Images from the Past Emerge from the Fog

January 26, 2014

We've had a generally dry winter, but with more fog than usual. With the excuse of needing to build up confidence in myself and the equipment in preparation for next summer's trip North, I took the boat out this weekend into the fog. God hates a coward!

Keeping a careful lookout and the engine running at a slow bell, guided by technology that is amazingly complex, yet increasingly common, we forge ahead. It's a damp, cold fog and I am bundled up. For the next 2 hours my little dance keeps me moving: Take a long look around (not much to see there!); Carefully watch the radar screen (often open to interpretation - is that a boat or just clutter?);  Take a look at the AIS screen which shows the transponder signal of other vessels (especially shipping); Check Jenny Wren's position on the GPS chart showing our route from Orcas to Stuart; Sound the horn (how remarkably simple and basic compared to transmitting and receiving electronic signals!); Have a sip of hot tea from the thermos, then begin the cycle again.

The trip goes well. There is remarkable beauty in the day: the greys of the water and the fog would make an excellent watercolor exercise. The fog swirls and changes and the shapes of wraiths come and go. Jenny Wren feels like the solid, intrepid adventuress that she is. All of her systems are providing information and keeping us on our route. The engine, sounding muffled, absorbed by the fog, is steady and flawless. It's a perfect day!

Entering Prevost Harbor, there are new variables.  Crab trap floats. Lots of them are suddenly emerging from the fog, generally right in front of the bow.  And then it's time to play 'Where is the Dock?' It's a little unnerving poking around that close to the shoreline, but then it begins to appear - at first as only a dark shape, and then almost immediately thereafter as a dock (with a boat tied alongside) directly ahead. Fenders out, dock lines ready and here we are.

And then it's time to do a double take as I realize the similarities between these 2 boats, or more specifically their hulls above the waterline. The power boat was built in 1959 in Scotland as an anchovy fishing boat. At 40' and a double ender, it shares similar lines with Jenny Wren. Over time it has been modified, adding on to the original cabin, adding the flying bridge and generally transforming into a pleasure craft. I didn't have to look hard to still see the workboat ancestry with its stout carvel planking and seaworthy shape. I could almost see the nets being pulled aboard, brimming with anchovies, while the coast of Scotland slips by in the background. And in my reverie, the entire scene is floating in fog.