Canso NS: Thur 22 Jul - Cruisin' vs. Schmoozin'

Earlier I provided an overview of two prominent and respected organizations within the sailing community whose influence exceeds what one would expect based on membership numbers alone (see http://yachtkerrydeare.blogspot.com/2010/06/schmoozing-club-of-america.html). These are the CCA or Cruising Club of America, and the SCA or Schmoozing Club of America. I am founder and the sole member of the SCA. Unfortunately I haven't yet encountered other humans worthy of membership. The CCA has less stringent standards and the story I now relate may hold clues about why this seems the case.

Friends Philip and Sharon on CD 36 Evergreen departed Canso NS Tuesday 21 July for Cape Breton while I remained behind another day to resolve maintenance issues. On Wednesday afternoon single-hander Jim arrived on his 28 foot sailboat sporting a CCA burgee at the masthead. As he entered the slip next to Kerry Deare he remarked: "Another CCA member!" Evidently he failed to distinguish the distinctly different color schemes of his CCA burgee and our SCA burgee (photo at left). I was forced to point out the error of his ways: we are definitely not a CCA boat.

Jim is a pleasant Brit reared just east of London who has lived for decades on nearby Prince Edward Island (PEI). He was in the process of returning home from Halifax where no doubt he'd spent time with other CCA members at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron on Halifax's Northwest Arm. We were there once briefly in Kerry Deare and found the surroundings beautiful but intolerably stuffy. We rapidly moved "Up The Arm" to the the Armdale YC. Jim and I chatted briefly but had little chance to get to know one another much beyond the standard pleasantries. Following the incident I'm about to relate, I spent more time with Jim and discovered that he is an accomplished sailor who has sailed trans-Atlantic in his earlier 24 foot vessel. He is also currently editor of the CCA publication "A Cruising Guide to the Gulf of St Lawrence." It is fair to say that Jim has extensive offshore experience and is a dedicated and capable sailor with the skills such achievement demands.

Early next morning the weather held no appeal so I decided to spend the day touring Canso's attractions. Jim for his part decided to head out for PEI and home. I helped him depart and wandered up to the marina shed to chat with Don and Mike, both connected with the marina operation. It was just then that a Mayday call came in over the VHF, and the three of us were stunned to realize it was from Jim who'd just left harbor. He had run his vessel upon a ledge known locally as Whitman Rock and he viewed his situation as sufficientgly dire to require a Mayday call. As we listened in silence we heard the local Coast Guard in conference with a nearby commercial fisherman discuss methods and procedures for Jim's rescue. Subsequently Jim was towed in to the commercial wharf in Canso.

After what seemed an appropriate interval I walked down to the commercial wharf to check on Jim and help bring the yacht back to the marina so he could decompress and rest (in the photo at right, I'm below). Although there was damage below the waterline, the yacht was still seaworthy and Jim would soon proceed on his cruise. Since his departure I often relive that morning realizing that the worst can, and probably at some time will, happen to the best of us.