PORT ANGELES — Perseverance is the pride of a puller when it comes to the Inter-Tribal Canoe Journey. However, safety trumped perseverance Tuesday as canoeists made their way along the Strait of Juan de Fuca’s rough waters to Port Angeles’ Hollywood Beach.
The stop is one of several planned for canoeists making their way to the this year’s final destination in Seattle at Lake Washington’s Sand Point north of the University of Washington campus.
Because of Tuesday’s gusty conditions and choppy waters, many of the 16 canoes that came ashore at Hollywood Beach were hauled on trailers from Clallam Bay and Pillar Point to the Port of Port Angeles Boat Haven.
The canoeists then paddled a little more than a mile from the marina to Hollywood Beach, where they were officially welcomed ashore by Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles.
The entire trip
The only crew to make the 35-mile pull completely on its own from Pillar Point to Hollywood Beach was the Makah Canoe Society, which completed an eight-hour run with skipper Andy Pascua leading.
The strong winds created swells as high as six to eight feet, said Polly McCarty, Pascua’s co-skipper on the canoe.
The 14-member crew paddled against winds that were strong enough to almost heel over a fishing boat in front of them.
“They [the canoeists] did good for what we were in,” McCarty said while resting on the beach after the long pull.
On Sunday, swells as high as 10 feet caused a canoe from the Nisqually tribe to tip and break, according the Canoe Journey’s Web site, tribaljourneys.wordpress.com.
All of the crew members were rescued, according the Web site.
Vancouver Island arrivals
The only other crews known to have risked Tuesday’s rough waters were two from the Ahousaht tribe of Vancouver Island.
It took both crews more than eight hours to paddle from Clallam Bay to Ediz Hook, one of their skippers said.
However, high winds prevented the crews from making it around Ediz Hook, and the canoes had to be pulled in by a chase boat.
Almost every canoe that arrived at Hollywood Beach was greeted with a welcome song by members of the Lower Elwha tribe.
The only canoe that wasn’t greeted with the welcome song was the Eagle Spirit, carrying breast cancer survivors and their relatives.
Members of the Lower Elwha greeted the Eagle Spirit with a Klallam love song.
