Pirates’ Cove, De Courcy Island, British Columbia
After a calm night coasting down the eastern flank of Vancouver Island, safely transiting Seymour Narrows, we awoke off the island’s second-largest city, Nanaimo. The previous evening Bryan had regaled us with the story of Ripple Rock, the hidden but deadly hazard to shipping that lurked in the heart of the narrows. The hazard was eliminated in 1958 by the world’s largest-ever non-nuclear explosion.Awaiting slack-water to transit another perilous passage, Dodd Narrows, we learned a little of the history of exploration of these waters, illustrated by slides of early maps. Many of these maps had been compiled from myth and guesswork. Only in 1778, when James Cook brought the latest innovation in navigation, the chronometer, could maps show longitude with accuracy. Until then, cartographers wrestled with the problem: How wide was North America? How far was Japan from the Pacific Northwest? From China?
As we emerged from our cartographic journey through time, we found the narrows bathed in sunlight. A flotilla of pleasure craft had joined us to wait their turn to transit.
Passing between Mudge and Vancouver islands, we gently steamed along islands named for the two Spanish navigators, Galiano and Valdes, whom Vancouver had encountered in 1792. Arriving at Pirates’ Cove Marine Park, we paused for a barbecue lunch on the upper fantail deck before once more taking to kayaks, or strolling the wooded trails of the park.
Our naturalists, Bryan and Sharon, had collected some live marine specimens, one by trailing a plankton net, the other gathering a small group of acorn barnacles – while she swam! The specimens were viewed in the electronic microscope and shown on TV monitors in the lounge. They provided lively subjects during the traditional before-dinner recap.
After a calm night coasting down the eastern flank of Vancouver Island, safely transiting Seymour Narrows, we awoke off the island’s second-largest city, Nanaimo. The previous evening Bryan had regaled us with the story of Ripple Rock, the hidden but deadly hazard to shipping that lurked in the heart of the narrows. The hazard was eliminated in 1958 by the world’s largest-ever non-nuclear explosion.Awaiting slack-water to transit another perilous passage, Dodd Narrows, we learned a little of the history of exploration of these waters, illustrated by slides of early maps. Many of these maps had been compiled from myth and guesswork. Only in 1778, when James Cook brought the latest innovation in navigation, the chronometer, could maps show longitude with accuracy. Until then, cartographers wrestled with the problem: How wide was North America? How far was Japan from the Pacific Northwest? From China?
As we emerged from our cartographic journey through time, we found the narrows bathed in sunlight. A flotilla of pleasure craft had joined us to wait their turn to transit.
Passing between Mudge and Vancouver islands, we gently steamed along islands named for the two Spanish navigators, Galiano and Valdes, whom Vancouver had encountered in 1792. Arriving at Pirates’ Cove Marine Park, we paused for a barbecue lunch on the upper fantail deck before once more taking to kayaks, or strolling the wooded trails of the park.
Our naturalists, Bryan and Sharon, had collected some live marine specimens, one by trailing a plankton net, the other gathering a small group of acorn barnacles – while she swam! The specimens were viewed in the electronic microscope and shown on TV monitors in the lounge. They provided lively subjects during the traditional before-dinner recap.
