26 May 22

We went to bed last night at 21:30 and did not get up this morning until 07:30. We were at Skyline Marine (where the boat is stored) by 09:00, but they did not have the key to the companionway. Nor did the guy who did the survey back in January; fortunately, we found a spare key - our last one - on the key chain in my back-pack, so we got on the boat and went to work. First, I replaced the prop and shaft zincs from last year; the prop zinc was well gone, but the shaft zinc was only about 1/4 used up. Then, we removed the cap-rail covers, including the 14 half-gallon water bottles that helped to hold them in place. We got the bimini installed and the dodger cover taken off. The fore-peak hatch canvas cover had disappeared, but Terri found it on the other side of the storage yard, up against a fence, where the wind had apparently blown it. We got the shore lines installed, the fenders hung, the horseshoe buoy and life-sling installed, the EPIRB installed, and the grill. I replaced the impellers in both the main engine and the generator and checked the through-hulls in the engine compartment and the oil and transmission levels in both engines. The batteries are all fully charge. We pulled a bunch of baggage up as well as the new cockpit table; I then spent a couple of hours trimming the back end of this table to fit tight up against the forward edge of the binnacle, slapped on a coat of Le Tonkinois on the trimmed edge of the table-top, then bolted it down in place. We then hauled up the table leaves and got them installed on the table; it all looks beautiful, if I do say so myself. Then, we installed both the shore line reels and the steering wheel. After a bit of tidying up, we knocked off just before 17:00, tired, sore and stiff and with a few cuts and scratches. Back at the hotel, we both had long, hot showers and a G&T, then went back to the Island Cafe for dinner. I popped an Advil and went to bed. Man, I must be getting old; a day’s moderately hard work, and I am done.  

27 May 22

We were both stacking Z’s by 21:30 last night. I slept fitfully, mainly because my left wrist ached all night long - a combination of arthritis and heavy lifting, I guess. Anyway, we got up at about 06:30 and went to breakfast at the Island Cafe. We got to the boat yard before they opened at 08:30, and went straight to work. First, we got all of the new cushions out of the car, followed by the cockpit enclosure. Then, we installed the cockpit enclosure. Terri went to West Marine to collect a couple of gallons of bilge cleaner, while I inspected the standing rigging (at deck level) and all of the through-hulls, including the through-hull valves. Then, we spent 1.5 hours cleaning out the bilge water to the extent possible; I emptied 6 gallons of nasty water and then wiped down the bilge deck I could reach. After lunch, we tidied up a bit and then the guys showed up at 13:30 to take the boat for launch. “c’est le bon” was in the water by 13:45 - and it floated, thankfully. The engine started right up and I left within minutes, while Terri drove the car around to Cap Sante Marina, while I motored around; she was there to take my dock lines when I pulled in to slip C-2 at 15:20. On the way, I completely emptied the bilge, but discovered along the way that the bilge pump float-switch was not working, although the bilge pumps work just fine off the manual switch (at the 12-volt panel).

After we were tied up, we immediately went to the storage place to deposit all of the cap rail cover bottles, along with various bits of canvas covers for the winter that are not required for the summer. While there, we pulled out the prawn trap, the spare propane bottle, the 5-gallon diesel gerry can, the jib and the A-sym spinnaker, along with the pressure washer. On the way back to the boat, we stopped at West Marine and bought 6 gallons of bilge cleaner. Back at the boat, I fired up the pressure washer and spent nearly 2 hours turning the deck from a dull grey to white; the amount of green slime and mildew that got blown out of cracks was just unbelievable. I got about 2/3 of the deck done before we called it a night. On the way back to the hotel, we filled the spare propane bottle (#1) at Ace Hardware. After a long, hot shower, we went to dinner at (where else) Island Cafe.  

48 N, W; Log = 6.79, Sum (2022) = 6.79 N-m; Eng. hrs. = 1.3, Sum = 2882.3

28 May 22

I had another rough night and, although we went to bed (exhausted again) at 21:30, I woke up at 02:30 and was awake a fair portion of the time until 06:00. My arthritic left wrist ached again. We finally got going about 08:00, packed up everything in the room and moved it all to the car, then checked out of the hotel. After a quick breakfast at Island Cafe, we headed to the boat. First, we unloaded the car and moved everything onto the boat. Then, I spent the rest of the morning pressure washing the boat topsides. At noon, we moved the boat from slip C-2 to slip C-10, where we will be until our scheduled departure on 1 June. After we were docked, we had lunch and I flushed and filled the water tanks and commissioned the hot water heater. The forward head shower valve has a small leak which will need to be addressed over the next few days. Then it was back to boat cleaning; I finally got the cockpit done, then went back over the topsides again, rinsed the hull, and redid the cockpit and transom.  Then, I pulled the canvas tent off of the dinghy and gave it a good scrubbing with soap and a brush, followed by a rinse with the pressure washer. After all that cleaning, the boat looks good but the captain is fairly well knackered. I did manage to get the liferaft installed on the transom.  While all that was going on, Terri made our forepeak berth, put away clothes, and started laying in provisions for the next week or so. We loaded the pressure washer in the car for eventual return to the storage unit. For dinner, we went back to Island Cafe, where I had the excellent pot roast, of which I only ate half; leftovers for tomorrow. We went to bed before 21:00.

