2010 Fall Gorge Trip: 2010-09-15 A Low Wind Day

While we have been a bit disappointed that we haven't had any big days, we have been extraordinarily lucky that we have sailed almost every day - even thought the forecast has been for virtually nothing.

Today was no exception. A slow start, Dog River Coffee Shop, Bett's for Breakfast, a Visit to Sailworks (to get Big Air Jim's Sail repaired), and then a tour of the other shops. Big Air Jim and Brad wanted to rig all their new sails, so we headed to the grass area at the marina.

Big Air Jim - Rigging his new Mast and Sails......

The water was Glassy.

Some weird looking plat at the Marina

I thought it would be a good idea to go for a Stand Up Paddle Board ride while we waited for Jim and Brad to finish drooling over their shiny new sails. I off-loaded my board and hauled it across the parking area and down the road to a river access point. I was just about to start down the bank to the river when Kent started yelling at me. Apparently the wind meter at Swell City was recording 17mph. We had better go. I hauled my SUP back to the car, re-loaded it and we headed to the Hatchery to see if the wind would build.

As we entered the site, we saw a big sign "Salmon Spawning Today"! Kent and I drove all the way in to tour the "Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery". It has always been there, but neither of us had ever ventured the extra few hundred yards to the facility. We learned a lot about fish.....

Salmon try to go back to their birth location to spawn. They recognize the chemical characteristics of Spring Creek - A natural creek that runs into the river. When they detect the creek, they attempt to go upstream. Rather than a natural spawning grounds, they encounter the Hatchery. Apparently 80-90% of the Salmon in the river were born in Hatcheries like this one. The Hatcheries are a mitigation measure to make up for the natural habitat lost when the dam was constructed.

The fish ladder from the River.
You can't see them in the photo, but the
water was filled with meter long salmon.

Salmon trying to get up the fish ladder.

They go through a chemical bath that puts them to sleep - it also makes them inedible. The fish are sorted into males and females and placed on large rotating tables.

The females are slit up the middle and all the eggs emptied into a stainless steel bowl.

Collecting the Salmon Eggs

The plant manager then squirts seamen from the male fish into the bowl to fertilize the eggs. A saline solution is added and then the eggs are transfered to the hatching facility.

Fertilizing the eggs...

Preparing the Salmon Eggs after fertilization.

They eggs hatch in about 60 days. The new fish will be released to the river in the spring.

Kent talking to the Fish Lady
He is laughing because she had just asked him if he wanted to hold a dead fish for the photo - NOT!

The dead fish are turned into fertilizer. This year, there are so many fish returning, that the Hatchery folks are encouraging fishermen to net the fish just outside their facility. They also by-pass a large number of fish, and these are sent to the food bank.

There were some whitecaps on the river - so we cut our tour a bit short and headed back to the sailing site. Still the first ones there, we had our choice of parking spots - not a good sign. We all headed down to the river to watch the wind. The sun wasn't shining, so it was difficult to gauge how windy it was. No one wanted to be the first one to go out (and slog....). Our friend Tom (who used to work at Realwinds) showed up and decided to rig his 5.0m sail (his biggest sail) to go our for his 115th time this season. I figured if he was willing to try his 5.0, I could try my 6.6. I rigged and headed out - everyone was laughing at me.....why didn't I go out on my SUP???

Blaine - doing an upwind Tack - very impressive!

I slogged across the river a couple of times with only one gust strong enough to get planing for a nice Jibe close to shore. (At least a few of our crew saw it!!) I headed back to shore and was ready to give up, when the wind seemed to pick up a bit. I headed out again to find it had picked up.

Brad - Very efficient

It wasn't awesome, but I planed almost all the time for the next hour. Tom and I were the only ones on the water. Finally the others headed out (just as the wind came off a bit). I slogged back and forth a couple of more times, but headed in.

Gerry - Slashing a Jibe...

Most of the other guy's are lighter, so on basically the same gear - can sail in lighter wind than I can. The fact that most are better sailors also helps...