Wed Jun 22 2022
This morning we popped out like a piece of toast, albeit at around 0600 which is a bit late for us. As neither of us don’t function properly without at least our first cup of coffee, we followed our usual morning ritual before Isabel announced it was tie to don our togs and fetch the crab traps. That we did, and then we motored out to find each trap, dinghy motor sputtering and gasping for breath along the way. The first trap yielded nada, but the second had a small one and a male of legal size. As a reminder, females are off limits because their dads (and the state) will kick your ass if you mess with them. The males can be kept if their shells measure 6.5” across. That’s not from the little pokey tips on their sides but the solid shell bits. A little hard to describe here, but easy to understand when there’s a disgruntled crab in hand. Obviously in the interest of conservation females should be allowed to live and crank out as many crab babies as possible. Perhaps nobody has ever asked them if they feel exploited by that concept or maybe disenfranchised. Who knows? Why wouldn’t they have the same hopes and dreams as their male counterparts, to provide delight to our pallets in a fine crab dinner?
A few weeks ago the dinghy was running fine but had a problem with the accelerator pump, so I put Sea Foam in the fuel and it seemed to clear out the crude in the carburetor and all was well. Now it’s decided to run poorly and about the last thing we need is to be stranded out in a bay or find ourselves drifting out to one of the larger bodies of water. Paddling that darn thing wouldn’t be easy or efficient and the tidal currents would easily overcome our efforts. Hopefully it’s just a little water that’s gotten into the fuel so that’s now at the top of the “do” list.
We departed Appleton Cove around 0815 for Tenakee Springs, and while underway I left Isabel on the fly bridge to conduct an engine room inspection. I finally identified the source of a small salt water cooling loop leak as well, a drip at a rubber elbow coupling at the turbocharger after cooler. Should be easy to sort out, but in case the elbow gets damaged I better wait until we’re in Juneau where new parts can be sourced. For now, replacing and tightening the hose clamp will have to do. A small drip at the “dripless” shaft seal on the port engine has also developed and I’ll attack that at the same time. Another loose hose clamp no doubt. At least the salt water cooling loop is a low pressure system.
It’s a lot different running this boat than our sailboat JollyDogs. When we were underway on JollyDogs we had a loose watch schedule during the day and firmly established duty hours at night. On Sunset we don’t move at night because of the risk of collision with floating debris or even whales, and while underway during the day the scenery is magnificent and the chance of a whale or other creature sighting are high, so we both hang out in the fly bridge as we chug along. We generally run with the autopilot unless frequent maneuvering is required, so we’re left looking for debris in the water that we might need to avoid, and sea creatures or bears along the shoreline. Bald eagles occasionally make a close pass, and we recently had a near miss with one crossing our path just a few meters in front of us. She didn’t look at all worried about us causing her problems, matter of fact she looked like she’d kick our butts if we ran into her.
The chug from Appleton Cove up to Tenakee Springs was pleasant with flat water and a very light breeze. Upon closing on the small marina we hailed the harbor master on VHF Ch. 16 to request pontoon space for the night. Our pal Frank on Mae Marie responded to let us know he’d arranged for space for us and his pal Eric met us at the dock, handling our lines expertly. Good thing too, as the space we had to squeeze Sunset into offered only around 2 feet of clearance on the bow and stern. I think there was a squeaking sound as we settled into the space on a starboard tie. As usual, Isabel was magnificent on the wireless headset intercom system - something referred to as a “marriage saver” by cruisers. Nice to be able to whisper rather than shout, and she can keep me up to speed on how many feet the stern is from the pontoon or another boat, when she’s stepping off to secure the stern line, and when it’s made fast so I can react against it.
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