Klemtu to Shearwater
16 June 2012 | Shearwater
Laurence
The morning after our midnight dip at Bishop Bay, still at the hot spring dock, Mark discovered a significant fuel leak while adjusting the engine idle. We surmised that Mark needed to get to a place where he could communicate with experts for assistance on how to fix this leak. At about this time, we also noticed a very large raft of trees beginning to box us in at the dock – so we immediately slipped the lines and decided to head toward the bustling metropolis of Klemtu, approximately 56nm away. We thought we would at least have cell service there, and perhaps internet. A fairly pleasant approximate 9 hours later, we pulled into the Klemtu fuel dock. Klemtu is a small native (Kitasoo) community on Swindle Island. Wikipedia cites a population of 505 in 2007. We overnighted at the fuel dock, and the next morning, asked the fishing boat docked in front of us about getting fuel. “Ah, you’re looking for hard-to-find Al,” was the response. Hm. At 9:00 Al opened the dock for business and we fueled up. However, we had neither cell service nor internet access, so Mark hit the pay phone and called someone at Transatlantic Diesel – who informed him that the fuel injector pump was indeed a very poor design, that this was a common problem, and that he would send us a part for the fix. We decided to have it sent to Shearwater, a community about 38nm away from Klemtu that has facilities such as a shipyard.
We arrived in Shearwater, BC, on Thursday, June 14. Lots of pleasure boaters here, a small grocery store, a friendly harbormaster, shipyard and marine store, a bar and grill, and a karaoke machine. Danny was the star of karaoke with his rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, although Mark’s performance of Daughter also received very high acclaim (Mark's first time at karaoke). Piper has set up some tanks on deck (tupperware) full of very interesting sea life and has made friends with the harbormaster and some of the local fishing boats. Our neighbors gave us some delicious Dungeness crab – and we parted with a giant fillet of Danny’s rockfish. Still have one left - fish chowder tonight perhaps?
Timing has worked out quite well as it is blowing a southeast gale right now – good time to be stuck at the dock! It is supposed to blow over today, and by tomorrow evening wind is supposed to veer to the NW – great for us. Meanwhile, it’s been raining REALLY hard for at least 24 hours – Mark’s working on the engine which takes up a lot of room down below and minimizes cooking ability – so the crew is getting a little stir-crazy, although we are discovering some excellent CBC programming. Still, hope the weather forecast is correct (…) so we can push off again tomorrow!