Surfski Knowledge Base

Larry Goolsby
08/17/08 #4810

Last week after circling Lummi Island and throwing in Clark Island (22.5 miles), Rick Lingbloom mentioned that he went out and followed the edge of Lake Whatcom all the way around (26 miles) and he calls it the big banana. On Thursday, DJ left Marine Park, circled Lummi and then circled Eliza Island twice before paddling home. I have to estimate this mileage at 34-35 miles because DJ hasn't figured out how to get his GPS out of the plastic blister package. I asked him why he went around twice and all he said was “I wuz lookin' for the exit”.

So today, I left Gooseberry Point to do the big corn cob. I started out heading north (counter-clockwise) and paddled over to Clark Island. After a brief pee/eat/drink, I set my sights on Vendovi and took off. The current was still ebbing and quite strong. You need to pass some rocks just south of Clark and the current was carrying me towards the rocks rather quickly. I paddled hard to stay at least 30 feet from them but suddenly there was a loud explosion from the rear of my boat and I lost all control. I had hit a submerged rock with my 4“ rudder. The current was causing the boat to turn and the rudder was useless even though I still had good foot control. I quickly hopped off into the water (much colder than B'ham Bay), rolled the boat over and acessed the damage. Except for a metal stub protruding from rudder tube, there was absolutely no rudder or even the remnents of one.

The hull was not damaged so I hopped back on and tried paddling back to Clark. At first this was impossible with the swift current and a mild wind. The lack of a rudder didn't make the R feel any tippier but I could not control the nose at all. Finally I figured out that if I paddled on one side of the boat, I could gain some forward distance and when the boat finally spun around, I paddled backwards until it spun back again. After about a dozen loop-de-loos, I managed to get onto a beach. When I do these solo trips, I always pack a second rudder just in case the water gets nuclear. I start out with my 4” (which was now toast) and I keep my 9“ in the hatch. So about 5 minutes later, I was back on the water and steering clear of any rocks as I headed for Vendovi once again.

My goal was to go around Vendovi without stopping, then go around the east side of Eliza before heading towards the DNR campground on Lummi and taking my second break. This part of the trip was really boring except for the formation of some thunder clouds immediately overhead and the sound of thunder. I din't want to stop on Vendovi because I had gotten busted there once already by 'Bill the caretaker'. He has multiple spy cameras pointed at all the beaches and as soon as you stop on one, you'll hear his boat motor start up and he is on you in about 30 seconds. He's gotta be hiding something on that Island.

So i go around Vendovi, then Eliza and finally I stop at the DNR. I had timed this trip to coincide with the change from and ebb tide to a flood tide so that I could ride the flood back to Gooseberry, Last week, my timing sucked and I ended up pushing against a current most the way home. After that last trip, I had bought a copy of the Washburn Currrent Atlas and noticed that the current didn't change directions in Hale's Pass until about 2 hours after the slack.

After a brief break (and still feeling OK after 17.5 miles without stopping), i set course up Hale's pass and found that the current was going my direction finally. Along the way, the winds kicked up and I was passed by a sailboat about 200 yards on my right. The sailboat eventually veered over in front of me and suddenly I had a rabbit to chase. The wind had increased even more but I was gaining on the sailboat. It took me 30 minutes of hard paddling but having the wind and current with me (and going 9-10 mph) I finally caught the boat and rode on his bow wake until we were close to the ferry crossing. My total mileage for the trip was 29.1 miles and my total time (including 2 breaks and 1 rudder change) was 4 hrs and 55 minutes. I looked at the course on my Puget Sound map and it resembled a large oblong shape. I figured I had better call it the corn cob instead of some of the other items that crossed my mind.
LG

Re: The big banana vs. the big corn cob…….
superdogcurtis
08/18/08 #4811

Larry what's the deal with landing on Vendovi? Other than Bill the caretaker, is there some law that states we cant land there?

Re: The big banana vs. the big corn cob…….
Larry Goolsby
08/18/08 #4812

John…It's legal to stop on any beach as long as you don't go above the high water line (on privately owned islands). I didn't want to stop because Bill will come out and tell you not to go above the high water line. I wanted to keep moving without listening to explanations.
LG