When we last left you we were waiting in Comox for our new outboard engine.

While waiting for engine installation we explored the quaint town of Comox by the Sea. Like all fantastic stops in the Salish Sea it has a great bakery with fresh baked sourdough bread, adorable shops, gelato, and a few good restaurants.

Dan delivered our tender with its new outboard installed at the end of the day, only 30 hours after we first contacted him, a true boat repair miracle! We did a bit of testing and it worked beautifully, much smoother and quieter than our reliable but 23 year old Honda outboard. It starts easily and is more powerful although our Honda was also rated at 40 HP. Unfortunately, the mechanic who did the install also, for reasons unknown and without asking us, disconnected and/or removed some of the old electrical wiring, including a conveniently located battery on/off switch that also powered the bilge pump and the chart plotter. None of us understood that choice, especially without calling to ask us about it. But, Dan came to the rescue and got the chart plotter working. We will need to go back to Comox to fix the bilge pump and reinstall the more convenient battery on/off switch before we head home.

Given our need to meet up with friends in two days, we decided to leave even though it was late for crossing the Strait of Georgia. The weather seemed good, we had overcome our outboard engine stoic challenge and we had moorage reserved at the Beach Garden Marina in Powell River waiting for us just two hours away. So we left Comox at 6:30 PM, with the idea that two hours later we would arrive and be tied up to the dock at 8:30 PM. Although that is later than we like, it was still doable given that sunset is around 9:20 PM up here at 50 degrees north latitude. So optimistically, we headed out to cross the Strait of Georgia. A cascade of Stoic Challenges followed.

“ No Man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself [or herself].”

Seneca

Let the Stoic Challenges Begin

Stoic challenge #1: The winds really kicked up. The waves were bigger than we like, the wind was blowing spray and it was definitely a bit uncomfortable. But, the stabilizers did their job and it was doable. We did have a bumper blow off in a big wave. But we were able to use it as a “man-overboard” drill and retrieved it really quite quickly. Patting each other on the back we continued on.

After crossing the Strait of Georgia, we rounded Texada Island but then the SE wind really kicked up. We were getting concerned that we would have trouble docking in the narrow confines of the little Garden Bay Marina, especially when it isn’t low tide. But, we were hopeful because it wasn’t yet high tide. Although, we were beginning to think that leaving Comox at 6:30 PM probably wasn’t a good idea.

Stoic Challenge #2: As we approached the marina we were pleased to see the marina’s break water blocking some of the wind at the dock, unfortunately there was a small sail boat right in the middle of our lovely 60 foot space. No one was working the dock at 8:45 PM and there was no place for us to land at the marina to tell the little sailboat to get out of our slip, and in any case we were far better equipped to deal with high winds and waves than the little sail boat that must have thanked their lucky stars to have found such a large dock space, at the end of the dock, late in the day, as a refuge from the high winds and waves.

So we continued south, past the marina, to the closest safe anchorage about an hour away in Thunder Bay. We hoped it would be out of the wind and doable. Clearly, we were getting tired and it was getting dark. And clearly leaving Comox so late was a bad idea. The wind, sea spray and dusk made it a challenge. But we have the protected lower helm, good windshield wipers and we worked together to watch for logs among the waves as we headed south.

We finally approached the turn into Jervis Inlet and hoped the wind and waves would calm down after we rounded Scotch Fir Point. They did! Only 30 minutes later we were in the calm waters of Thunder Bay. We dropped the anchor easily in relatively shallow water, showered and collapsed into bed looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

Stoic Challange #3: Bzzzzzzzz. . . A mosquito. Unfortunately, a mosquito was in the bedroom buzzing around our head. The Captain was so tired he said forget it. He would just let it eat him. I couldn’t let that happen. So we turned on the light. Attracted the sucker to a convenient location and fried it with our trusty hand-held, battery-powered bug zapper. That happened one more time before we collapsed into a deep, long sleep.

The next day we had planned a brief cruise to the nearby Harmony Islands. But the Captain wanted to explore other possible anchorages in the inlet first. The First Mate was looking forward to a shorter adventure. We looked at many little gunk holes for a possible place to anchor. The Captain was sure we would find something. But, it wasn’t to be, so we headed back to the Harmony Islands. The Harmony Islands are beautiful, but funky. You have to anchor in the middle of a narrow channel or shore tie.

Stoic Challenge #4: Another crappy shore tie. After much exploring we decided to shore tie in a really difficult spot with wind and current. It wasn’t pretty. It was hot. It took forever. We were not feeling the Harmony in Harmony Islands. I graded our performance a D+ which was better than the last shore tie of a D. The Captain gave us a C-. I felt that was grade inflation. After it was over we took the tender with our new lovely outboard out to explore where we could of anchored more easily. And I think we have learned where we could anchor in the channel like a few other boats without a shore tie. The Captain is always, in the first mate’s opinion, overly concerned with running aground. Clearly a valid concern, but taken too far it is annoying and overly limiting . Once again we ate and went to sleep exhausted, but we knew we would be able to easily cruise to the nearby Backeddy Marina at Egmont, where we had reserved dock space to meet up with our friends Ken and Maria the next evening. So all and all we had overcome a lot and we were going to be on time to get our friends and head in PLI for more bliss time.

