When Deane Page left New Zealand to sail half-way around the world, he knew he was in for an adventure. He just didn't expect to find it in French Creek, British Columbia.
Page left his home in Russell, New Zealand in May, in his thirty-six foot steel-hulled sailboat "Illusion." He spent nearly four months sailing to Hawaii and after spending some time there, took thirty days to cross the Pacific to Victoria, arriving in mid-September. Page knew he could afford to spend a few weeks exploring the BC coast before the "weather window" would force him south, on the next leg of his cruise, to Mexico. "It's known all over the world that the Gulf Islands and the Inside Passage are worth seeing." Besides, Page had promised his sister, back in New Zealand, that he would look up an old friend of hers in Qualicum Beach.
Along with Susan Foster, a crew member who signed on in Victoria, Page spent several days cruising the area, coming into the French Creek Marina on Thursday afternoon before heading north toward Desolation Sound. The pair intended to stay just long enough to get a weather report and enquire about anchoring conditions in Qualicum. While they were standing in the Coast Guard office chatting, Page's plans got blown somewhat off-course.
Outside, Simon Lebel of the Victoria Coast Guard office was piloting a helicopter with a diesel generator hanging from a 120 foot cable and trying to land in a stiff southeasterly wind. A twenty-year veteran of the Coast Guard, Lebel knew he had to come in right over the marina to land safely in the yard, and a gust of wind sent the generator swinging. Right into the mast of the Illusion.
Gil Cox of Parksville was just returning from a fishing trip when he heard the chopper coming in low, and looked up just in time to see the dangling generator hit the sailboat. "I couldn't believe my eyes," said Cox. "It swung back over my way, and I actually thought I might have to dive overboard to escape it." The cable held firm, however, and Lebel was able to safely land the helicopter.
Page and Foster immediately canceled the cruise to Desolation Sound, and are now on their way back to Victoria, where a Sidney boatbuilder is waiting to do the mast repairs. The Coast Guard will foot the bill, so that's not an issue, says Page, but that weather window to Mexico will be gone by the time the boat is fixed. "I'll probably have to leave the Illusion in Canada for the winter, and try again in the spring."
And his sister's friend in Qualicum Beach? Well, she'd moved. To Victoria.