Thursday, 8/30 had us in better spirits. Our rebuilt fuel injector was finally reinstalled and the engine was running (at the dock) for the first time in 3 weeks. Although we were so frustrated with our mechanic we were glad to finally have a running engine . Due to gale force winds in the Straights our Friday departure was postponed until Saturday morning when we cheered in celebration upon exiting Victoria Harbor.

The euphoria was quickly washed away as an hour out of the harbor near Race Rocks our engine gave an all to familiar sputtering sound and then immediately died. Sails were raised and we once again limped back to Victoria Harbor engineless. The Harbor Master allowed us to sail through the harbor this time (with Coast Guard escort) and the Harbor Authority scrambled to find us a dock spot, despite boats rafting at all wharfs with the very busy Labor Day weekend. Having completely exhausted our patience and confidence in our first mechanic we had another mechanic come out to take a look and as we had suspected our engine issues were not a result of a faulty fuel injector but more likely a worn out transfer pump.

Wednesday, 9/5 and the long weekend has finally passed, our new mechanic removed the worn transfer pump and had it reinstalled in less than 24 hours! It's been hard not to dwell on the fact that we wish we had gone with this mechanic the first time around.

Today we plan to head out of Victoria and over to Port Angeles, WA to clear US customs. We'll then need a good weather window to get to Newport Beach, OR where a replacement part for our refrigeration awaits us at Kent's parents house. With any luck we'll have a running engine and working refrigeration at the same time within the next few days!