"Let's go up river, and let's take my mother," the Captain says. Could be good could be bad. I say,"let's go for it.." Turns out it was a little of both.
There is the annual Wooden Boat Show in Toledo, Or. every year. Vendors, hobbiests and nautical architects gather together for a friendly weekend to eat, sail around and (as the Swabby Boo discovered..) make your own wooden boat. Goodtimes.
On this trip, we discovered the engine is almost fixed. I say almost because during a small spat, Elias threw part of the engine away. Yes, part of the engine in the garbage can. Now, if your a reader who personally knows the Captain, that tidbit may not come as a big suprise. However, if your just checking in you are probably a little shocked.He had a nice little trip to Halco. Welding the next day, made a retrofit and things looked pretty good. We are still having a little trouble with our oil pressure but we'll figure it out.
Elias has finished the head rebuild, so this trip sort of became our "sea trial." It also gave us the chance to check out our new electronics. Which worked pretty well. We also discovered our 46 ft. mast fits under the humungeous wood chip pipe that hangs directly over the entrance to the Boat Show. No comment on when exactly we made that discovery.
We stopped at the Sugar Shack, (our friends Clint and Karen's cabin along the river) on our way for a little visit. There was a sudden chill in the air from Cappy, due to the 'less than perfect' docking.....but hey, at least we were only visible by our friends......I hope.
The boat show was a lot of fun. Mostly thanks to a fella named Chuck. He was the host of the event, I think. He had a little ferry boat he was using to shuttle people around and offered us a ride as he scooted by. He also offered some friendly advice, "....and I can tell you are experienced sailors...but you are anchored in mud." Thanks Chuck. So cute.
Time to head back. Luckily, we checked the tide and left with just enough time to get under that chip pipe. Things were going very smoothly, until we reached the Oyster Farm...and ran out of diesel. (Hopefully, Elias won't read this blog) Due to the sudden fuel shortage, we got some air in the lines and had to anchor for a minute. After bleeding the injectors and sheltering Swabby Boo from the diesel fumes...we were off! We cruised through the bay, into a nice little cove for dinner. Fresh caught salmon, balsmati rice from the neighbor, and Anna's garden veggies; topped with a beautiful sunset, made for the nicest ending to a big day. _/)_