The Non-plan plan

Life is easy when you don't have a plan! You're never late, you're never early, you never show up to the wrong party,

We must apologize to our small fan base for not blogging the past couple of days. First of all, we've been busy and the cell service in the islands is a bit sporadic. Since we last wrote, we spent the night tied to the breakwater dock at Friday Harbor. We had a great dinner with our friends on Pearl (Bob and Shari and their kids Sydney and Annie) and enjoyed some good icecream with the kids on the waterfront. The next morning (Monday) we spent some time with our friend Susan and made some phone calls regarding repairs for the boat.

We hired a diver to take a look at the prop and drive shaft and get his opinion on the damage. Further inspection of the engine and drive train revealed that the engine had been pulled aft on its motor mounts because of the wedge effect of the line wrapping tightly around the drive shaft. We thought the engine could just rock back forward on its mounts, but realized it couldn't because the mounting bolts had actually been bent....UGH! The engine still cranks, and the transmission still goes into gear. The drive shaft still turns, and the propeller still pushes the boat through the water. However, there is some vibration and the shaft and propeller are sitting about an inch and a half farther aft then they should be. We are not sure if any damage has been done to the transmission, cutlass bearing or shaft seal, so we are going to have to haul the boat out of the water. New engine mounts have been ordered as well.

Since we had to wait on parts anyway, we decided to take our crippled boat cruising. No sense in sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves! Our friends from Pearl left the dock earlier in the day on Monday and sailed up to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island. We decided that it would be better to join them than to throw a pity party in Friday Harbor and hemorrhage all our money away while waiting for parts to show up. So, we pushed away from the dock late in the afternoon and sailed all the way up to Reid Harbor. We had a great sail and even got the spinnaker to fly for a few minutes. If we didn't mention it earlier, it was the furling line to our headsail that had fallen overboard and wrapped around the shaft. So, needless to say it was gone and there was no way for us to furl and unfurl our jib. However, we were able to rig a new one and get the jib in and out safely. We arrived at Reid Harbor around 2000 and found a nice place to anchor. After setting the anchor and getting the boat settled down, we relaxed to a nice dinner.

Yesterday, we conducted some boat maintenance in the morning then joined our friends, the Buelts, from Pearl for a nice long hike to the Turn Point Lighthouse. The rain that doused us earlier in the morning had subsided and the sun was making its way out. Everyone including the kids and the dogs had a great day. We hiked about 5 miles and enjoyed a great picnic lunch at Turn Point overlooking Haro Strait and across into Canada. It was wonderful. Yesterday evening found us enjoying a great dinner of chicken kabobs and veggies hot off the grill with the Buelts. The breaze was light and the boats were swinging gently on their anchors. We enjoyed each other's company late into the night. We are going to miss these great friends dearly when we finally part ways in a few short weeks. Leaving the ones you love has to be one of the hardest parts about leaving.

Today is Christian's birthday. He is 9 years old. The girls from Pearl put together a small scavenger hunt for him on shore. After finding several clues, he came to the infamous "butt tree" and found a brand new yo-yo from Sydney and Annie. The kids really enjoyed that. Standby for a blog from the kids explaining the "butt tree"!

Later in the day, we weighed anchor and made our way back to Friday Harbor for our dreaded boat repairs - updates to follow on this. We are praying that it doesn't cost us all of our cruising money! It has been another beautiful day in the San Juan Islands. We are so excited to be together and on the water. In spite of it all, we have had some fantastic weather and great sailing. We look forward to every day and are excited to see what tomorrow brings....other than the shipyard repair bill, of course.

The past couple of days: Friday Harbor to Reid Harbor to Friday Harbor - 20 miles
Log: 125nm


See you tomorrow!