12 Jun 18

Laurie was off to work early and John, who is in the process of retiring, had to do a bit of work as well, so I left just after 08:00 and, after a stop at Starbucks for coffee and a newspaper, headed back south of the border. Shorter wait this time and I made it back to Bellingham in time for a leisurely lunch. LFS, still did not have the bit of hose I ordered yesterday for John, so I came on back to Anacortes and spent the remainder of the afternoon prepping the port-side toe rail and then applying the first coat of Le Tonkinois - looks much better now. The IceBoat guy texted me that he is hung up in Tacoma and will not be able to get to my A/C issue for a few days; the Admiral will not be pleased, but I cannot wait around beyond Thursday morning. Then, it was time for Captain’s hour, dinner, a shower and early to bed, although I did stay up to watch the Astros beat Oakland.

13 Jun 18

It was chilly and nasty - intermittent rain showers - all morning, so after breakfast, I decided to tackle the A/C system on my own, since my technician is a no-show. I disassembled the raw water pump and, sure enough, the impeller is significantly worn, to the point that it could not be pumping much (or any) water. I called LFS to order a replacement but did not hear back from them all day. I also called RVYC and revised my arrival date to the 15th (Bayview YC has arranged for reciprocal rights for me at RVYC - very cool). After that, I gathered up my dirty laundry and headed into town to the laundromat. On the way back, I stopped at Safeway for the final American groceries. Back at the boat, after lunch, I finally cleaned off the (absolutely filthy) deck, pumped out the stern holding tank, filled up the forward water tank, shifted the water supply manifold to the stern tank, and got a second coat coat of Le Tonkinois on the port-side toe-rail. In the evening, the sun came out (at least intermittently), the wind died down a bit and it was a lovely, warm (by PacNW standards) evening; the first evening I have not been shivering in the salon by 20:30. Plus, the Astros ran up a big lead early against the A’s and won their 7th game in a row; good fun. Tomorrow, I will put the car in storage and sail with the tide, headed for Garrison Bay (just south of Roche Harbor; the weather forecast looks good for the off. Man, what a long stretch from launch to go.