INSIDE AND OUT

TOR JOHNSON SAILS WITH HIS FATHER, SISTER AND FRIENDS ON A VOYAGE OF REDISCOVERY AROUND SPECTACULAR VANCOUVER ISLAND

- TOR JOHNSON

At 94 years of age, my father, Donald, still hates sitting in harbour. He lives in La Conner, Washington, on a cliff overlooking the Swinomish Channel, where he can keep an eye on the fishermen, loggers, and eagles that ply the waters of the Pacific Northwest.

In a life of sailing around the world, my father has wrung more salt water out of his socks than most of us will ever see. The world is full of “harbour-sitters,” as he calls them, trading horror stories of deadly gales over drinks while waiting for perfect weather conditions to leave the dock.

Although over the years he has been called adventurous and even reckless, depending on the observer, I’ve always known my father to be a cautious skipper. He has taken my mother, brother, sister, and me safely across both oceans to places as varied as Norway, Turkey, the Philippines and Vanuatu. In all those miles, I can’t recall ever being in a dangerous sea. As kids we missed a lot of school but came back with skills in celestial navigation and the experience of standing night watch with the safety of everyone aboard in our young hands. Sailing has been an adventure as well as a way to share the skills of seamanship in our family.

Among the many places we visited together, one of my father’s favourites was the First Nations Reserve of Gwaii Haanas on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Ancient totem poles still stand sentinel over majestic Haida village sites. When my father told me he wanted to make one more trip out there with his friend, Christine, I pulled out the charts. Vancouver Island’s system of ferries, roads, and air service would allow me to rotate my crew among three generations of family and several old friends from voyages past.