Day 373 & 374 Two for the price of one!

Today's post will be for yesterday and today.  As I said, "two for the price of one".

Yesterday, we took off early--0700 for Nanaimo, BC.  We were just across the bay so it wasn't a big hop.  We stopped that their pump out station before we went to the dock.  Only one of the two pumps worked so the second tank will have to wait.  The hose wasn't long enough to make it to the second tank.

I called the Harbour Wharffinger(folks that control the marina) office and requested a space on their docks.  Since we'd been in the day before we knew where to ask for--Dock I.  "No problem, come right on in.  Plenty of space" they said.  Now I don't know who designed this marina but there are no slips, only space to pull up to docks and there is no way a boat the size of Zephyr would ever be able to turn around.  Now Zephyr is a great boat, but she can sometimes be a bit tough to back up.  She has what is termed "starboard prop walk".  This means that when in reverse, she won't back up straight.  She veers to the right--always!!  Once you get enough speed up and take her out of gear, then and only then will she straighten out if you have the rudder at just the right angle.  Other than that, she will veer to the right and make backing up darn near impossible.  I'm better than I was a few months ago but in this marina there was no room for error.  You pull in and have to back out.  Don't even think of turning around!

As we got farther in, it appeared that Dock I was a lot fuller than it had been the day before.  It was empty then.  Now there were several boats at it and I would have had to go around them and wedge us into the dock.  We changed our minds and opted for a dock MUCH farther out in the marina.  A lot longer walk to shore and stores but a LOT easier to get into.  We backed up VERY carefully till we could get turned around and made our way back out to the other dock and tied up much happier where we were than where we would have been.  The Wharffinger didn't care when I talked to her where we berthed.

Enterprise Rent A Car showed up at 0930 and off we went.  First to Costco--there by 0955 to wait with surprisingly a lot of people that were chomping at the bit to get in.  It was like they were having a special for the first 50 people at the door.  Weird.

On to lunch and Walmart for more supplies.  We bought a cable lock to put around our life jackets when we come ashore the attach them to the dingy so no one can steal them.

The grocery store next-Savon Foods.  More veggies and supplies and then off to find Fed Ex.  I'd been talking to the father of the kid that lost his fanny pack I talked about while we were in Pirates Cove.  He'd set up an account with Fed Ex so we could get it back to him.  We just had to find the Fed Ex center so we could get a box to put it in.  Only got lost once.  We had no maps so we had to go off directions from the father that he had given me earlier.

On to West Marine for parts and cruising books.  We needed the bilge pump switch that had stopped working and we knew they carried them.  A cruising guide book and a chart plus some teak cleaner and teak oil and back on the road.  

I'd discussed a problem that had just cropped up the day before with the oil pressure gauge not reading right.  It was stuck at 30psi.  I figured that the problem was with the pressure sending unit screwed  to the engine.  I'd contacted the manufacturer--Stewart Hanson and they sent me to a local company for the sensor. They had it in stock so we stopped there to pick it up.  Back to Zephyr to drop of everything we'd bought.  It took several trips down--even with a cart.  I installed the sensor unit and we started up the engine--no change!! It was the gauge, not the sensor.  Back into the car and back to the store.  Surprisingly, they had the gauge in stock!!  I headed back to Zephyr with it.  It was late enough that I had to take off for Enterprise to return the car.  I could have kept it over night, but there is a $10.00 parking fee if you keep your car at the marina--pass.  They had me back at the marina by 1800.  We settled in for a wet rainy night.

This morning, since we were setting out back to Mark Bay--cheaper than the $60.00/night the marina costs, I headed up to do what was left of our laundry and take a shower.  I had to wait a while for someone to show up and unlock the door to the laundry room.  Once done, I headed back to Zephyr and were off shortly for Mark Bay.  

Once we anchored and got secured, I set about installing the new gauge.  We figured if it was wrong, we could always take Puff over for more parts.

I lifted the front bracket it is mounted to and with the aid of a mirror got it installed.  I was a bit confused as to why it read over 80psi  when I took it out of the box but a  quick email to the manufacturer said that was normal.  It resets it self after each time it is used.  Once installed, we fired up the engine and it set it self to "0" and then went right up to 40psi--right where it was supposed to be.  For some strange reason, it went right back to above 80psi when the engine was turned off but hey, at least it reads right when the engine is on and that is what matters. 

What we don't quite understand is that after I put everything back together, the volt meter on the dash started acting the same way it did when we first bought Zephyr.  Every time the engine hour meter clicks off another 20 seconds on it's meter, the voltage meter needle drops with a click and then jumps right back where it was.  It had stopped doing that after the refit.  It now reads that the alternator is putting out 15 volts instead of the 14.1 the inside voltage gauge reads.  Maybe I hit a wire or tightened up a nut a bit to much and made a better connection.  Who knowa?  Another project for another day.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so we'll launch Puff and head back over to Nanaimo for used books for our library and some charts we found in a book store at half price.  We'll need them for once we get North of Vancouver Island.   Other than electronic charts we have none.  That's not a good way to go boating.  I expect we will stop at Newcastle Marine Park Island(right beside us) on the way back for a tour.  

The part from Shakepeare for our TV antenna came in and we installed it today too.  It works better than the last one but no where near the reception we had expected.  For what this antenna cost plus the fact that we are near a "major" metropolitan city(at least in BC) I would have thought the reception would have been better.  We tried it in the Nanaimo  Marina and even got a digital signal from several stations but not just a mile away across the bay.  Maybe it's the antenna that's the problem.  We'll try it again in another city when we can.  It's got a year warranty and we just got it last February.

Other than that, it was a quiet day--some rain, some sun, some clouds.  Luckily not a lot of wind to stir up the harbour.