Homeward Bound; Monday September 26 - Wednesday September 28,2011

Monday brings sloshing rain, 50 MPH winds and   “ 'That Damn' Fuel Line Project.”   We start with great news from the boys who work on our boat in Seattle – by 8:45 AM, Jeff had a fuel line custom made and ready to ship on Kenmore’s float plane, arriving in Nanaimo by 1 PM.  The bad news is that due to the gusty hurricane winds, Kenmore canceled their flight for today.  The bad-bad news is that that was also their last flight of THE SEASON.

Plan B: Dan, our Harbor Master/Expert Tower, knows a guy on the island who knows a guy on the other island (Vancouver) who has the hose we need. Jim and Dan hop the ferry and within two hours they have a new fuel line, custom-made by Dan while  they're still at the auto supply store. A few new connectors, a bit of grease, a lot of muscle power and – voila!  Dan is like the Harrison Ford character in Six Days and Seven Nights – give him a Q-tip and a pocket knife, send him into the wilderness and he’ll build you a shopping mall.

Jim installs the new fuel line, bleeds the engine of air 3 times, and we start the engine up.  It looks like this might be our golden fix.  Of course, this is the third time we have tried to fix our problem, so…we are cautiously optimistic. Meanwhile, we monitor the weather web sites hourly looking for any break in the storms in which we can make our get away.

We head to the pub for supper but just today, they started “winter” hours, so by 7:15 PM, the kitchen is closed.  Dan, our new best friend, is there so we go in and sit with him and his wife, Jan, who runs the pub.  We have a beer with them and another local who lives aboard his boat at the harbor. Pretty soon three other locals join us for beers and we have a spirited conversation about politics, Bush, Perry and Obama. Most of these guys are from the states originally (Peaceniks - I love them ) and have a very sophisticated take on the state of the states. Pretty soon Jan disappears and at about 8 PM she hustles back with steaming plates of shrimp, chicken, fries, onion rings and cheese.  All on the house.  And more beer. A perfect end to a dismal day.




Sunrise Leaving Thetis Island

At sunrise on Tuesday, clear skies and light winds greet us so at 7 AM we skedaddle out of Thethis Island and five hours later we are in US waters, safely docked at our favorite place in the San Juan Islands, Friday Harbor.  This is our first trip - of the last three trips - that we actually manage to finish all on our own -  without a tow.



Sunrise Friday Harbor
Mt Baker

Wednesday is the day we make our break for home. A stunning sunrise and again, luck is on our side as the forecast for our 7 hour run looks promising all the way back to Seattle. As we leave the San Juan Islands, tons of seals put on a show for us, frolicking to and fro in front of our boat for miles. Of course every time I try to take a picture of their acrobatics, they dive under the boat. Camera shy I guess.



Once we get into the dreaded Straits of Juan de Fuca, the coast guard makes an announcement on the radio warning boaters that live firing exercises are being conducted by the US government - did they hear we were coming? - and later, that side-scanning sonar is also occuring. We make it safely through the firing range without any muzzles pointed at us.


Exactly seven hours later, we dock in Seattle - happy to be home but sad to be leaving our snug boat. We spent almost ten weeks cruising the BC waters without getting homesick or antsy. We are excellent vagabonds ready to live on board...someday.

Home Sweet Home ??