Stoic Challenge #5: Yes, another stoic challenge. They say if life is too easy you won’t be ready for the serious stoic challenges that are inevitable in life. You’ll get soft and not be ready for the really big challenges when they come along. That’s certainly not going to happen to us! After waking up on Sunday morning in the Harmony Islands, we turned on the generator to charge the battery like we do every morning. That’s when the Stoic Challenge #5 began. The day before on our way to Harmony Islands the generator stalled out after running 90 minutes, which was highly unusual. But we were making water at the time, and the batteries were fully charged so we didn’t really think much about it. Our generator is regularly serviced and like our reliable Honda outboard has never before given us any trouble. Until this trip. Earlier in the trip the generator’s starter battery had died, but we just bought another one in Comox. Unfortunately, this time there was no easy fix for our generator problem.

I called Irvin at Gallery Marine for a consult. Again, we are so lucky to have people who care about us and will help in these situations. He thought we might have gotten some dirty fuel so I would have to change the fuel filters. As the ship’s engineer, or in any time in my 62 years, I’ve never done this before. Irvin asked us if we had extra filters. I knew we did, which surprised the Captain. I had made sure we had extras of everything we needed and they were organized in special containers. Irvin walked us through how to do it and we successfully changed the main fuel filter. Unfortunately, it did not correct the problem. We decided to start the engines, remove the shore tie and head to Egmont before changing the smaller fuel filter on the generator itself when we got to the dock. That also did not correct the problem. But I do now know how to change fuel filters!

Stoic Challenge #6: Finding a capable boat mechanic in the summer, in a small town, that has any available time, on a Sunday afternoon, is exceptionally rare: much rarer than seeing Orcas. But that was what we needed to “bleed” the fuel line in the generator to get out any air bubbles that might be impeding the fuel flow. I watched a YouTube video and knew that I could not do that without on-site help. I asked Danny, the Backeddy’s dock manager, and he said “yes” he knew someone local who was a great mechanic and who could help. He texted Mike and Mike told Danny that he could be there to take a look at the problem later Sunday afternoon!

So despite the many stoic challenges we faced, we were also being blessed by another boating miracle. We thought there was no chance we could find anyone that quickly. So we waited for Mike the mechanic to finish his 3 other Sunday projects and come to our dock.

Mike arrived, with his son Max about the same time Ken and Maria arrived at Egmont. Ken & Marie had a reservation for one night at one of the Backeddy’s little motel rooms, but they went to the Backeddy pub for dinner while we worked with Mike to diagnose the generator and hopefully fix it so that we could cruise into Princess Louisa Inlet with the flood tide on Monday morning.

Honestly, you never know the quality of the mechanic you are going to get in these situations. We’ve been very disappointed in the past. But Mike was amazing! He is a calm, thoughtful, intelligent and a remarkably capable and creative mechanic. He’s patient and a good teacher. I knew almost immediately that he would solve our problem.

Mike and I worked in the engine room together. We tried to “bleed the lines” by jump starting the fuel pump. Apparently the fuel filter turns on when the circuit board detects oil pressure. It is like what comes first, “the chicken or the egg” thing. But you can also jump start a fuel pump by connecting it directly to a 12 volt battery. Mike asked if we had electrical wire, ✔️ hay wire & duct tape ✔️, and we had a portable battery for jump starting (The Captain bought it just in case the tender battery died). We were glad to have it because it came in handy earlier in the trip when the generator’s dedicated battery died and it came in handy again to jump start the fuel pump on the generator itself. So in awe, I watched Mike create a jumper system for the little fuel pump “McGiver” style. I love the MacGyver TV show and so does Mike. In fact, his business is named “Mikegyver Mechanic”. We attached all the wires, added power and . . . Nothing. The fuel pump was clearly dead. As Miracle Max says in Princess Bride: “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and completely dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With completely dead, well, there is [nothing] you can do . . .” I quoted it and Mike, my brother from another mother, knew it was from Princess Bride. So we both knew we needed to get a new fuel pump and get it installed before the generator would work again.

Clearly, we were not going to leave the dock Monday morning. But Mike found a fuel pump that could be delivered by 9AM on Tuesday morning to an auto/marine parts store in Gibsons, which is about 90 minutes away by car. Fortunately, Ken & Maria have a car!

