First of all, everything is working now and we are starting our day anchored in beautiful Isabel Bay (on Lancelot Inlet, halfway down Okeover Inlet, in south Desolation Sound).

Although we so appreciate our summer moorage in Pender Harbour, we really love the peaceful experience of anchoring in a more secluded & beautiful spot. Last night we arrived and set the anchor. This spot is 70 feet deep, deeper than we prefer to anchor, but we have plenty of anchor chain and with almost no wind our anchor is holding beautifully.

The warm sun of summer has finally appeared, and it’s almost too warm in the late afternoon. The Captain kayaked and I paddle boarded to get some exercise and enjoy this special little anchorage before dusk and dinner. Although the sun set on our boat, Lancelot Inlet still had some late sun, so we went out for a ride in our tender and I played the Uke! It’s magical moments like these that make life so special.

OK, now I have to tell you about our recent water pump stoic challenge. We knew the water pump was having issues because it was represurizing itself every 5 minutes or so. Of course we searched for leaks, everywhere, but found none. I assumed it was reaching the end of its useful life (3-5 years). After calling the manufacturer in Florida and talking with a tech, we all decided it was a good idea to have a spare sent out along with another part that would be an even easier possible fix. But that would take at least a few days and possibly weeks, and after the call the problem got worse.

Our planned stay at John Henry’s Marina was for a few more days and we hoped we might get the water pump pretty quickly. Actually, because the part had to clear Canadian customs, the delivery time expanded from two days to two weeks! What happened to free trade within North America? We resigned ourselves to babying the water pump along and hoping for the best.

So we enjoyed our time there with our friends and dock mates Carmie and Dena, including a great dinner at the Painted Boat to celebrate our 43rd anniversary.

We kayaked around and found the place to dock to explore a beach front park on another day. Carmie deployed the sail on his super cute “Portland Pudgy” dinghy and it worked beautifully as he sailed it around Pender Harbour. The electric bikes also came in super handy as we used them to begin exploring the country roads nearby with all their rolling hills along the coastline, and we will do definitely do more of that in the future.

But, when we returned from our first long e-bike ride and gathered for evening happy hour, the water would not turn on at all. The Captain said, “OK, no worries, it’s just another stoic challenge!” And I thought it would be a snap to fix the water pump, as I’ve fixed it several times before, However, it was not easy and, although we did eventually fix it, the Captain was right: the project was another serous stoic challenge.

I went below and found a lot of water in the storage area. That was good. It meant I should be able to find the leak. The storage area is Tetris collection of equipment, supplies, spare parts and pantry. After removing the wet stuff and reorganizing, I spotted a water hose downstream of the pump that had detached. No problem, I thought, I’ll just re-attach it and our problem would be solved.

Unfortunately, it was not so easy. When the stabilizer was installed a few years ago the installers should have repositioned the hose but did not. Instead, the now ridiculously placed water pressure meter, is now in the far back corner, behind the stabilizer hydraulics and very difficult to reach . The Florida tech had asked us if we had a water presssure garage and we said no, because I had never seen it as it was completely hidden behind the stabilizer. I finally was able to re-attach the water hose on one side of the pressure gauge but the clamp that held it in place didn’t seem tight enough.

After a few unsuccessful tries to prime and restart the water pump, we realized it wasn’t working because the water tank was, of course, completely empty. When the pipe disconnected, the water pump noticed the drop in system pressure and must have run continuously until it emptied the 100 gallon water tank (which was half full before we went out for our e-bike exploration). All of that water drained into the bilge and the automatic bilge pumps cleared it, all during our two hour bicycle adventure!

Stoic challenges are often like this: a series of explorations, discoveries, attempted solutions, failures, learning and eventually accomplishment as the true underlying problem is finally discovered and repaired.

After refilling water the tank and going through the priming procedure again the pump worked. Yes!!!!! But….. the hose was still leaking just a little bit. Curses ensued. Then deep breathing.

All good, no problem, no worries, just hang loose after a two hour stoic challenge. Using the now wonderfully working water pump we showered and collapsed into bed.

It’s always good to make new discoveries about the True Love. When we get a chance we are going to replace the hose and move the water pressure meter to a more accessible location.

We persevered and are rewarded as our adventure continues. It looks like summer is here to stay with lots of warm, sunny days in the forecast. The next few days we will enjoy a bit of luxury at Dent Island followed by more exploring in the area north of Desolation Sound near the Blind Channel Resort.

Dent offers such caring service, exceptional food, fantastic docks and a nice way to meet new boating friends. We spent three days here and even got a little hiking in, lots of hot tubbing, exercising in the gym to work off all the food and some kayaking near the crazy rapids. But, we also enjoy our time in our “gunk holes” on the anchor, by ourselves. Currently, we are anchored near Blind Channel, next to the inside of Erasmus Island, all by ourselves.

On our way from Dent to Erasmus we connected with Jim’s childhood friend from Bellevue Julie (Jacobson) Saul and her new husband, John Boekholt. It turns out they met our friends Dena and Carmie earlier in the summer and somehow discovered that they both knew us. They were anchored in a special spot in Hemming Bay and we cruised over, where they met us on the True Love for some snacks and chats. You never know who you are going to run into while boating up here!

We thought we might head up to the Broughtons to escape the hot weather, but Johnstone Strait is predicted to have very strong winds. So, we’ve decided to enjoy this area for the next few days and then head South to Octopus Islands.

This anchorage offers calm waters, and fabulous star watching with expansive sky views and no light pollution! Last night we saw several shooting starts and the International Space Station!