Been awhile since I updated this blog. Let's see. We took the boat over to Port Madison on Friday after Thanksgiving. Spent the night there and watched a movie. Damn if I can remember the name of it. Built a fire in the fireplace at the outstation and had pizza. The next morning we tried to sail over to Eagle Harbor and hit the SYC outstation there. On the way, I ran the watermaker. Worked great. I was messing with the throughhulls and Jen started to scream. I seriously thought that we were going to be hit by a boat. Something horrible had to have happened. Kid overboard? Freighter? Nope. Orcas! Right next to us. 20 feet away. Had to kill the motor quickly. They stayed with us for about 45 minutes. Magical. The kids started to think of them as squirrels because they got to be so common. I am trying to get some pictures.
We spent the night at Winslow in Eagle Harbor and went to Jen's aunt for the annual post Thanksgiving fest. Great time.
Sunday morning was sunny and beautiful. We motored over to Blakey Harbor and surprise attacked Non Sequitur with a water balloon barrage. Had breakfast with them and then sailed (yes, we actually sailed) over to Elliot Bay to pick up Papa Fox and Jugurtha with his new bride, Samira. We took them out for a nice sail around Elliot Bay and then back to the dock for left over turkey that my wife prepared. So yummy! She is a magician in that galley.
Papa Fox and I then motored home to Shileshole Marina and called it a night. Great weekend!
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| Samey and Papa Fox at Elliot Bay outstation Sunday night |
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| Taken from Jen's parents condo |
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| Sunday after Thanksgiving. Reefed main with the number two genny. |
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| Orcas!!!!! Only picture. Sorry. |
Last week while it was raining like hell, I decided to rebuild the aft head. I also re-positioned it and beefed up the platform that the head is mounted on. The handle use to be on the other side and the head was turned toward the bow making for an uncomfortable perch. I turned it for more room. I also replaced the hoses and found that the through hull intake for the head is broken. Always open. Grrr. I suspected that actually. Replaced the hose clamps with AWAB brand as they are true 316 Stainless Steel.
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| Junk hose clamps. Magnet sticks to them indicating that they aren't true 316 stainless steel. |
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| High pressure shutoff valve from the water-maker |
The photo above is high pressure shutoff valve from the water-maker If the pressure gets to much, this valve will tell the water-maker to shut off. I was trying to tighten the intake on that assembly and it broke that little copper tube you see off to the side. I think it was actually time to replace that part anyhow seeing how the previous owner installed this. Everything was loose and leaking slowly. I replaced the part with a new one (Thanks Dan from Aquamarine! No charge for part or shipping!) and tightened everything. New Teflon tape on all threaded hoses. No leaks now!
Ah yes the teak decks. I have finished reefing all the seams and slowly, as weather permits, I am cleaning and caulking the seams. Won't be long now.
