Ever hear of a stern-tie? You use this when the depth requires a scope that creates more swing room than is possible. In Gulf Island anchorages, which are often deep coves between underwater rock ridges, stern ties are a way to allow more boats into a small cove than would otherwise be possible. They do it by sinking eye bolts into the rock walls of the cove so that boaters can run a line from their stern to the eye, which stabilizes the boat in one position, reducing the need for a large scope. We were able to try several stern-ties this year but Pirate's Cove was the first.
And of course first tries are always ugly. Conveniently for me, I've chosen a photo that makes me look as close to a
C. C. Filson model as I'm ever going to get and prevents you from figuring out exactly which profanity I'm spewing at the moment.
Nevertheless, on a warm, lazy boating afternoon, all things eventually get done and we were tucked into a pocket in the cliffs for the evening. Except for the sweat beads leaping upward and outward from me like a sprinkler. So, for the third time in my life, I went swimming in Canada.
There is a phenomenon in mountaineering called
altitude memory, where spending time at a given altitude creates a physical "memory" that supposedly makes the climber more able to return to that altitude in the future. I have no idea if that's true, but my only real-life experience was in having an easier time climbing Mount Shasta (14,179') about a year after reaching the summit of Mount Rainier (14,411'). I wonder if the same phenomenon exists for cold-water swimming. I actually
enjoyed swimming the 64 degree water in Pirate's Cove this year, without a flotation vest. Last year's Montague Bay swim was about the achievement of swimming in Canada, but not the fun of 62 degree water.
And finally, my mother would agree that Lastly, no vacation is complete without a tacky photograph of someone standing in front of the sign that says where you are. This one is for you, Mom.
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