We are back to North Desolation and I’ve got to say, it is so pretty here! The mountains up north are very different as we have said, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We prefer the gentle slopping hill covered with green, leading to the snow covered mountains and glaciers in the distance. Of course, the fact that it is sunnier helps too!

On our way south we had another wonderful Orca encounter in Johnstone Strait. We may not see bears, but we’ve been Orca lucky! Listening to the whale watching chatter, they have been hard to spot this summer, but not for us!

Our first stop back in North Desolation was Erasmus Island, near Blind Channel Resort. Someone was in our usual spot so we anchored across the bay. It isn’t as protected, but the views of the snow-covered mountains are beautiful.

After anchoring we set the crab trap and did some fishing (but we didn’t catch anything) before dinner.

While we briefly had cell service we were also able to procure a reservation at the very busy and usually full Dent Island Lodge for the next night.

Before we lifted our anchor to cruise to Dent Island, we needed to check out some issues. We have been collecting some water in our bilge and the bilge pumps weren’t clearing the water although the indicator light on the helm shows them on and working.

First, we needed to figure out where the water was coming from. So while we were underway the First Mate checked the engine room and found that the sea water strainer used to cool the port engine was leaking water. Now this makes sense. I was relieved that the leak wasn’t coming from someplace else. I knew that we had cleaned out the water strainer before we left Campbell River a couple of weeks ago and when we put it back together in didn’t seal perfectly. Clearly, accepting an imperfect seal was a mistake. This was a relatively easy fix. We opened the device and had to spin the strainer slowly until it dropped down another 1/4 inch. We resealed it, ran the engine and voila! No leaking.

While we investigated the port engine sea water strainer I also noticed the watermaker seemed to be leaking a little bit, but we didn’t know where. So once again the First Mate watched the unit run and found the leak in a bolt. All it needed was a little tightening and voila! No leaking.

We had left the crab trap down overnight and went to gather it up after our repairs. This was clearly a mistake. The crabs ate all our food, but escaped! Score one for the crabbies! Clearly we need to pick up the trap before we go to bed. Oh well, no fresh crab for us for at least a few days.

Finally, before we left our anchorage at Erasmus Island, we took down, cleaned and stored the heavy, clear plastics windows that protect us from wind and weather on the top deck fly bridge. I particularly enjoy taking the plastics down and pulling the convertible top back to take advantage of the sun and the beautiful 360 degree views. But because the weather has been colder and wetter up north we have not been able to remove the plastic windows and take down the convertible top, until now. With all our chores complete we finally headed to Dent to enjoy the beautiful views, sunny weather, long showers, hot tub and a wonderful dinner “out” at the Dent Island Lodge restaurant.

Shortly before we went through the Dent Rapids we encountered the same friendly dolphin pod we spent time with in the same area a couple of weeks ago, this time at Dentham Bay. The Captain and I love dolphins, especially when they’re playing. And I got one of my best photos ever! It was so much fun watching them hunt as a group to catch salmon and then celebrate the meal with leaping!

Today we head back to Campbel River area to meet our friends Laird and Carol Vanetta.

But first we need to refuel and have Altech Diesel take a look at our stern bilge pump which appears to be running, but not expelling any water. This is only a crucial problem if we had a rare “leaking hull” emergency. In such an event we would cruise as fast as we can to reach help or “beach” the boat on shore; but cruising fast angles the bow up and drains all of the water inside the boat to the stern; so the stern bilge pump is crucial to keeping the boat afloat in that scenario. So just to be safe, we are going to take the afternoon to see if we can get the aft bilge pump fixed. It should be a simple fix, and we tried fixing it ourselves, but we didn’t have any replacement parts and it is in a very little space. Ridiculously, the stern thruster was installed just above the bilge pump leaving almost no space to get to the device. As I learn more about the True Love and it’s equipment I’m constantly amazed by some of the decisions that were made with no thought to future maintenance.

Altech came to our rescue once again (this time Keegan was our mechanic) and both the aft and forward bilge pumps are now working properly and the bilge is dry. During the repairs, the First Mate walked to the grocery store to re-provision. We now have plenty of food, the fuel tanks are full and we are tied up at the April Point Marina for a couple of days of downtime before our friends fly in by seaplane.

We’ve been out for 50 days now and I’ve had my eyes pealed the whole time for an eagle feather for James and Robert. I’ve had no luck, until today! Walking back to the True Love at the Dent Island dock I found a feather in the water by the dock. James and Robert, this is the first eagle feather I’ve ever found and I can’t wait to bring it back to you next week for you to keep with your other treasures. An eagle feather symbolizes trust, honor, strength, wisdom, power, and freedom, and soon it will be yours!

The Captain and The First Mate of the True Love

They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered. F. Scott Fitzgerald