“Warning! Fire on the boat! Evacuate! Evacuate!” Yes, kind reader, it all happened this morning. Let me explain.

We awoke and I was fixing breakfast while Katie was taking a shower in the forward cabin. Deb was up to and suddenly we heard, “Detector error in the forward cabin. Please see manual.” We could not figure out the source of the voice. What was the error? Which manual should we look in. What did it mean?

After a few seconds, we figured it must be the new First Alert Carbon Dioxide Alarms we had placed in each of the three cabins. Meanwhile, the one in the forward cabin chirped three times each minute. While Debbie read the manual, I, of course, simply pressed the “Test” button on the alarm in the main cabin. Oh, oh. That was not the right thing to do. It started running though its test sequence: “Warning! Fire on the boat! Evacuate! Evacuate!” and then a loud alarm sound, “Waaaaaaaaaaaaa......!” Clearly, Debbie had made the right choice once again. In these cases reading is better than poking about I discovered. I stumbled, trying to find the darn battery and rip it out and anything else to stop that horrible noise. I could not figure out how to open the darn thing up. Deb, meanwhile had found a diagram, took the alarm out of my hands, and simply pulled on the right spot to open the battery compartment. The sound stopped. I had my sanity back. That Debbie Leu! So smart!

While I fiddled with the alarm, Deb continued reading the manual while the alarm in the forward cabin continued to chirp three times each minute. After some thinking about the issue and more reading in the manual the solution became obvious. The error in the forward cabin came from the steam from the shower, when the shower door was opened. Previously, a window had been open when Katie took a shower. Today, it was closed. The steam must have prompted the warning, “Detector error in the forward cabin. Please see manual.” The more troubling alarm was caused when I pressed the Reset button. Deb discovered in the manual that when you press this button it gives you the full Monte to make certain everything is working: “Warning! Fire on the boat! Evacuate! Evacuate!” and then a loud alarm sound, “Waaaaaaaaaaaaa......!” Oh boy! I think I am going back to reading things now instead of just exploring.

Once we determined the carbon dioxide levels aboard, we weighed anchor. It was the first time using our new Ultra Anchor and it held fast, like it was stuck in mud. Well, turns out it was. Coming up, it was loaded with mud in the scoop. Katie figured out how to spray between the stainless steel anchor and the mud and it came off easy peasy. We headed out and this time went around Whiskey Delta. Katie and I were on the flybridge and I suggested Deb was watching the chart plotter downstairs and would be keeping an eye on me. She was and it is always a good thing, too! :-) We headed up Satellite Channel to Sansum Narrows and passed Burial Island, a first nations burial site from days gone by. Then we headed north to Montegue Harbor, our destination.

We arrived about 1:30 and found a nice place to anchor. After dropping the anchor and getting a great set, we dropped Rubber Ducky and Deb and Katie went over to the marine park to explore a bit on the nature trail there. I took a nice nap. Felt good. They returned and we went up to the marina to catch the wild and crazy bus from the 60’s to the Hummingbird Cafe. Our best laid plans ran afoul of the earliness of the season, though. The bus does not start running regularly until next week and to top things off, the restaurant at the marina, our back up plan, would not open until this weekend’s Victoria Day holiday. I thought to take advantage of the washroom there and discovered an interesting sign. I wondered if I could only put toilet paper down the toilet for a second. I decided to do a bit more than that.

We were s$%# out of luck, as the saying goes, for dinner. So, it was back to the boat and I grilled polish sausages on the aft deck for dinner while Deb fixed a nice salad and rice and beans. It was pretty good, actually! Katie downed a Maple Ale with dinner while I had a hard cider and wished I had chosen the beer. The wind was starting to blow but I made a poor decision not to bring the Ducky up. One should always do this at night, if the weather is fair and we are travelling and not using it the next day. Being tired, we all headed to bed early for a good night’s sleep.