Faithful followers of this blog may recall that, very early in the trip, we were concerned about a possible leak in the cooling system of the port engine. Charlie had to refill the expansion tank a couple of times but there was no evidence of water/antifreeze in the engine pans or the bilge. Then the problem seemed to go away and we quit worrying about it. And anyone with any cruising experience will immediately recognize what a big mistake THAT was.

We left Laura Bay and stopped briefly to retrieve the shrimp pot. (Empty, of course.). Then we throttled up for the 40-minute run down to Pierre's. About five minutes later, a strange racket from the vicinity of the port engine alerted us to A Problem. Once glance at the temperature gauge told us what the Problem was. Our first thought was a broken belt, but after shutting down the engine and tearing up the floorboards, we discovered the belt to still be intact. But there was clearly NO coolant in the engine.

There wasn't much we could do with the engine hotter than the Hinges of Halifax, so we continued on toward Pierre's on the starboard engine. Charlie managed to pour a little water into the expansion tank on the way. Arriving at Pierre's, we called them on the radio and advised them we'd need some help with docking. Making the 90-degree turn toward the dock on one engine was a total impossibility. With help from several nice folks on the dock, we got it done and then went to work on the Problem. The first difficulty was that Pierre's fuel dock had no antifreeze. Fortunately, TYC friends Rick and Karen Hansen had a gallon aboard Dawn Marie which, along with a partial gallon we already had, was enough to give us "almost" a 50-50 mix. The engine was soon running again and cooling properly. The culprit was determined to be a faulty pressure cap on the coolant tank. It is a corollary of Murphy's Law that, no matter how many spare parts you carry, you won't have the exact one you need to solve The Problem and that was definitely the case here. We were hoping that, by checking the coolant daily, we could make it over to Port McNeill and get a replacement there. It is interesting to note that, in all our many years of cruising, the most significant engine problems have always involved cooling systems.

Of course our main reason for being at Pierre's is the Weekly Pig Roast and the fact that Charlie is the featured entertainment. It may be hard for folks at home to comprehend it, but up here Charlie's music is actually enjoyed and appreciated. There are even people who base their itineraries, in part, on where Charlie will be performing. Hard to believe, but true.

This Pig Weekend attracted a bigger crowd than usual so it was a full house. They even had to borrow some tables and chairs from the boaters which meant there were more than 120 people present. Charlie had to set aside the worries about the boat and give them a good show and he must have succeeded since many, many people stopped us on the docks later to say how much they enjoyed it.

However, we soon realized that The Problem was far from solved. A check of the coolant tank on the port engine revealed that all the coolant we'd put in was noe GONE. And there was no evidence of it in the bilge or in the pans under the engine. That left only one explanation. It was going out the exhaust...and the only way that happens is if there's a leak between the fresh- and salt water sides of the heat exchanger. And that is a major (i.e. expensive) possibility. In addition, we were now faced with getting the boat somewhere where it could be repaired...on one engine.

Stay tuned.