Day 5

Thursday, 7 pm, George talking.

24 hours and not a single major catastrophy.

I'll give my side, and rants, about the week's events. First the toggle switch on the anchor winch broke. We use an oversized 55 lb storm anchor with 3/8 inch all chain rode. For the landlubbers, this is heavy. It could be hauled up using the manual halyard winch, although it would be a long, difficult job, and in an emergency situation where we had to weigh anchor in a hurry this could be a disaster. The toggle switch stood out from a bench in the walkway. We have to assume something heavy hit it, which could easily happen in that location. We figured out how to work the mechanism without the physical switch present, but it took some time to do so. The switch was a poor type for its location. It was a problem waiting to happen, one of many details the boat manufacturers and their subcontractors have to take the blame for.

Next, the engine would not start. I have recently taken two courses in marine electronics so I got out my multimeter and started looking for the cause. Finally I was exhausted and went to bed without solving the problem.

Then the heater broke. At the dock this would be no big thing because we would have shore power to run our electric heaters but at anchor it meant being cold. The good thing that came out of this was that we found a double sleeping bag hidden in a locker. The bag worked so well we have been using it ever since. I then discoved the heater's exhaust hose had been installed incorrectly but have not had time to fix it yet.

The next morning was still as could be. Then all hell broke loose as the wind picked up. We were dragging anchor and about to slam into another boat. I ran up on deck, started to get out large fenders ready to cushion the blow,and for the fun of it, decided to try the engine again. It started. We now had to weigh anchor without getting the chain in the propeller. Celeste took the wheel and I jury rigged the anchor winch switch and took up the anchor. Celeste did a great job of avoiding both the boat we were almost teaming up with and protecting our prop at the same time.

We traveled 10 miles through the wind to a marina where we were given moorage, although it was a difficult place to get into and they would not give us any assistance with the lines in spite of the fact the wind was blowing us off the dock and they had just suspended haul outs because of the wind.

Safe, electric heaters keeping us toasty, the next day I discovered the bilge was filled with water - as a rule our blige is so dry we have to dust it out. Checking the engine room it seemed as though the water may have been coming in through the sea water cooling system. There is a shut off valve at the through-hull fitting but it is under the engine where I could neither see it nor reach it. Celeste, with her smaller hands was able to reach it but could not close it. Another brilliant piece of engineering by the boat manufacturer. As it turned out this was not the problem. A leak in the hot water tank was the culprit. I had just spent $500 fixing a leak in the hot water tank and now all our fresh water was in the bilge. To make things worse the water maker I had just spent more thousands of dollars than you want to know installing was useless and I had to carry two gallon jugs of water down the dock from Safeway. I tried to pinpoint the problem but with all our personal and business belongings stacked on top of the hot water tank compartment I decided to go to bed. This problem will have to wait at least until my classes are over to be tended to.

Now that all is said and done my sail making class is a joy and I am just amazed at the intricracies of sail making. I will never be a professional sailmaker but I do know how to mend my sails at sea if necessary. And we did find some nice restaurants recommended by the locals, which was good, because all our dishes are dirty.

I am still sore from the marine fire fighting course I took last week and Celeste and I are emotionally and physically exhausted from this week's activities. Now I know how Odysseus felt after matching wits with Poseidon! Saturday I start a class to become certified in marine electronics and-despite it all-in June we plan to head to the west coast of Vancover Island for our ocean shakedown cruise.

As for tonight, we are going to bed. Good night all.






























Anyway, we soon got caught dragging anchor in 52 mile an hour winds. I was prepared to use a second anchor, an oversized storm Fortress anchor