5 Jun 18

Happy birthday, Henry Cormac Wells; one month old today. After checking out of the hotel, I stopped by North Island Boat to once again entice Kim to come round to see if she can provide a new memory foam mattress pad. Although she promised she would, she never showed up. I went on with making final preparations for putting the boat in the water. The stern tie reel was installed, as was the Bar-B-Q. With the help of one of the yard hands and a fork lift, we got the dinghy up on the davits, and lifted all three sails up onto the deck, along with the diesel gerry can. I also got the anchor out of the anchor well and back over the bow roller. Then, I ran the jib furling line and the main sail furling and un-furling lines. I unloaded all the clothes, towels and bedsheets from the car into the boat, although I did not have time to put anything away, so it is chaos down below. After lunch, I just managed to get a quick coat of wax on the Admirals car and then it was time to launch. As they first hoisted the boat on the Travelift, I slapped on a quick coat of bottom paint on the bottom of the keel where the blocks were. In the water by 15:30, the main engine started on the first try and we motored over to the fuel dock, where I will be spending the first night. I’m afraid the fridge is still not working, bummer; I’ll have to try to sort that out tomorrow, but I’m afraid it will take professional assistance. After an early dinner and shower, I was in bed by 20:30, worn out, again.  

6 Jun 18

D-Day: the 74th anniversary of the Normandy Landings - lest we forget. Up at the crack of 07:00, I set out to tackle the day’s punch-list. First, I stopped back at North Island Boat to check on the status of the mattress pad; they cannot do it economically, so we will have to look elsewhere. I also asked if they could send a refrigeration tech around to look at our non-operating fridge. In the meantime, I called a guy recommended by Skyline Marine - Woody at Iceboat Marine. Woody said he was tied up till next week, but maybe he could swing by for a few minutes in the evening after he put the kids to bed, as he lives nearby. Then, it was in to town to try to register the boat in the state of Washington; after waiting in line for an hour, I was informed that I would owe them $5500 in taxes based on the Washington state vs. Texas state sales tax on the price I paid in 2011. Or, I could wait until 22 Dec 2018, at which point the sale’s price would be seven years old, and they could base the tax on a depreciated price. Back to the marina, I hurriedly prepared and mailed in my Texas registration fee (3 months late) and got back to the boat to fuel up and move to the free reciprocal slip. About noon, Woody called and said he had a job in the marina and would stop by real quick for a look. He arrived about 13:30, quickly determined that the compressor was sound but there was no (zero) refrigerant in the system. As soon as he filled it up, the cold plate in the freezer started icing up; hooray. While he was there, I had him take a quick look at the A/C system; the aft unit works fine, but the forward unit has a blockage in the raw water outlet line that will be a bit of a struggle to clear. After receiving a little advice from Woody on how to tackle this issue, I paid him and sent him on his way. At least I can keep the beer cold and there is one cabin that can be heated or cooled (if this latter is necessary). As the big cockpit locker was empty (from the fridge repair) I went ahead and checked out and fired up the generator; it worked fine. While it was going, I thought I might as well check the oil and water on the main engine. Oil was half a quart down but the water was way low. I poured in a gallon and a half of coolant to fill it up, which is a bit concerning, but hopefully it will be alright. Afterward, I spent at least an hour and a half tidying up the salon and cockpit. And then it was time for captain’s hour and I found I was once again totally exhausted.

7 Jun 18

The banging of the main sail furling pin kept me awake half the night. After breakfast, I spent most of the day working on the A/C system, without any real success. I do not think there is a plug in the forward unit’s water line, but I think the pump is not working right; it does not pump through the forward unit and it does not come on at all if only the rear unit is on (can’t figure that one out). The main engine coolant system is still full, even after I ran the engine today for 30 minutes (to move to a different slip); still have no idea how we lost 1.5 gallons of coolant, but there is no apparent leak now. I did manage to get both the main sail and jib hoisted today with the help of Kai, the fuel dock attendant, an economics major at Boston University, who was properly incentivized by a $20 bill. At least I will not have to listen to the stupid main fuller pin banging around inside the mast all night long. I also cooked my first meal aboard this year: pork chop, potatoes and onions (all grilled on the BBQ) and a spinach salad with home-made dressing; I sleep contented tonight.  

8 Jun 18

Another beautiful day in paradise; cold, windy and wet all day long. After breakfast, I ran back into Ace Hardware for a replacement galley faucet; the old one is leaking pretty badly. Seemed like an easy job, but, like most jobs on a boat, it fought back and I did not get it finally done and dusted until 17:00, after an extra trip to Ace for more fittings. On the way into town, I stopped in at North Island Boat and arranged for them to come have a look at the new breaker for the anchor wash down pump, which is not currently operating. I also rented a radiator pressure testing kit from O’Reilly and was able to confirm that the radiator is holding pressure just fine; i.e., does not appear to have a leak, so maybe I will sleep better tonight. I also called Woody at IceBoat Marine to discuss the issue with the A/C-heater. He will not be able to get back to me until Wednesday next week. That was it for the day: all day long spent addressing jobs that were not even on the to-do list. I think I will be a few days late leaving. Dinner aboard and early to bed.  

9 Jun 18

It dawned cool, but clear and the sun shone brightly all day long. After breakfast, I reserved my slip for another 4 days (i.e., until 14 Jun) and made another run into town for wet/dry sandpaper, a paint scraper and some groceries. After lunch, I finally tackled the cockpit table; it took most of the afternoon, and it still needs a bit of finishing work, but I got ‘er done. Then, I tightened up the galley faucet pipes (again) to chase away the last very slow leak and tidied up the cockpit and salon - almost ready to go there. Dinner aboard again and another early night. The wind shifted around sharply to the SW and got up a bit just at dark, but it did not bother me.

10 Jun 18

I slept in until nearly 08:00. After breakfast, I went into town to obtain a new pipe section for the transom shower (this was much easier than expected, as a standard PVC 1/2” x 4” long pipe nipple with NPT threads at each end did the trick, for about $4.00). Another session at Starbucks, with WiFi, got the SPOT finally working again. Back to the boat, and after a late lunch, I fired up the iron sail and took “c’est le bon” out for a little run in the waters of the PacNW. We did a quick circuit of Burrows and Allan Islands, 6.7 N-m total, which took just over an hour. The engine and navigation systems all worked just fine; I also confirmed that the anchor windlass is operational. Back at the dock, I did a bit of fine finishing work on the cockpit table, and then it was time for Captain’s hour.  

48-29.547’N, 122-40.732’W; Log 7.0 N-m, Sum (2018) = 7.1 N-m