03 May 2008, The Inside Passage.

We made the early tide of the Seymour Narrows with some time to spare and as there were no other cruise ships yet, nor tug or barge traffic, we could just swing through without having to adjust speed for others or to wait.

While sailing in the Inside passage there is a traffic reporting system that advises, all those who participate, of where to expect traffic so you can avoid meeting each other at corners or in a narrow passage. All larger commercial traffic participates, it is compulsory for 300 tons over, and sometimes private yachts and fishermen as well. Although the later depends a mostly on the professionalism of the skipper in regards to his/her pre voyage planning and the familiarization with the local rules and customs.

There are several traffic control stations along the BC coast. There is Victoria, Vancouver, Comox and Prince Rupert Traffic and the coastal waterways are divided accordingly. Victoria together with Seattle Traffic controls Strait Juan de Fuca and the Puget Sound. Vancouver Traffic controls the stretch between Victoria and Vancouver, plus the waters approaching Vancouver such as the Strait of Georgia. From roughly, Seymour Narrows to the tip of Vancouver island it is Comox traffic and when past Vancouver island, Prince Rupert looks after the area up to the Alaskan border.

In Alaska there is no traffic control system and the pilots there have to rely solely on their security messages when approaching a tight corner or narrow passage. There is not much traffic going up and down to Alaska and the water ways are on average wider than in British Columbia so there is less of a need for it. But the traffic system is very useful in the BC waters as there is a lot of barge traffic all year around and during the summer time there is the extensive Cruise ship traffic.

So when the Veendam approached the Seymour Narrows, we already knew what there is waiting at the other side and if necessary we could have sped up or slowed down, depending on the arrangements needed. Ships that travel with the tide have the right of way, simply because it is much more difficult to regulate speed if the water is pushing you forward, than it is to buck into it and stay in position. An un-pleasant situation is always the presence of a log tow that has to go through. Their floats do not make much more than 6 knots at the best and thus they have to wait until complete slack tide, or maybe go with the end of a following tide. With that speed come very slowly through the hole, while we are basically sitting there and wasting time.

Thus the pilots try to go through when there is still a bit of tide running and the log tows are waiting for the turn of the tide. For those sort of things the Traffic System is invaluable. As said, we did not have any traffic at all this time so we breezed through on the end of the ebb tide. Once through, we kept a no-wake speed until we passed Brown Bay, which is a marina on the island side. In order not to damage the moored yachts, which are not always tied up properly and then we sped up again.

After Seymour Narrows there are two more narrow passages with a lot of current and that is Race Passage in Johnstone Strait and Blackney Passage just east of Alert bay.

For me it meant that I was on the bridge all night long. This time it lasted from 21.45 to 05.30 and then it was a few hours sleep until my day job started again, running the ship.
We had horrible weather going through Johnstone Strait as a big squall came over with 50 knot winds but it was a good day for the guests as the wind died down in the morning and sun came out. It was just a little bit rocky as there was a long ocean swell running into Hecate Strait. A swell caused by very bad weather in the North Pacific.