29 May 22

It is good to be back on the boat, with our excellent forepeak mattress; I slept very well for the first time in about a week, and my left wrist did not bother me at all during the night. After we had breakfast (aboard), I decided to tackle the leaking forward head shower valve. I got it all removed and took the whole thing over to Sebo’s, hoping they would have a replacement. They did not, but one of the excellent attendants showed me how to get it apart; he did not have a replacement cassette either but we decided that the brass seat was a bit grubby looking, so he sold me a piece of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper to clean and smooth the surface. After I cleaned it up, I applied liberal amounts of silicone grease to all gasket surfaces and threads and put the whole thing back together. The leak test performed perfectly. And that was the morning shot. After lunch, we pulled down the tacky looking leatherette liner behind the settee on the starboard side; it kept falling down and looked nasty. Interestingly, this has been a topic of conservable discussion on the Beneteau 423 owner’s web-site for the last week. Then, I got the kayak and dinghy sail pack lashed down and the diesel can and spare propane tank lashed to the lee board; I also got the two water butts filled up. Terri went for another grocery shop. Later, I checked out all 6 of the inflatable life-preservers - i.e., inflated them all to check they still hold air and checked that all the CO2 cylinders and wafers (on the self-inflating) were in good shape. After dinner, I played guitar and sang - to the amusement or irritation of our dock neighbors - for nearly 2 hours, until my fingers and left wrist were to sore to continue. Just about sunset, I got to chatting with a bunch of guys (obviously a racing crew, since they were all wearing matching jackets and drinking beer) from the J105 “Free Bowl of Soup”. They had just finished the Swiftsure and were headed back home to Portland, OR, to get ready to do a race or two in San Francisco and then race to Hawaii. I’ll have to look them up. The afternoon was windy, but clear, just for a change, and the temperature got up to 61F for a few minutes. At sunset, of course, the temperature dropped like a rock, but we were ready with the heater on. A good day on the boat.  

30 May 22

Another good night’s sleep on board. I occurred to me when I woke up that I had not addressed the non-working bilge float switch, so I got on that straight-away. First, I had to figure out how to get to it; it is located under the center console, which is screwed down to a section of non-lifting floor board. Just as I got started, Terri advised that the forward shower control valve was leaking again, although it was at a much slower rate than yesterday. I took off the handle and was able to tighten the top nut down on the cassette, which seemed to stop the problem. I found a replacement float switch at West Marine, and came back to the boat to start the disassembly of the salon. It was not so bad in the end; just had to undo 8 screws to remove the center console from the floor board, then 6 screws (one of which twisted off, so had to be drilled out) to undo the floor board from the floor support ribs. Installing the replacement switch was no problem, although I had to go back to West Marine for one more piece of heat-shrink tubing, and one more trip to Sebo’s for a new stainless steel screw to replace one that twisted off during re-installation of the floor boards. After the salon was back together, we pulled the mattress off the forepeak berth to store a few items and check some of my spare parts inventory; all good. Finally, I got the cover over the engine instrument panel installed (using snaps) and also completed the fabrication (a couple of more snaps) of the cover for the stern line reel. After dinner (Island Cafe - clam chowder and salad), I got the ship’s papers in order, and applied the current US Customs decal and the new Texas registration stickers. I also, attached my personal ACR EPIRB to my life jacket.

31 May 22

The sun was actually visible at sunrise, through light, high overcast; and it was even kinda warm, by Anacortes standards. Pacific Rim Fire came by the marina in their portable van to check out our 4 fire extinguishers.  Turns out, 2 of the 4 are plastic, non-refillable, disposable extinguishers with a 12 year life; they were stamped 2005, so they were well out of date. I bought 2 new permanent ones to replace these two. The other two originals were re-certified, but one of them has only one year of life left, so it will need to be replaced in a year. They all are supposed to be re-certified annually. I pulled the main sail out to check on the main furling system and inspect the sail; all looked good. I decided to defer inspection of the anchor/rode splice until we are anchored somewhere or in deeper water. Rob from “Yukon” (Sun Odyssey 45?), came by for a chat about Washington state registration. I hooked up the anchor wash down pump and hose, but the hose had a crack in it (did it freeze during the winter? I am pretty sure I had drained all the water), so I had to go to West Marine again and buy a replacement hose. Then, I filled and lashed down the 3 solar showers on the cabin top. Terri went for a big shop at Safeway. After lunch, I ascended the mast to check out all the spreaders, shrouds and fittings and masthead pulleys, fittings and instruments; all good. Climbing up the mast is not as much fun as it used to be. After that, we made a run to the storage unit to shift all of the remaining stuff out of the car. Then, we made a run to the local wine shop to get some cassis - apparently, the good stuff is in short supply in Canada; we did not find the correct brand, but the wine shop owner said the stuff we bought is very good. I got the new fire extinguisher brackets installed and did a bit of tidying up. We did find a bit of water on top of the forward water tank; I tightened up one of the hose clamps - hope that does the trick. At happy hour, Debra and Kirk from our dock neighbors on a Ranger Tug 22, came over for a chat and a drink. Terri and I went to Anthony’s for dinner, then came back for showers aboard and watched the 2nd half of the Astros @ Oakland. We are likely to get off the dock tomorrow, at long last; current plan is to head a short distance over to Eagle Harbor for some well-earned R&R.