Optics

Happy Birthday to me! I’m old and can’t see! . . . In my younger years, I had eagle eyes. I could spot things miles before my peers. Then I hit forty and things started slowly going downhill. Books got a bit blurry and copy on the laptop got fuzzy towards the end of the day. The font got larger on my phone. Despite these difficulties, I persevered for almost another decade because my distance vision was still good. My head is so big that they had to order me a custom helmet at a college where they had been playing football for over 100 years. I figured my eyes might be big enough for my corneas and lenses to remain flexible and resist hypermetropia. Mostly I was being stubborn though. I finally relented and last year made my first visit to the optometrist. Glasses were prescribed for the close in work (which I seldom wear). But these days even distant objects aren’t as clear as they once were. Today, my wife got me a very fine set of Swarovski EL 10 x 42 binoculars for my birthday. I’m happy even if I’m getting old. She couldn’t have chosen a better present as we are currently tied to the dock in Petersburg, Alaska and there is a lot to see.

Jamie had a little help making her gift selection. Earlier this year was my 30^th high school reunion and I got back in touch with a friend I’ve known since grade school; my high school quarterback in fact. My QB had some excellent perspective on the value of optics. He had recently retired after a twenty-year career guiding hunts in some of Alaska’s most remote territory; hunting more than 170 days a year. I doubt anyone in Alaska can compare to his number of days in the field or his success in guiding clients to sheep, goats, moose, caribou, and bear throughout Alaska. One of his tricks was investing in the best optics he could find. Quality optics make the difference when you’re looking for a goat or sheep across a valley and thousands of feet up. Even for lowland work, the secret to hunting very challenging terrain isn’t to stomp all over looking for game, wearing yourself out, and spreading your scent around. They’re going to smell you before you see them. The secret is to scout the right geography, insert yourself in the right spot at a high point, and then glass the terrain thoroughly to locate your quarry. Less effort is required and more success results – if you can shoot straight.

When he heard we were taking Awesome to Alaska, my friend lent me the Zeiss 10x40B binoculars that had been his trusty companion and endured 20 years of Alaska back country. I thought I already had good binoculars aboard. When I shipped Awesome from Florida to Ensenada, Mexico after our purchase I left my Tilley Endurable hat on the salon’s island counter (to see how much motion she experienced at sea) and I inadvertently left a nice pair of Zeiss binoculars on the dash. When Awesome got to Ensenada both the hat and the binoculars were gone. I suspect a crew on the freighter supplemented his meager earnings. I wasn’t so mad about the binoculars as they had come with the boat, but there is no way he can wear my hat! Anyway, I had to run all of the way up the West Coast so I bought a pair of West Marine Tahiti 7 x 50 binoculars and worked my way home to Tacoma, Washington. They served the purpose, but those weren’t log-strewn waters until the very end. When I got home, I added a pair of old (but I thought good) Swarovski 10x50s to my arsenal as well as a pair of Minolta 2 x 25 compact binoculars (not bad and handy) and a pair of iClarity compact binoculars (a toy really). There never seem to be enough binoculars on hand when the whales make an appearance.

However, with the higher quality Zeiss 10 x 40Bs and Swarovski EL 10 x 42s versus those already aboard, the difference is night and day. These are expensive binoculars that will set you back a couple of boat units, but well worth it when compared to the repair cost of even one log strike to a bow or running gear. The difference isn’t necessarily magnification. It is clarity. I used the Zeiss binoculars I was loaned all of the way from Tacoma to Petersburg. They are small, light, durable, waterproof, and have exceptional clarity compared to what I was used to. They were perfect for scanning ahead every few minutes. Both the Zeiss and the new Swarovskis allow you to adjust the focus for each eye individually. That’s good when your prescription starts to look like Chinese algebra. The new Swarovskis might even be a step above because of their slightly higher magnification and because of their rubberized casing with molded-in ergonomic thumb rests. The quality of both pair makes a huge difference when you’re steaming 18 knots and need to spot the logs long before they try to take a bite out of one of your hulls. It makes a difference when your trying to pick out the nuns and the cans in a tricky pass. And it makes a difference when you need to read the name of a vessel crossing your track so that you can contact them on the VHF. Evidently it makes a difference when you’re spotting goats and sheep on the cliffs too, but I only plan to fish and crab up here. I am really looking forward to using the new Swarovskis when we head out into Frederick Sound in a few minutes (the engines are warming up now). I’ll probably be able to see right down the blowhole of a whale!

P.S. A note about hunting logs: Even with my new-found optical capabilities I’m not going to get overconfident – knock wood (or don’t knock wood as the case may be). Logs can be a very sneaky quarry. Hunting logs is probably a lot like hunting bears because they are also hunting you. If you surprise one in the wild it will really get your heart pumping and quick evasive action is necessary. You need to shoot straight for the nearest opening. Twice I’ve had no option but to take a charging log right down the middle – another benefit of a catamaran. The best season for hunting logs is in the Winter just after the big king tides force them from their natural habitat and they depart the beaches for the open sea. The second best time is in the Spring when the rivers are running high and the juvenile logs migrate downstream. Logs can be solitary, but usually they like to congregate just before or just after current lines. When you see one, be extra vigilant because others are likely lurking nearby. Hunting logs is one of the few instances where seagulls have value as they will often use logs as a convenient perch – loons, murrelets and auklets not so much. I’ve been known to change course to avoid feathered friends just in case they are riding the pine (or in case they magically morph into a crab trap float). Like the Red Barron, logs will attack out of the sun so use caution and consider tacking across a dazzle and greatly reducing your speed if you must approach a harbor from the East late in the day. Close to civilization you might find logs’ more refined cousin – lumber (and the occasional partially submerged barrel, drum, or float). The most dangerous member of the log family though is a true apex predator known as the Deadhead. Like Sasquatch, these are seldom encountered and almost impossible to spot even with the best optics. Deadheads are the super-saturated massive upright old logs that lurk just below the surface. If you notice a discontinuity in the water’s surface and you think something just isn’t right, change course. Some things are best left undiscovered.