Read more
Vancouver Island stretches from Washington State almost halfway to Alaska and its west coast is exposed to the stormy and unpredictable North Pacific Ocean. This coast, known as the graveyard of the Pacific because of the great number of ships that have foundered there, is lined with rocks and often covered with fog. On this circumnavigation of the island nearly 50 years ago there were few navigational instruments, so Norm and his crew had to grope through thick fog trying to find safe places to anchor. Sometimes they didn't see another boat or person for days and they ate what they could catch from the sea and find on the shores. It was a one and one-half month voyage in a small, trouble-ridden sailboat. Norm had no experience with this and had to learn things the hard way. However, they came across hidden totem poles, longhouses, and moss-covered skulls propped on rotting dugouts. They found a forty-foot beached whale still wiggling, heard wolves howling throughout the night, soaked bare in a spring that was so hot they could hardly crawl back out, and they anchored alone in quiet bays with nothing but ducks for company.
About the author
Norm Culver started boating at age three in a leaky rowboat and 80 years later he was still boating. He has taken 22 major Vancouver Island voyages including nine circumnavigations of the island. These voyages were completed on five different sailboats, with crews of over one hundred. Altogether he has covered about 50,000 nautical miles or over twice the distance around the globe.Norm practiced dentistry in Renton, Washington for 33 years and following that, conducted dental seminars internationally for 20 years.He has written 26 boating and dental articles, one of which won a national prize. He has also written portions of the Waggoner CruisingGuide and Northwest Boat Travel.Even though Norm has also skied and backpacked most of his life, his heart still strays back to those quiet anchorages with nothing but the ducks for company-and well, maybe a glass of wine.
