What is happening?

Somehow the last 2 updates did not publish to the blog. 

I will fix that once we are back in wifi coverage at E dock tomorrow. 

We are currently in a buoy in blustery 8-15 kts wind just enough to create some annoying noises. Hope it calms down as evening progresses. 

Will fill in the details of our 3rd head tear down of the trip( that is almost every other day!) on next post. 

'cabbage island photos_2

views from Tumbo hike

cabbage Island: photos1

cannot send all files at once, so this has to be done as multiple posts;

Second photo is giraffe taught to 'adrian and I by anna. You have to decide who did which one!

Cabbage Island : update from Otter Bay

On the morning after our first night at Cabbage, we discovered that the head was not pumping...again!!
Esther and the kids went to the island/beach while we steeled ourselves to once again, dismantle the head. We suspected that the repair done at canoe cove had failed and the motor was spinning but no pump action. What we saw when we got to the pump was that it was working!! - curses!!

after some troublesho0ting we found that there was  no suction  from the pump: if the pump was f@#$'d we'd have to abort the trip.  Short story is we found the inlet valve, called a duck-bill(because that it what it looks like) was clogged. After cleaning and putting all together, it is working again!...Yay!!

We got the head back to square one, then made lunch and met up with Esther and kids. I spent a wonderful 45 minutes getting an art lesson on how to draw trees, flowers, giraffe and humans 'the Anna way'.

 After eating on Cabbage, we rowed over, in 2 trips, to the trail head to hike Tumbo Island. This started with me loosing my footing and landing on my back and then sliding down a rock into the water, while 'cheese grating' my elbows on barnacles. After that bad start, it was great to stretch the legs and see the island. The hike includes a large fresh water lagoon( rare in these parts apparently) as well as ruins of former cabins and workings ( had been coal mining here at one point). 

Mike went for a run while I sat in the cockpit with my art teacher; a wonderful complicated scenario unfolded as I ( as Jimmy Jordon, the not so bright art student) got into trouble with Miss Robin, the art teacher. However, I did manage to win an art competition against the 'dummy' ( a student Anna made up out of a life jacket).

We left this morning en route for Hope Bay, but willing to change if the weather cooperated.
No whales were sighted as we crossed Boiling Reef. As we approached Plumper sound we were approached by a Canada Border Services boat, likely thinking that the hippy looking helmsman (Mike) and the wild old guy up at the mast ( me, as we were about to raise sail) were a sketchy combo). However as they come along side and saw the kids they obviously decided we were legit and wished us a good trip.

We had a light wind going into Plumber Sound, and I thought it a good time to try out the Genakker. However, I had a crossed-sheet and as we were trying to re-run that the wind increased to over 12 knots; needless to say it was a bit of a rodeo to get the sail back on deck and get moving with the jib and mainsail. The wind took us right to Otter Bay, with us hoping to get in at the  marina and use the pool,etc. They were full and our only option was a mooring ball just off the dock. This gets us the full rocking experience as the ferries come and go but also access to the pool (and WiFi).

No firm plans for tomorrow as yet. Stay tuned.

PS : tried to upload some photos but the wifi is too slow to make it work...next time??

Cabbage island

We motored to cabbage island arriving onto the second last mooring ball. 

Phone coverage so I will send short updates while I have it. 

We will stay here tomorrow night also. 

I am sitting here going through our flora and fauna book of the Pacific Northwest with Anna. 

Apologies!

I see that a combination of me typing on my so called smart phone and Auto-correct are making some cryptic reading. 

In the last post it should have described a retaining screw had sheered and damaged the hole on the motor shaft. 

And the duplicate post is another screw up. 

Wish us well for tomorrow 

Fwd: Oh Shit!!

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: bruce warren <cbrucewarren@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 9:46 PM
Subject: Oh Shit!!
To: <cbrucewarren.tatoosh@blogger.com>

Today's departure was delayed a bit. 

I was just getting Tatoosh ready to cast off when Mike told me that the head sounded funny when he used it. Sure enough it was not pumping out. 

I quickly manned the plunger for over an hour convinced it was a blockage. 

Then thinking we needed a snake or professional help went to the service guys- they were booked solid with no available until Wednesday. 

So we moved on to plan B: start disconnecting hoses and find the blockage. Of course this meant completely dismantling the head including the vanity/sink. 

After dealing with copious amounts of smelly fluids leaks we did not find a blockage. Next suspect was the pump: took it out and found that the shar from the motor to the pump bellows had a retaining scree that had sheeted and distorted the hole in the shaft. My cordless drill is dead and my dremael tool is in Calgary: took it to the shop with 1 hr left before they quit. They took pity and had it fixed by 5. Mike and I got it together enough to confirm that we had poop pumping capability and we stopped for dinner at the pub. 

8:30 and head is back to square one. I hope this is the last of the events in what has become a voyage of repairs!!

In the middle of dismantling the head and with strong odours coming up a gentleman stopped to inquire about Tatoosh being for sail. I had a quick chat, told him we were trying to leave soon but I'd call him on Monday after we are back. I did not want to try and show him the boat in the middle of that gong show!!