August 15th

THE DAY STARTS OFF WITH THE NORMAL FOG THING!

This generally means that the sun will burn through about noon.  The crows are cawing and foraging around the beach.  Some yellow finches fluttering in the trees nearby, curious of me flicking the princess’s poo (not Penny’s, the dogs) into the bush.  If bears can do it there so can my princess. 

The bay behind is a marvel as the tide is low exposing the umber colour seaweed clinging to the granite rubble, rocks, cliffs ringing the bay.  It is very quiet and I can just hear the laughter of the flames in the old Grandma Oil stove. 

My ears pick up a new sound in the bay, could it be the sound of a yacht leaving the harbour early?  I put my head back down to the screen and carry on with my pecking on the key board.  It’s there again not so faint now and I leave my writer’s bench and go to the stern deck …………PUWOOSH and now a series of PUWOOSH, now in harmony and almost simultaneously and synchronized.  The Pacific White Sided Dolphins are back this time right behind OA that is moored to the old logging dock.  The sound of their short in/out of their breath astounds me as they do it all together at the same time.

 It is Nye impossible to catch them in the camera’s eye as they surface only briefly generally as a team. 

 

 

 

 

 

At that moment a heron is watching and leaves his rocky perch and glides close over top almost touching one of the black and white fins of the dolphins.  Is he just saying hello?   A commercial crab boat comes into the bay called the “Pacific Charm”.  It is a Barry Farrell built boat.  It is the way a real fish boat looks with rust streaks, a mustache at the bow, stabilizer poles and crab traps piled high on her back deck. 

 

Two men are working the gear.  I instantly have affinity with the crew of the crabber, AS THEY ARE PLAYING PINK FLOYD FLAT OUT on outside speakers and their sound is rolling deep into the bay.  I say any one with such good of taste in music DESERVES a good grab catch?  

I am becoming concerned about the faulty battery that is off line.  I don’t even know if the main engines will start without it being hooked up.  I push the starter on engine number one and it is not good. I start the genset and that does the trick.  We hate to leave this piece of paradise as it has been on my mind to launch the motor bike and go for a putt along the logging roads.

It would be a slow amble along the road, as Chevy would trot along beside MA (for YAMAHA the motor bike), destination the lake about 2 miles away.  It is bath time for our little princess, especially in fresh water.  It would be fun to throw a stick for her as is now keen on swimming.

ALAS the battery problem has been gnawing on my mind.  I start to think the weather may not hold for the crossing from Wells Passage to Pt McNeil.  We go now as it is calm out here! 

Whales off Wells

We check on the cell phone on the way across with suppliers on the availability of batteries that will match the existing bank.  I want to install the new batteries while on shore power to test out the worth of them.  NOW the bad boy that is giving us the agony is located in the back of the engine room in the back corner.  We are going to install 2 batteries as they should match each other as they are 6 volts that combine to make a 12 volt bank.  They are installed in fiberglass boxes and it is a straight lift up to remove them.  To make things worse the deck head will allow about 6 inches in clearance when level with the top of the battery box. I think they are about 60 lbs each and there is nowhere to grip them. 

Junk Rig Sailboat on Queen Charlotte

I jury rig a rope from the top of the battery over a steel lifting bar that I had installed for such purposes.  I use about everything including the kitchen sink and Penny to pry them out of their hole.  It takes about an hour in the hot engine room to extract them.  Installation is much faster as all I have to do is place them suspended over the fiberglass box and control the decent into them at a safe speed.