29 Jul 18

We got up a bit early and had the anchor up just after 08:00 to catch the last of the ebb tide in Johnstone Straight to Telegraph Cove. For reasons we did not understand, as we turned west down Baronet Passage, the current was flooding (against us) at up to 3.5 knots at one point, as we went past Walden Island. We turned NW into the Johnstone Straight just after 10:00. We finally had good cell coverage and were able to determine that Laurie’s bus (from Port McNeill to Campbell River) does not stop in Telegraph Cove. So, the Admiral and I decided to press on another 10 miles to Port McNeill, where I had replacement parts waiting anyway. The ebb current was still helping us along with about 1 knot of current, so we made it into Port McNeill just after noon, pumped out the forward holding tank, collected my parts (including the replacement macerator pump) and, after a quick lunch at Gus’s Bar and Grill, started work on this chore.  

After pulling both ends of the supply hose off the pump and tank, I confirmed that neither the hose nor the stand pipe inside the tank were blocked. So, I removed the old pump and installed the new one. I confirmed it was working by hooking up the supply hose to the pump and feeding water from a hose into the top of the supply hose; all good. Then, I hooked up the top of the supply hose to the top of the tank, switched on the pump and although it made noise, it did not suck anything out of the tank. So, it appears there is a leak in the stand-pipe that prevents the pump from priming. By then, it was well past time for happy hour and I was exhausted and sore, so I knocked off for the day. After happy hour and a shower, we all went up to Sportsman’s Steak House for an excellent dinner.  

50-35.487’N, 127-05.329’W; Log = 26.2, Sum (2018) = 452.8 N-m

30 Jul 18

Another beautiful day in paradise. Dawn broke cool and foggy, but that mattered not, as my duty lay still in the forward head. After taking a few minutes to look at the good work I did on the aft holding tank a couple of years ago (and, while I was there I took a couple of minutes to flush out the vent line using the self-installed vent line flushing connections), I again disconnected the supply hose (from the HT to the pump) at the top of the HT and then spent two hours disassembling the elbow connection at the top of the tank and pulling out the stand-pipe. We took a brief break about 11:00 to walk Laurie up to the bus stop and say goodbye to her for a few days while she runs back to Vancouver to offer expert testimony in a trial. Then, I went to the local marine hardware store to obtain the fittings I needed to replace the stand-pipe with a proper suction hose - like I did for the aft tank; unfortunately, they did not have all of the requisite fittings in stock. I brought what they had back to the boat to dry fit, but all was not satisfactory and the job could not be completed until any ordered parts arrived on Saturday at the earliest. Since I was not happy to wait that long, I simply cleaned up and redressed all of the connections on the existing system, lubricated all of the barb and push-fit connections, and applied silicone sealant and/or pipe thread sealant as appropriate to all the other connections. After it was fully reassembled, with some trepidation I pushed the operating button for the macerator and, oh glorious day, it fired up and immediately sucked the tank dry. Just to be sure the commissioning job was complete, I put another 5 gallons of water into the tank and immediately sucked that out. Then, I spent at least an hour cleaning up the huge mess in the head, forward cabin and salon. Exhausted, I went for a shower and collapsed back on the boat in time for a late happy hour. Dinner aboard and early to bed.