Surfski Knowledge Base

Bellingham Bay, Tuesday
Larry Goolsby
03/08/05 #137

Paddlers……Mike H. and I went out of Fairhaven for our usual 'nooner' and since it was extremely calm (glass) we decided to head north for a 1 hour cruise. I have been struggling with using a feathered paddle this week. I had no problems my first few times out but now my left side is really ineffective towards my speed. My left stroke simply gurgles when I do my stroke. Anyway, this was a good chance to screw with my form and improve my stroke on the calm waters. When we were about a mile out from FBW, a large Coast Guard SHIP was coming up on our left side at a high speed. My first thought was that I was going home with a ticket for not having my PFD. Mike pointed out the wake from this beast and we let the ship pass in front of us as we scurried to catch the wake.

This wake turned out to be 6'-8' high and curling as the ship sped away (no ticket, ha ha). My plan was to cross the first wake and sprint over and catch the opposite wake. As I crossed this enormous wake, about half of my boat came out of the water and dropped over 10 feet down into the next trough. I kept going but turned to see if Mike was doing the same and all I could see was the back of his boat sticking up in the air as he was surfing towards the harbor. Geezus, what to do? Continue on north without Mike or chase him down and scold him for not reading my mind? I turned my boat and did a splendid sprint towards the retreating wave giving myself my first interval training of the season.

I had my eye on Mike this whole time and he seemed to be just loving the ride he was getting. I caught the wave and once over the top it was a perfect angle for a long fast ride. I would often outrun the wave and slow long enough for it to catch up and ride it over and over again. We rode this wave all the way into the Squalicum Harbor and figured we traveled on it for over 1.5 miles. After paddling back to fairhaven, my GPS read a top speed of 9.8 mph and 6.4 miles of paddling. Gotta love those big boats on a calm day…..
Larry G.

Dale McKinnon
03/08/05 #138

Gents- Starting around May 1, at 7 p.m. every evening (or is it 8?), the Victoria ferry comes in past #2 buoy and doesn't slow down until it's 1/3 of mile past the buoy and turning into the Cruise Terminal. If you catch the wake within 50 feet of the ferry as it passes you, the wake is a good 6-footer (it's almost a rooster tail off the end of the ferry) and holds form for about 200 yards before flattening out to 3'-4'. On the first night I caught the wake, I rowed into the Cruise Terminal to speak with the ferry skipper to let him know that he would frequently see me out there during the summer catching his wake. His response was “Hey, it doesn't bother me. It's your neck out there.” On subsequent evenings he intentionally powered up to create a bit higher wake when he saw me.

Unfortunately, I didn't get his name. But I certainly got a lot of good experience with higher water than the calm summer evenings that frequently happen on the Bay. And it is a reliable wake height with regular hours. A few other rowers and myself nicknamed it the Milk Run.