So, on Monday morning Ken and Maria moved their stuff to our boat on the dock and we hung around ate and drank, explored the nearby Skookumchuck tidal rapids with the tender and generally had a chill day hoping that the part would actually show up the next morning. The plan was for Ken and Jim to drive to get it first thing in the morning, then bring it back for Mike to install in the early afternoon. If everything went well, we could still cruise to Princess Louisa Inlet on Tuesday as long we left the dock at Egmont before 4 PM. While the boys were on their road trip to Gibsons, Maria and I enjoyed a nice walk along the rural roads of Egmont, did some laundry and waiting for news of the fuel pump.

But first we must digress into our delicious meals. Ken is quite the chef and had purchased in Whistler (where he and Maria were before driving to Egmont) and along the way from there to Egmont, all sorts of amazing culinary supplies so that he could prepare 3 exquisite meals for their 3 day visit to the True Love. While at Whistler Ken and Maria had purchased and pre-souvied meats for the trip. Yes, Ken travels with his sou ve machine. Although we were still tied up to the dock at the Backeddy on our first night together we ate yummy salmon, garlic-cheese mashed potatoes and salad. It was an honor acting as Ken’s sous chef.

At 9:05 AM Monday the text came from Jim that the he had the replacement fuel pump in his hand and that Mike would meet us at the boat around noon. Hip Hip Hooray!

Now we were on the clock again. To get into PLI, you have to transit the Malibu Rapids when they are close to slack tide, and that meant we had to leave the dock at Egmont no later than 4PM on Tuesday.

Mike arrived a little after noon and I joined him in the engine room again to watch, assist and learn how to install a fuel pump on the generator. I took lots of video and photos. But, it was complicated. I’m not sure I could do it even now. But Mike is a real pro. After it was installed we tested it by jumping it, this time using the mini jumper cables that come with the part and voila! It came to life! Fantastic. With the pump humming along we were able to bleed the fuel lines of air and then gave the generator another try. And ….. nothing! The generator would still not start no mater how long we cranked it. Now what?

But “MacGyver” Mike wouldn’t give up. We called Irvin back in Seattle and brainstormed what could be causing the problem. After much discussion and analyzing we decided something wasn’t telling the oil pump to turn on the fuel pump. Apparently there is a circuit board on the generator that is supposed to do that. Irvin, who is no spring chicken, had never seen a circuit board go bad in a generator during his entire career as a boat mechanic. But there is a first time for everything. And everyone realized that there is no way we were ever going to get another circuit board in time to go to Princess Louisa on Tuesday or Wednesday, and Ken & Maria had to be back from PLI on Thursday to drive back to Vancouver and catch their Friday morning flight back to Southern California. So Mike and Irvine discussed creating a manual bypass switch. We had about 45 minutes left.

Mike went to his truck to look for a “MacGyver” bypass switch. He returned with wire and an old switch from a Winnebago. He quickly attached the switch to the proper place near the circuit board. Then Mike used the special jumper cable to connect it to the fuel filter. The moment of truth arrived. Turn on the switch, then turn on the generator and . . . It worked! Beautifully! Hearing the lovely hum of our generator again was wonderful. We cheered, hugged, paid Mike gratefully for his amazing problem solving and left the dock at 3:45 PM, with just 15 minutes to spare.

After a beautiful cruise we traversed Malibu Rapids and entered PLI. As we reached the end of the 4-mile-long inlet surrounded by tall mountains and waterfalls we noticed that our usual anchorage spot was taken. Bummer! But one of the 4 mooring buoys was available. Great! It’s been quite a while since we have used a mooring buoy because in Washington State, the mooring buoy’s at marine parks are limited to boats less than 40 feet long (our boat is 57 feet long). But here at PLI, there are five buoys for boats up to 70 feet long. And the one open buoy was in the perfect location, close to one of the small waterfalls and with a clear view of the big waterfall at the head of the inlet (Chatterbox Falls). I quickly deployed the paddle board so that I could thread the bow line through the buoy and hand it back to to tie off. Given how tired I was, it was another blessing in disguise that we didn’t have to shore tie, which would have taken at least another 30 minutes.

We made it! Let the bliss begin! Ken made us a delicious arugula salad and steak. The last 2 days we have enjoyed the inlet together floating, kayaking, and paddle boarding on the warm salt water (over 72 degrees at the surface!) and celebrating life with good wine, great food and interesting conversations. Ken’s third meal was roasted lamb with warm spinach salad and red potatoes. Ken & Maria left yesterday on the fast tour boat that takes tourists to and from PLI each day. They will now fly back home while we will spend the next few days here at PLI before heading out again for more adventures.

It’s a little cumbersome to turn the generator on and off now because we have to climb down into the engine room and manually turn on and off the fuel pump and the main switch at the same time. But it’s purring again now whenever we ask it to recharge the batteries or power the watermaker. Hopefully, we are done with our stoic challenges for awhile, but you can be sure that if we are faced with a new challenge that we will overcome it, sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with a little help from our friends Mike, Irvin and Dan!