In September, we completed an 800 nautical mile trip around Vancouver Island, about half that in open North Pacific waters. In the open ocean portion of the trip we encountered only 2 other pleasure boats making the passage - a large Nordhavn and a cruising sailboat. Although on the inside passage along Vancouver Island one sees scores of pleasure craft, conditions on the outside of the island keep many away, yet I was very pleased with the 37's performance in these waters.
The most wonderful thing about the BC37 is that in flat sea conditions we can make 20 knots. This was fairly rare in the open waters, but much of the time we were able to do 15 knots in 2 foot chop on 6 to 8 foot swells. Beyond those conditions, being conservative, we throttle back to 10 knots. We would obtain 1 NM/G at 20 knots, about 1.2 NM/G at 15 knots and perhaps 1.5 NM/G at 10 knots with our 600 Hp Cummins QSC 8.3. These are lower numbers than you'll see in the performance chart on the Back Cove website, but I expect that. Although Back Cove performance tests were done very honestly in 1 - 2 foot chop and quite fully loaded and with 4 aboard, a boat loaded for cruising running in open ocean conditions with a helmsman not trying to optimize fuel efficiency is not going to perform as well.
Much cautionary advice has been issued on rounding the two great capes mariners fear on the west side of Vancouver Island - Cape Cook on the Brooks Peninsula and Cape Scott on the northern tip. The 37 isn't a boat I'd want to pilot in nasty conditions often found in these places - high, steep, short period seas, but that is not this boat's design mission. Those things that make the 37 so great in sheltered waters and at anchor - the big cockpit with dainty scuppers, the walls of glass and the huge bi-fold cabin doors are not the hallmarks of a heavy weather design. The 37's hull design forward will scoop green water when bashing into short, steep seas more than boats I've run with higher, wider bows. That's fine; the only time these conditions turned us around they also turned around a boat twice our size.
The trade off you make in the 37 is that, although she may not be the boat you'd want offshore when there is no refuge, she's a great boat for limited open water cruising when refuge is at hand. The 37's speed can get you out of weather's reach as long as sanctuary is planned and you have good weather information. Often overlooked, is that running against a current the time required to cover distance is greater than the ratio of the speed of a faster boat over that of a slower boat. In calm conditions an 8 knot trawler takes 4 hours to cover 32 NM, while a 16 knot Back Cove 37 takes 2 hours; a difference of 2 hours. Throw in a 2 knot current and the trawler takes 5.3 hours while the Back Cove takes 2.3 hours. The no current 2 hour time difference swells 50% in a 2 knot current to 3 hours for the trawler. In a 3 knot current, common where I live in the Pacific Northwest, the time difference doubles.
It was in part thanks to this speed potential that we were able to have such a pleasant trip along a coast that has ended the lives of so many boats and ships ever since modern navigation began here and continues to keep many pleasure boaters from these waters.
Someday Soon as always on west Vancouver Island - alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment