With a sequined blue bra flying from the halyard, tea biscuits baking in the gimballed oven and fresh pasta being rolled out in the galley, a plucky trio of women circumnavigated Vancouver Island in style.
"We travelled about 630 miles in just under five weeks," said skipper Cathy Harris, after arriving back at Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club in the Beneteau 36 sailboat that carried them through roiling seas, gales, blowing spray and dense fog.
"More than a few people were curious about our bra burgee, but when I explained what we were doing they were all very friendly and helpful ... That's the way people are on the West Coast," said Harris, an information technology project manager. She owns the boat with her partner Tony Mulford, who prefers inshore-water sailing.
Her own passion for sailing began as a teenager on the Great Lakes and after moving to this coast, she got hooked on racing. She retired from the sport at 50 and began dreaming of circumnavigating the Island.
"It was on my bucket list," said Harris, now 58. "I liked the challenge, though I'm no spring chicken."
In fact, none of her crew is. Alison Kershaw, a retired administrative assistant, turned 61 on board and Margaret Thomson, who retired from the RCMP (and made the bra burgee) will be 70 in October.
They cast off Aug. 14, heading up the inside waters, then around the northern tip of the Island and south along the Graveyard of the Pacific -- so named for its treacherous, rocky coastline.
"We had an amazing time," Harris said. "We anchored or tied up every night and didn't do any night sailing, but we left sometimes very early, when it was still dark." Sadly, they had to motor a lot because of headwinds and high swells, but "the crowning glory" was rounding the top of the Island.
"We came out of Port Hardy at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., the sun came up about 6, and we went over Nahwitti Bar and around the cape, which you've gotta hit just right at slack tide." Strong cross currents make it risky and they didn't want to get stuck, as one man did in Bull Harbour for three days.
"We heard a gale was coming up so we had a window of opportunity and decided to go for it," said the skipper. Next day they battened down the hatches and rode out 45-knot winds at a mooring. "We did some knitting and had a gourmet pasta meal."
Sea dogs warned them not to go in August -- otherwise known as Fog-ust. But the weather was mostly fair, although just south of Brooks Peninsula the winds piped up to 47 knots again, and even with a bare mast "the boat almost laid down."
"Other women must have gone around the Island, but it's rare for an all-woman crew," Harris said.
They cheered as they pulled into Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club on Sept. 15 -- with friendships intact. That was likely because of a strict duty roster, which saw them rotate chores and bunks every three days. The boat also has a freezer and fridge powered by solar panels, so they ate well and even made crusty bread, fresh pasta, foamed milk for lattés, and baked croissants.
"And we had tea every afternoon. Very cultured," Harris joked.
There wasn't a minute of boredom, said Kershaw, who admitted she didn't want to come back. "It was an extraordinary time. I love the northern part of the Island, the history, the isolation.
"And the days changed so much. One day it was so bad you couldn't see the coast, the next was absolutely glorious. It was magical. We saw glorious scenery and wildlife, a bear, quite a number of whales, six sea lions in the Broken Islands, scaring up herring which flew out of the water like waterspouts."
Sometimes a tiny dot on the radar would suddenly appear out of the fog as a massive yacht, "your mouth would go all dry and your heart would beat fast, but I was never worried. A trip like this affirms you can do anything if you want to."
Harris's partner Mulford summed it up for their husbands, saying he was incredibly proud. "The three did a wonderful job."
