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Beacon September 2006 Editor
THE VOYAGE OF SILVER WINGS
“Hundreds of boats and thousands of people cheer arrival of Silver Wings and her triumphant crew after their historic 8,000 mile voyage from Southeast Asia.”
We searched all the newspapers for this headline, but never found it.
We glided across the treacherous Columbia River Bar at the 6:30 AM slack on Tuesday, August 1. The Bar was smooth as glass. Chris Clements immediately welcomed us as he guided “Renegade” outbound in search of tuna.
Our Columbia River Bar crossing really epitomized our entire voyage. Better sea conditions and weather than we could ever expect or predict or repeat. Even the Bering Sea of ‘Deadliest Catch” fame was calm and friendly with glorious sunsets and sunrises; although not separated by much darkness. If we were to wrap the cruise in a single phrase, always spoken with a smile, “I’d rather be lucky than good.” We had neither nasty sea conditions, nor horrible weather, nor mishaps, nor illness nor – cardiac moments. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers and good wishes which contributed to our ‘good luck.’ We realize that consistent good luck is not a random occurrence.
To summarize our Adventure:
In the spring, we took Silver Wings for a shakedown cruise from Hong Kong to Subic Bay, the Philippines and left her at Harbor Yacht Services for final finishing. June 8, we returned to Subic Bay to provision and prepare for the trip home. Our ladies joined us for the 600-mile cruise from Subic Bay back to Hong Kong across the South China Sea. It was as smooth and beautiful as the first crossing. In the late afternoon, thunderclouds collected in their sky box seats to enjoy the evening lightning show. We arrived at Hong Kong June 20, in the sweet light of morning. The sun behind us reflected from the clusters of apartment buildings and pleasure boats at anchor. The cool morning swiftly changed to a hot and humid day; and stayed that way. In Hong Kong, we intermixed provisioning, customs, immigration, preparing for and having a party on the boat, playing tourist, and thoroughly enjoying Hong Kong.
On June 27 the ladies flew home and we headed north through the straits of Taiwan. We arrived JeJu, South Korea on July 2 and departed July 3; arrived Hakodate, Japan on July 7 and departed July 11; arrived Kushiro Ko, Japan on July 12 and departed July 13; arrived Dutch Harbor, AK on July 21 and departed July 24; arrived Astoria, OR August 1 and departed August 3 when our ladies joined us for a relaxed victory lap up the Columbia River to Portland. We flew the flags of Silver Wings’ ports of call: China, the Philippines, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan in addition to the Stars and Stripes.
Lest I have lulled you all to sleep, sprinkle the cruise with a little spice and adrenaline. We were harassed by a Chinese aircraft and a guided missile warship whose parting gesture was to establish a starboard position and abruptly cut across our bow requiring us to immediately alter our course 90 degrees to avoid a collision. We were in the Sea of Japan on July 4th, when the North Koreans fired their intercontinental ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. Ho! That will start your juices jangling. We’ll not soon forget that July 4th. Ron immediately issued the following instructions. “If you see a flash, watch out for the splash.” (An example of how we laughed our way across the Pacific.) Actually, the missile firing kept Japanese fishing boats in port and provided us a relaxed cruise the length of the Sea of Japan. During most nights, we shared the waterways with hundreds of fishing boats, many without lights, others with nothing but powerful blinding lights. About the time we thought we were clear, the horizon would again be dominated by fishing boats – everywhere – as far as we could see. Sometimes two pairs of eyes on watch were not enough.
We ran Silver Wings around the clock, day and night, for as many as nine straight days. It is a little difficult to anchor in 25,000 feet of water. We ran only one engine at a time to conserve fuel. In effect, we operated like a LRC, extending our range to reach the next fuel stop. Running both engines at reduced RPMs would not result in sufficient fuel economy and would be harmful to the diesel engines. Each six hours we switched engines. Kudos to Ron Stevens for this strategy. It made the trip and this adventure possible for a performance yacht. We are told it may have been a first.
In this world of change, there was one constant, the people we met. Helpful, friendly, gracious and curious about us and what we were doing. A frequent response was, “No!” followed by looks of disbelief and perhaps the circular movement of an index finger at their temple. People actually stood in line or argued among themselves to determine who would or could help us find our way or fill our shopping carts. Or struggled to form English words to overcome our inability to understand or speak their language. Our smiles and abbreviated bows of gratitude seemed acceptable substitutes for words. We may have been the only Americans to visit one or more of these ports. As such, we and Silver Wings attracted a lot of attention. People came on foot, by bicycle, car, truck and boat to gaze and admire. We always responded with hellos, and waves and smiles and laughs, even when it required interrupting some other task. It was easy. We were ourselves, Americans. In Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the fuel dock attendant loaned us a vehicle to drive to the grocery store and conduct other business. Dutch Harbor is all about fish; and the Bald Eagles know it. One perched fifteen feet outside our window table at lunch. Along a two-mile stretch of roadway, I quit counting after twenty-four Bald Eagles. Beautiful! If yours is missing, I think it went to Alaska. When a million pounds of fish enters a Dutch Harbor processing plant, a million pounds of products come out the other end. There is no waste. Each of the cities we visited is modern by our standards with food markets, hotels, restaurants, department stores and even internet cafes. We did not visit remote rural areas, except for an eighty-mile drive from Manila to Subic Bay through the Philippine countryside.
If you think you know Ron Stevens, have I got a story to tell you. At the depth of recovering from bypass surgery, I called and advised Ron that two or three hours was about my endurance limit and he should find a replacement for the great adventure. Ron’s response, “We’ve been planning this for a long time. If you can make it to the boat, you have a bunk and don’t have to do anything else.” That is Ron Stevens. Thank you, Ron. (The departure date subsequently slipped and waited for me.)
It is a CRYC tradition for members to carry a Club burgee to far away exotic places, then bring it back to the Club and proudly describe its voyage. We continued that tradition with a slight variation. We proudly carried our burgee attached to Silver Wings, not buried in a suitcase like our predecessors.
It was a great adventure. I wish each of you an adventure of your own choosing. Follow your burgee on a great adventure. Start planning now. Time doesn’t always wait for us.
Larry Talbert
Editor
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