Adventures of Orcinius

11 September 2015 | HOME - Vancouver WA
24 August 2015 | 46 11.4'N:123 51.4'W, Port of Astoria Marina
22 August 2015 | 46 42.0'N:132 09,4'W, 330 West of CR Bouy, Astoria
21 August 2015 | 46 41.8'N:136 13.8'W, 500 West of Astoria
20 August 2015 | 46 22.82'N:140 28.00'W, East end of High
20 August 2015 | 46 22.80'N:140 28.32'W, Middle of High Same as Fish
20 August 2015 | 46 22.79'N:140 28.57'W, Middle of High
20 August 2015 | 46 22.7'N:140 30.2'W, 675 Miles West of CR
20 August 2015 | 45 57.6'N:144 54.0'W, East End of the High
18 August 2015 | 44 38.2'N:147 57.0'W, 1000 NM to Astoria
18 August 2015 | 43 31.0'N:150 28.0'W, 1126 NM to Astoria
17 August 2015 | 41 40.1'N:153 00.1'W, 1200 miles West of Astoria
16 August 2015 | 39 30.1'N:154 53.1'W, West end of the North Pacific High
15 August 2015 | 37 34.5'N:156 00.0'W, 1011 North of Oahu
15 August 2015 | 37 04.5'N:156 23.0'W, 983 North of Oahu
14 August 2015 | 34 12.3'N:157 26.1'W, 800 North of Oahu
13 August 2015 | 31 50.0'N:158 06.5'W, 650 North of Oahu
12 August 2015 | 29 02.0'N:158 51.0'W, 330 North of Oahu
11 August 2015 | 26 32.0'N:158 59.0'W, 330 North of Oahu
09 August 2015 | 23 44.1'N:158 49.4'W, 140 N of Oahu

Systems & Status Update

11 May 2015 | Back at the dock in Port Denarau, Fiji
Lisa / Today is light overcast with some sprinkles
All is well aboard Orcinius this morning. With Malo and Moses aboard, we finally took Orcinius away from the dock yesterday for a few hours to check out some of the new and existing systems. But, of course, we couldn't leave the dock without just a little bit of a hiccup or two, could we?

So I'm up at the helm and the guys are on the dock starting to untie the lines. I start up the starboard engine - vroom vroom, all is well. Then I try to start up the port - all is not so well. The port engine doesn't want to start. So the dock lines get re-tied, and John gets the guys started on pulling everything out of the engine well (which contains about 20 bins of different sizes and colors, along with various loose tubes, tools, cleaning agents, pieces of wood small and large, etc., etc. - did I mention, we are a floating chandlery). Just as they get the last of the stuff pulled out - John remembers to check the battery switch, which is easily accessed underneath the drawers of the aft port bunk. Ten seconds later, John turns the battery switch on, and voila, port engine start! Sorry guys, please put everything back in the engine well so we can get underway now!

So back in everything goes. And once again, the guys are on the dock untying all the lines, and shoving us off as they jump aboard. Rut-row. Now I can't get the port engine to go into gear! But this time we are all aboard and floating away from the dock! Not a problem though - luckily there is just enough breeze to gently blow us over to the port side dock and I can use the starboard engine to get the aft close enough for Moses to jump to the dock, followed by Malo. We throw them some lines and place a couple of fenders on port, and once again, Orcinius is re-tied to the dock. (I think Orcinius is having a little fun with us - having us jump on and off the dock, and untie and re-tie!).

The first thing John checks is the engine control panel at the helm. He takes all the screws out so he can pull the entire panel out and check to see if we've blown a fuse. Nope - all looks good there. So guess what guys? Pull everything out of the port engine well again please! They know the drill pretty well after working for several weeks aboard Orcinius. Out everything comes again, and in goes John to see what might be causing the problem. He no more than takes a minute to look the situation over and finds a wire had come loose down in the engine well that controls the shifting mechanism. He takes another minute to reconnect the wire, and voila, port engine now goes into gear! Ok guys, get everything back in the engine well so we can get underway now!

