Friday, April 16
I called Lordo Auto Parts in Campbell River first thing in the morning, and they ordered our seal for the next afternoon. We decided then to head over to Discovery Harbour Marina and grab a slip for the weekend. Check-in time was 2:00 PM, so we decided that since it was so nice and warm, we’d do some repair work on Shanté. We finished up just before lunch, so we had lunch and motored over to the marina. That’s when the fun began.
As we turned into the marina, we had a small aluminum power boat fold in behind us and follow us towards H dock. We were planning to go to the fuel dock first, but there was no room at the dock, so that would have meant treading water, in and out of forward and reverse, for who knows how long, and with the problems we’d been having with the gearbox, well…
As we approached the end of H Dock, where we’d be mooring, I took her out of forward and allowed her to slow as we turned into the fairway. When the wind came onto our port bow, it began to blow us into our turn a little too fast, turning our bow towards a large motor yacht. I shifted the lever back into forward, but the transmission did not engage. AAARGH! The boat slowed, and the bow was blown more to starboard. I yelled at Wendi to fend off the powerboat as I shifted into reverse. Lo and behold, the transmission actually engaged. I looked back at the little aluminum boat, who, about his time, was very likely wondering just what the hell this jackass (me) was doing! I managed to avoid having the bow hit the yacht by backing up hard. Our prop-walk took us around and had us heading directly for the breakwater. Once we cleared the yacht and I attempted to take her out of reverse, my luck ran out. She wasn’t coming out of reverse. I yelled for Wendi to take the helm and then killed the engine. As we drifted towards the breakwater, she climbed in and started fiddling with the shifter while I rushed for the engine room and grabbed a hammer. A quick, sharp rap on the top of the shift mechanism while Wendi moved the lever, and we got her back into neutral. All the while, the ebbing tide and southerly breeze had worked together to bring us to a stop. The little aluminum boat went by and headed for his slip. I restarted Garth and moved the shifter back into the forward position, but nothing happened. It seemed we no longer had a forward gear. By this time, we had done a full 360! Wendi asked the guy who was aboard the large power yacht that almost got hit if he could lend a hand. He suggested we put up a sail and sail to a dock downwind of him. I called the marina on the radio and asked for assistance, but they had nothing available to help us into our slip. Thankfully, this marina has very wide fairways between the docks. With the boat now sitting still in the water, we were no longer in any danger of hitting anything, at least not for the time being. Wendi began talking to another passerby, asking him for assistance, while I continued searching for forward gear. Finally, I had all but given up and was focused more on finding an alternate way onto a dock when, very subtly, I heard Garth’s RPMs drop as he took on a load. The forward gear had finally—albeit very softly—engaged, and we slowly began to move. We idled around the big motor yacht and coasted up to the dock just ahead of it.
Saturday, April 17
Saturday morning we were up early, coffee’d up, slammed back some breakfast, and off we went. My seal was expected in the afternoon, so we spent the morning cleaning up and doing laundry. After lunch, we hit the grocery store, the beer store, and the chandlery, and then I hot-footed it over to Lordco to pick up my seal. Wrong one! Thanks anyway; see ya! Grrr, I’m not impressed! So there we sat for the weekend. We guessed we might as well crack a beer and get comfortable.
Sunday, April 18
Well, at least we got some things done. We lifted Shanté up so that Wendi could swab the deck. When she was done, I could hardly recognize the boat. It’s amazing how filthy the deck gets after a few months of running a diesel heater and then a wood stove. I got busy and tore out the drain system from the head sump that was leaking and plumbed the sink directly to the grey water tank that the galley sink drains into. I’ll have to do some surgery to the shower sump and fabricate a patch and a new connection for an outlet. That’s a low priority, though, and definitely a job for another day. More beer, please! Rewards of a long day’s toil!
Saturday, April 17
Saturday morning we were up early, coffee’d up, slammed back some breakfast, and off we went. My seal was expected in the afternoon, so we spent the morning cleaning up and doing laundry. After lunch, we hit the grocery store, the beer store, and the chandlery, and then I hot-footed it over to Lordco to pick up my seal. Wrong one! Thanks anyway; see ya! Grrr, not impressed! So there we sat for the weekend. We guessed we might as well crack a beer and get comfortable.
Sunday, April 18
Well, at least we got some things done. We lifted Shanté up so that Wendi could swab the deck. When she was done, I could hardly recognize the boat. It’s amazing how filthy the deck gets after a few months of running a diesel heater and then a wood stove. I got busy and tore out the drain system from the head sump that was leaking and plumbed the sink directly to the grey water tank that the galley sink drains into. I’ll have to do some surgery to the shower sump and fabricate a patch and a new connection for an outlet. That’s a low priority, though, and definitely a job for another day. More beer, please! Rewards of a long day’s toil!
Thanks for your time, we hope you enjoyed the read.
Captain Clown Boy / Wonder Woman
Proudly powered by WordPress
© 2021 Ron Morrison
SAILING INFIDEL: Def. An unbeliever, heathen, pagan, heretic, agnostic, atheist, non-theist, freethinker, libertine, dissenter, or nonconformist of the sailing variety