That was a long day...

We had an engine situation yesterday, and it was decided that the boat needed to go to Bellingham for diagnosis and repair.  Since we are scheduled with trips and charters with that boat, the goal was to get it there and back in one day.  I volunteered for the trip.  The boss said, "The service appointment is for 7:30 tomorrow morning - do you want to take it over tonight or get up early tomorrow?"

Well, at least he gave me a choice. ;-)  With the engine problem, I knew it was going to take me about 3 hours to get there... that meant arriving in Bellingham in the dark if I left right away, or leaving Friday Harbor in the dark if I left in the morning.  I chose to leave at 4:30 am.

My darling wife, got up early with me, made sure I had sandwiches, helped carry my gear to the boat (including stuff for overnight, just in case), then helped with lines and getting me going.  I was solo, and the lines and fenders are definitely a challenge when running the boat from a flybridge.  Joan made my departure SO much easier.  And this, even though she is scheduled for a long day, starting at 7:45.

Knowing there is a good chance of fog any morning around here, I brought "back up" for nav gear, my Droid with the Navionics app.  The boat is equipped with a chartplotter and radar, but having two chartplotters allows me to have one zoomed in, the other zoomed out.  Good to have...

Not a thick fog, but good to have all the equipment.  Even with the clouds, it was a pretty morning while underway...

I was hoping for some sunshine - it was a cold morning... five layers and a stocking cap instead of a ball cap.  Glad I had all that gear, too.  I was also looking forward to light, making it easier to see the ever-present debris in the water.  A nice first view of the sun...

The boat was not running well, the light made it feel more reassuring.  The water had been reasonably sedate... until I got to Rosario Strait.  Wind against current made for a very unpleasant ride.  The fact that I was only making 8.5 knots with the adverse current and ailing engine meant I was going to be in that snotty water for a while.

About 2/3 of the way across Rosario, the engine made a sound like it was clearing its throat - not good!  I looked both ways to see if there was any big ship traffic that would run down a disabled boat - no, thank goodness.  It was only a couple seconds, but felt like a very long time - then, then engine "burped" and the high temperature started coming down.  It sounded smoother... hey, at this point, anything that sounded like it was running was a good thing!  I pushed the throttle forward; might as well find out what I have here... it sounded and felt... perfect!  In spite of the lousy conditions, I pushed the throttle forward to high cruise RPM; the boat jumped up on plane and the over-temp condition didn't happen.  This sweet boat was curing whatever was wrong (and we tried a variety of fixes last night that made no difference).  I made two calls: one to the boss and one to the mechanic.  We all decided that the best course of action was to continue to the service appointment to see if there was any evidence of what had caused the problem.

Bellingham Bay was particularly lumpy, feeling even worse due to the waves on the beam.  Cowboys only have to ride a bull for 8 seconds... this was going to go on much longer than that.  When I finally had the marina in Bellingham in sight, I called the mechanic, who was going to have someone meet me at the dock to handle lines.  I got his answering machine.  Swell.

To the rescue, our friends Joe and Ruth, who are living on their boat in Bellingham.  They were waiting for me at the dock, when I pulled into the marina.  We had talked the night before, and were planning to do breakfast while the mechanic did his thing.  I got a call shortly after getting tied off... "Since the boat is functioning, I have you and it scheduled for a trip this afternoon.  Keep us posted on when you'll get out of there."  Those words came from my darling wife... looks like I'm back on a tight schedule again.

I visited with Joe and Ruth while we waited for the mechanic to arrive (which he did shortly)...

You see those sandwiches in their hands?  When they heard I was going to have to do a quick turn around, they went to Subway to get breakfast sandwiches while the mechanic and I went over the boat.  These two are very special people!

These marine mechanics understand that every day and every trip counts for commercial boats - he went right to work...

Well, he started looking for any potential cause of the over-temp situation.  He disassembled the heat exchanger, looked for any cooling problems, and came up with... it was likely that something had clogged the exhaust, and the boat "burped" it out.  I was good with that.

We took the boat out and ran it hard, then easy, then hard - it was flawless.  Back at the dock, he helped me with lines while I shoved off.  I wasn't going far right away - I had to go out and around to the far side of the marina for fuel.  Joe and Ruth were waiting at the fuel dock to grab lines once again.  The wind was kicking pretty good, and I was especially grateful for the experienced help.

With fuel in the boat, a breakfast sandwich in my belly, and hugs and handshakes, I shoved off again, heading back to Friday Harbor.  I wasn't looking forward to the ride across Bellingham Bay and Rosario Strait, but going this direction was a much easier motion.  For Joe and Ruth: remember that motoryacht that was fueling at the same time?  They took their time in the protection of the breakwater, then followed me across Bellingham Bay...

Considering that they were larger than my boat, and they had an enclosed helm, I should have been following them.  (I do that sometimes when running with the larger whale watch boat.)  The wind kept things "sporting," but this was definitely better than the trip over.

I kept a close watch on the RPM, engine temp, and pressure.  I ran the boat at a variety of RPMs.  All right on the numbers for where it should be.  That probably made the trip seem easier, too. ;-)

Once across Rosario, the water settled down and the clouds went away - check out the blue sky...

I only saw one other boat on the way over... but, plenty of boats once I was back into the San Juans.  More sailboats than I've seen in a while...

I was back to our dock in time for the 1:30, but they had already moved folks... after all that time at the helm (and starting SO early), I was ready for a little down time.  The boat was covered with salt spray... I actually enjoyed taking the time to rinse her off.  It took me two trips to get all my stuff off the boat.

Before leaving the office, my buddy Herb stopped in; I dropped my stuff off at our boat, checked on little Izzy, then went to visit with Herb and Wilma (and met their daughter), and Bob and Nita (more Ranger Tug folks).  They invited me to stick around for happy hour, but I am in need of "nappy hour."

Oh, and nice to be able to get some photos while on the boat. :-)