In the morning we made a quick visit to Granville Island for some last minute shopping and internetting. We weighed anchor at about 11.30 AM then motored to the False Creek Yacht Club reception jetty to notify them of our departure and to fill our water tanks for the first time since Port Townsend. We were underway at 12.15.
In English Bay I hoisted the mainsail in the hope that we would be able to do some sailing off a 10 kt NW breeze. However, this was not to be. We rounded Pt. Grey to find a 10 kt apparent wind on the nose. An hour later the wind had died to the point where the sea was smooth and oily so I dropped the mainsail and we motored all of the way to Silva Bay.
We spotted the light at Thresher Rock, which marks the beginning of the Gabriola reefs, and left it to port and proceeded through Commodore Passage. We rounded the post at Shipyard Rock in the very narrow channel between Vance and Tugboat Islands and at 6 PM we dropped anchor and 17 meters of chain in 8.1 meters of water. We were pleased with ourselves. We might have been over cautious, over analytical, over talkative, and over worrying about our navigation, but we had found our target, negotiated the turns and passages, and dropped anchor in the right spot without dramas, close shaves, near misses, or mishaps. We could thank Dieter for Silva Bay because when we read about the nearby Gabriola Passage two weeks ago it looked too difficult and dangerous for us. The narrow passage (about 50 meters) around Shipyard Rock would have freaked us out. However, once Dieter showed me that it could be done and how to do it we had the confidence to give it a go. Silva Bay is surprisingly sheltered, and is developed with a marina, shop, pub, etc, and populated with a surprising number of boats.
After Captain Robert did his Due Diligence and watched the anchor settle for 20 minutes - beer in hand of course - the Zodiac was launched and the crew went ashore in quest of ice and showers.
Why ice? The bad news of the trip is that we confirmed that the refrigerator has quit working again. It is the same syndrome: compressor running continually, but no cooling. I think that it has developed another gas leak and will have it looked at by Doug Roth in Port Townsend. Fortunately we made it to the store before the 7 PM closing time and were able to purchase a block of ice.
The good news of the trip is that while Brenda conned the boat I was able to clear sole area at rear of the boat between the quarter berths and inspect the below-cockpit area while the engine was running. I opened the door to that compartment and immediately heard a regular "hiss hiss hiss" sound - steam escaping from the exhaust. I put an old towel over the batteries and squeezed myself as far aft as I could. I could not get my head to the back of the batteries to look down but I could get my arms back there. So using a light and a mirror I had a look. The steering system is not leaking. However, there is a constant shower of water falling from the engine exhaust muffler. The muffler could be split but I am betting on either a loose clamp or split hose. In any event, it looks like I have found the source of another of Pachuca's leaks, and this one bringing in water at the rate of about 20 Whale Gusher strokes per hour. I suspect that I have had this problem since Fremantle, which begs the question of why I have waited so long to make this check. Slow learner, I guess. Anyway, I hope to have this attended to in Port Townsend, with me contributing grunt power to get those massive batteries out of the way. Fixing this problem will be another BIG step in the long campaign to de-leak Pachuca.
Unfortunately the restaurant and showers were closed for maintenance work so we retreated to the boat. Brenda and I had red wine in the cockpit watching the sun fade over the amazingly serene anchorage, followed by a hot pressure cooker dinner. Life was good.
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment