June 2009 Issue
On our cover this issue: Sooke Longboat photo taken by Noella LeDrew from her deck in East Sooke, BC.
June 2009 Feature Article:
A Great Day On The Sooke Basin
by Garth Gilligan
The mirror-like surface of the Sooke Basin reflects the deep greens of the surrounding hills. No wind stirs the surface on this warm spring afternoon. Even the longboat manoeuvering slowly around Dead Man’s Island causes barely a ripple. The sound of oars clacking in unison between thole pins and the quiet conversation and laughter of the rowers are the only sounds to disturb the silence.
On this day, the crew of eight rowers and coxswain are enjoying the first Saturday outing of the spring season. Earlier in the week, with great weather in the offing, e-mails had flown back and forth between members of the Old Salts Longboat Association asking for volunteers for a weekend outing, and by late Saturday morning the crew was eager to set out. In expectation of a favourable wind, sails were carried from the boat shed to the dock and loaded.
What, you might ask, had drawn people to the Longboats and to this day’s outing in particular? None of the crew was originally from Sooke, or even from British Columbia. Judy and Garth Gilligan, for example, had moved here from the Ottawa Valley area, as had Elsie Lambert. Linda Ford and Marion Butler added an international flavour with their UK backgrounds. Ann Jordan, Nicole Kedge and Michelle McHattie all started their journey in eastern Canada. All moved here for different reasons, but all had eventually adopted the Longboats as an important focal point for their sojourn on Vancouver Island.
The longboats have none of the appeal of the fast, motor driven launches or fishing craft, or even of the sleek lines of the modern sailboats with their billowing spinnakers. On the contrary, the longboats reach back in time to the 18th Century. They do have three lugsails, but their primary method of propulsion is the oar. There are ten of these, heavy and requiring more than a little effort and skill to use effectively. Still, the longboats attract a devoted following.
Perhaps it is the sense of history and continuity that lives on in the hulls of these boats. The two Sooke Longboats, built here in Sooke of local materials, are replicas of the original Spanish boats that first entered and charted Sooke Harbour in the 1790’s. A commemorative plaque denotes the spot where Captain Manual Quimper landed and planted the flag of Spain on our shore.
Or perhaps it is the immediacy of the experience of nature on the waters of Sooke Basin and Harbour. On this calm Saturday, the rowers are able to enjoy the scenic splendour of the hills beyond the Basin and to take note of the seals that follow the wake of the boat. Nearby a seal splashes the surface as it struggles to convince a fish that it is lunch. Cormorants spread their wings to dry, and the occasional eagle soars overhead on warm air currents or sits observing in a tall spruce along the shore. There is time to rest oars and appreciate the natural beauty of our surroundings.
As the longboat edges slowly back into the Basin after a brief circuit of the small island the Bow observer reports that the water surface ahead is showing signs that the wind has picked up. In anticipation, the Coxswain directs that the foresail be made ready and, as soon as the wind can be felt, the order is given to raise the sail. Oars are tossed and boated, and the main and mizzen sails are also made ready and raised.
For a time, the sails fill and there is headway, and the longboat heads for home on a port tack. But before too long, as is often the case with an afternoon outing, the winds drop and it becomes clear that the moorage will be reached only with the oars. Sails are dropped and stored. The oars are shipped and, on the command, “Give Way Together”, the longboat is propelled slowly home.
Once the longboat is secured, the sails have to be carefully refolded and the boat covers put in place. There is much chatter about this day’s outing, and about others to come now that spring is here. And there is talk as well of events to come: outings to the Cowichan Festival, to Victoria for the Classic Wooden Boat Show, and of the Tall Ship gathering. The Longboats have been leading participants in two Tall Ship Festivals and have been invited back to the next in 2011. There is always much to do and much to look forward to with the Sooke Longboats. And, as always on this warm spring day, there is the company of good friends.
