by a retired lighthouse keeper. Back in the eighties, he and his
little family were stationed north of Bella Bella, on the inside passage
of BC's mainland coast. A large contingent of fishing vessels were busy
at work mid day out off the coast, while numerous vessels plied the
inside waters of the pass (the one the three of us paddled down  before
exiting to Storm Islands and our incident). It was April 15th or so( in
the story), when winds picked up without warning to hurricane force.
Many vessels were lost, and even ships on the inside passage had to seek
further shelter, or in some cases, the men jumped ship and swam for
shore (at the behest of the pale lightkeeper who was the only one with
really good radio contact) before the waves grew exponentially in
minutes.

The lighthouse keeper called the incident _one_ of BC's perfect storms,
and he goes on in the article to relate how the waves continued to build
and spill over into the inside passage. Water levels and waves rose so
fast, that the electrical shed, cemented and bolted down high above the
shoreline, smashed to pieces (pictures accompanied the article!). He and
his family retired to the basement of the lighthouse (a bit higher up),
and feared for life and limb as the wind and waves howled overhead for
hours.

Meteorological contextualization was given to the piece by the staff
writer, and basically was informing the readership that weather like
that was not uncommon further north, where we really never hear about
the big blows, seeing how we are down in our relatively protected
hamlets. I was actually aware of the incidents surrounding that
particular storm, as many of the coast guard rescues that day have been
written up in a book by a local kayaker who interviewed survivors from
many of the rescue incidents over the years. The book also includes the
story about the girl and guy that dumped their double off Telegraph Cove
a few years ago, and almost didn't make it (Excerpted in Sea Kayaker
Magazine a while ago). Knowledge of the April incidents above and the
time of year (Spring for heaven's sake) were part of the reason I
reinforced my Nordkapp so heavily just prior to our departure for the
early April trip where we were rescued off Storm. Apparently the other
fellows were under different assumptions.

Well, damn you Bob, here I am trying to be more laid back and
respectable, and you get me all fired up again!!  :-)  Hey, you can send
east coaster storm paddler Vince Dalrymple up to Sable Island. I bet
he'd like to be dropped out the back of a Hercules aircraft, into the
middle of the storm. One of my fantasies too, but I'll stick to my left
coast, and he can have right coast.

PS Our local kayak retail shop is having a seminar on "Storing your
kayak for winter". Laurie Ford would have a kniption fit if he heard
about that! (You have to know the inside story to understand that last
comment).

BC' in Ya
Doug Lloyd
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