Kama Hele: Early Morning

4:55am – Monday Aug 4^th – We inched away from the Wollochet dock well before the sun peaked over the horizon. With a long travel day ahead we needed an early start. Our destination – Anacortes, the gateway to the San Juan Islands. Julie and I watched the sun rise over the Narrows Bridge and Tacoma while the kids slept – it was a beautiful morning!

A long run – 81.57nm and 9 hours later we arrived in Anacortes - Cap Sante Marina - 2pm.

We needed a part for the dinghy. I noticed reduced water flow from the pee hole on the engine, which could overheat it. It needed a new impeller – a sort of paddle wheel that spins to suck seawater up through the engine to cool it. After a little research I found the marine Honda dealer and they had the part!

Luckily the marina has these bikes you can borrow for free. At just over a mile away to the Honda dealer the bikes would be perfect! Problem is they were all taken except the trike. It was super scary to ride – had a death wobble like no other – and the chain kept falling off but it did the trick.

With the parts in hand it was time to tear into the outboard. My davit served as a fantastic lift to get the stern of the dinghy out of the water for service. At one point Julie looked back and said “Seriously, what are you doing, we better be able to leave tomorrow!” All was going well when one of the bolts was kind of stuck – it was coming but I had to put more force on it than I wanted. Of course – snap! I knew instantly what happed! First thing I thought is – oh no, Julie is going to kill me, and its going to take us days to get this thing fixed.

It’s going to be another day in Anacortes but for more than one reason.