We FINALLY pull away from the dock and it is a perfect day to be out on the water. Partly cloudy skies with a 10 knot breeze. Once we clear the approach channel to Port Denarau, we start out the day with an all important test of the auto pilot system, but have little success. When trying to engage the auto pilot from the helm we were getting an error message "no drive found". So what does that mean? It means we have to pull apart the aft bunk on the port side so John can get into the guts of the system. And anybody who knows us, knows we don't travel lightly. Both bunks, fore and aft, (as well as the forward head) are currently stacked with 'stacks of stuff'. And somehow, all the stuff on the aft bunk needs to be relocated somewhere so John can get into the innards of the bunk. I just couldn't stand to watch what the guys did with all the stuff, so I went up on the helm and stood lookout. Moses and Malo are amazing - I don't know where they put it all, but they managed to clear the bunk - mattresses and all. Thank goodness they were aboard, because when it's just John and I aboard and having to deal with all the movement of gear back and forth, plus chasing the right tools to dissect and solve the problem - we can get a little short with each other, to say the least!

So John begins his methodical analysis by putting a meter on the auto pilot, and there was no power there. After a bit more digging, he finds a terminal had corroded and broke on the power relay that controls the power to the auto pilot. We don't have another power relay to replace it, and probably wont find one in Fiji. So he installed a hard wire jumper to cross the power wires to the relay, and now the auto pilot has power and now can be engaged from the helm without error. Yahoo! Job well done! OK guys, please put everything back in the bunk as you originally found it and clean up the cockpit with all the tools strewn about so we can sitdown and have some lunch! We took the engines down to idle and floated along as we had some delicious cheese burgers hot off the BBQ.

After lunch, the next major system we wanted to test was the watermaker. John had purchased and shipped an entirely new system - just in case, as the current one is as old as Orcinius, with many of the parts and pieces looking quite rusty and a few leaks here and there. After being pickled for 6 months, he was still able to fire it up and we were making water at 30 gallons an hour, and the ppm came in at 200. It is leaking in a few spots, but otherwise all is good - no need to fix it if it ain't broken. So the new watermaker will be stowed somewhere in the bowels of the Orcinius chandlery until further notice. We also did a few other system checks, and swung the electronic compass to recalibrate it. We did find that the stationary magnetic compass is hard broke. It looks like it has been tilted on it's side and stuck there for quite some time. Not sure how that happened! So we will have to find a replacement for that.

We returned to the dock later than expected, but just before the rain set in. John is still working on some issues with our new chart plotter - I will let him get into that in a separate blog if he wants. I think it would be very therapeutic for him to vent his frustration in a blog entry.

We also had a very enjoyable evening over the weekend with Josiah and his girlfriend Filo and her two kids.



We had movie night on Orcinius with popcorn (and extra butter!).

So we are in the home stretch this week. Along with chart plotter issues, it appears the dingy has sprung a leak somewhere. The guys will be looking into that today. They will also be doing an in depth outer cleaning of Orcinius these next couple days as our last night at the dock is Friday. Then we will be off for a shakedown cruise - and maybe we'll actually be able to dip our toes in the water soon!

All for now,
Lisa

Comments
Vessel Name: ORCINIUS
Vessel Make/Model: Lagoon 440
Hailing Port: Vancouver, Washington
Crew: John LeDoux & Lisa Danger
About:
Sailing since the mid 90's. Prior to this trip, 4 sailing adventures from Vancouver WA to the San Juan and Gulf Islands in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Bought ORCINIUS in West Palm Beach Fl in April 2010. Sailed her South through the Panama Canal and back up the West coast to home port. [...]
Extra: Lisa is the real captain. I have never been at the helm when docking or anchoring, she has a great touch to docking.
Home Page: www.orcinius.com

Who: John LeDoux & Lisa Danger
Port: Vancouver, Washington