We are back from our trip and still trying to dig out from the mess and get back in the grove for work.
When we got to Bellingham Ruth and Joe were waiting for us at the marina. They are a great couple and their hospitality was greatly appreciated.
We had a little trouble at the start of the trip. After Ruth and Joe led us to a gas station to fill up the boats we launched and got settled at the dock for the night. The next morning our friends boat was not at the dock!
I found them on the trailer in the parking lot. Their 100+ gal aluminum fuel tank had a leak and they were forced out of the boat at midnight by the gas smell and spent the night in their truck.
They were very upset that after a 2 day drive they might have to turn around and go home. We found the leak on the weld for the vent. Ruth and Joe came over, drove us to West Marine and we found an aluminum epoxy putty that we were able to use to fix the leak.
We didn't know it but we were in for some of the best weather of the summer for our trip! We only had one day/night of light rain with most days in the mid 70's and sunny.
We only had one other problem. I started the wallas to cook dinner and it started getting hot but then quit. I checked the fuse (2A) in the PC board and it was blown. There was a spare and it blew immediately.
I remembered reading here that someone else had used a larger size fuse and Scanmar had said that was fine. The only fuse I had was a 5A. I put it in and it worked. I ran the stove, shut it down and everything was fine. The next morning I started the Wallas and went out in the cockpit for a few minutes. When I came back in the cabin was smokey.
It took my brain a few seconds to realize that the PC board on the stove was burning up. I turned off the stove, opened the cabinet and pulled the power wires but it was too late. Burnt electronics really stink! It had fried the two power transistors and the Wallas would not work for the rest of the trip.
The good news is that I stopped at Scanmar on the way home and they replaced the PC board on warranty.
We had a very relaxed trip through the Gulf Islands and the San Juans. We visited Prevost Harbor, Bidwell, Montague, Ganges, Wallas Island, Telegraph Cove, Genoa Bay, Canoe Cove, Sidney, Sidney Spit, Roche Harbor, Garrison Bay, Reid Harbor, Sucia Island, Matia, and Doe Island.
We met many interesting boaters and saw several C-Dory's. I will try to get some pictures in my album in the next week or so.
Steve and Karen.