17 Jul 19

We were a bit slow getting up again this morning, but were firing on all cylinders by 09:00. It was raining pretty hard outside, so I decided to take the boat around to First Yacht Services rather than go by bus. The engine was purring by 10:00 and we slipped the mooring lines minutes later and headed out into the stream. After clearing False Creek, we did a slow 150 degree turn to starboard into Burrard Inlet, passing under the Lions Gate Bridge at 10:46, against 4.3 kn of ebb tide current. We found Lynnwood Marina at 11:45 and had the replacement water tank cap installed by 12:15. I was so glad to quickly obtain the replacement cap, that I did not even care that it cost CAN$49 - for a small bloody plastic cap; needs must, eh? Unfortunately, the good folks at First Yachts were not able to give any real advice about what to do with the ongoing leaks in the forward water tank; they did advise that the lid of the tank is almost certainly fiberglass rather than marine plywood, but could not comment on why I am seeing pin-hole leaks in the middle of the top surface, rather than clustered around the edge (which might indicate that the sealant between the lid and the rest of the tank had failed). This winter, I guess someone is going to have to pry the lid off and see what is going on; and then effect a repair.

After collecting the new cap, we pulled out of Lynnwood Marina and head west across Vancouver Harbour, this time with the last of the ebb current behind us. We passed back under the Lions Gate Bridge at 12:56 and continued west toward Howe Sound. The wind was blowing SW 15-25 out in the Strait of Georgia, so it got pretty lumpy before we rounded Pt. Atkinson at 13:40 and turned north up into Howe Sound. After we got round the corner, the seas flattened out a bit and we had a nice motor-sail to Port Graves, which is at the head of East Bay on the south side of Gambier Island. The hook was set in 4.6m of water by 15:30; it was raining as we came into Port Graves, but within an hour, it had stopped and the sun came out to dry us out a bit. The water temperature up here is 20.5 deg C (69 F) - warmest of the year - so, of course I had to go for a swim after the rain stopped. Happy hour and dinner aboard. Not a bad day, all told.  

49-28.485’N, 123-21.223’W; Log = 31.7, Sum (2019) = 399.5 N-m