Day 401 A day off sort of.

Another day in gorgeous sunshine. We were both in shorts today and had a sunshade over the stern cockpit area to keep the rays out it was so warm.

I started the day by changing the oil in the diesel injector pump. That's the gizmo that the diesel fuel goes into and then gets metered and zapped into the injectors or some such thing. All I know is that the oil is supposed to be changed about every 50 hours depending on who you talk to. The original owners manual says 50 hours. On the internet, they say 100 is fine. I did it at 62.

It takes 12 ounces of motor oil to do its job so when I drained it I checked to see how much came out. You know there is a problem if there's a lot more. The last time I changed it, I got more of a mixture of oil and diesel. This time, at 62 hours, I got only 13 ounces and it was the consistency of all oil which is a great improvement. I'd thought of having it rebuilt but had been advised that if the engine was running fine, just go back to the 50+ hour schedule and see what happens. Well, I guess all is fine. YEAH!!

Tracy went at scrubbing down the deck to get rid of the dirt that keeps coming on board. It takes a while to get done continually bring water on board via a bucket and splash down the decks and then scrub them. There's no garden hose to do the job like at a house. Bucket after bucket. It looks lots better.

Next, Tracy put another layer of varnish at the bow where the teak had to be replaced late last Summer after we found that it had rotted. The workman had put on probably one or two coats but it had pretty much worn off by this Spring. We'll add a few more coats over the next few days to build it up. WIth the anchor up there that has to be raised and lowered regularly, there is a good bit of foot traffic on that teak. I have to stand on it to put the anchor snubber(line with a hook on it to take strain off the windlass while we are at anchor)on the chain after we drop anchor. It already look much better.

Our friends, Kevin and Terri on Sonnish Na Mara took off today for Hartley Marina. about 25 miles West. We plan on following them over today. Tuesday had 6 boats here at Bishop Bay. By late yesterday, we were at 10, with 5 of us tied up to the small dock. We found out yesterday morning that the two boats that had anchored out had drug their anchors(anchors pulled out) and drifted about a half mile before the owners woke up and realized what had happened. One woke up the other and they both motored back into the cove. The books say that the holding isn't that great and I guess they were right.

As each boat came in, the dingies just kept on coming as group after group was headed for the hot springs for a bath and a soak. We had some boats just pull in, tie up, soak in the tub and then leave while most dropped anchor for the night. They were arriving till after 2000 hours. The last, a large steel fishing boat(about 36 feet) pulled in with no intension of anchoring. He was going to raft up to anyone at the dock and he didn't seem to care what the other boat owner said or did. He came straight at our boat and then decided that he would go to the other side. We were below, but watched him come in. The two if the other boat owners were sitting in chairs at the end of the dock enjoying the evening. As he passed them, he asked if anyone of them owned our boat. Since they said no, he then saw our friends boat Astarte that had pulled in about 1000 that morning and decided they would be fine to raft up to even though the owners weren't there to say yes or no. In they came, this big steel boat with only one fender out. Out came a second and they just tied up to Astarte. The "captain" didn't care. He was coming in. Now while it may have been a commercial fishing boat at some time, I don't think it was any more as the other 5 crew members were young adults--both men and women--already in swim suits ready for the springs. The owners of Astarte came back just after he was tied up and the people, including their dog were tromping across their boat for the dock and heading for the pool. Our friends were certainly not impressed. We already had 4 boats tied to this poor little dock and adding a fifth, not to mention a big steel boat was putting a good bit of strain on the anchoring system that keeps it here. It's normally common courtesy to at least ask if you can tie up, not just pull in and do it. He was not about to take no for an answer and didn't. He was the last boat in for the night. We ended up with 10 in the bay with dingies coming and going all the time. I just found out that the fishing boat took off at 0200 this morning.

At 1700, the folks from Astarte joined us at the springs for a nice soak and a chat. It was nice sitting and soaking and telling stories. A nice dinner and watch the boats come in and out.

We're off today for Hartley Marina. We'll fill up our water tanks and if we're lucky, have internet so you can read this blog. This will be the last stop before Grenville Channel. A 45 mile cut that will take us on the last leg toward Prince Rupert and the Canadian border. We should be in Alaska in a week or so depending on how long we spend in Prince Rupert and the weather.

As always, more to come. Stay tuned.