Shearwater Lay Day

We were up bright and early the next morning so we would be ready for Mike.  Karen went off to tackle laundry while Mike joined me in the engine room to tackle the 20kW. The project itself is not difficult, but the access to that part of the generator is problematic.

Once we removed the old pump, we found a new problem. The interconnect between the pump shaft and the engine itself was extremely worn. What was once a clean rectangular shaped key now had a diamond shape. Nothing to do now but to clean things up and install the pump. It’s not clear how long this will work before the old, deformed slot deforms the new male key on the pump.

deformed engine drive slot for the generator

deformed key in the old water pump

this is what a new shaft looks like on the genertaor water pump

During out last vist to Shearwater I did not take any photos from the drone. So I made up for that below.

overview of shearwater

fuel dock on the left

ariel view looking back toward bella bella showing breakwater

Additionally, we cannot test the repair until the morning after the form-a-gasket has a chance to fully cure, so today’s work on the generator is finished.

Later in the day, we watched as a small tug towed a sailboat right up to the Shearwater docks. The tug operator was incredibly skillful and he put that sailboat right on the docks without a sweat. We learned that the sailboat had engine trouble and was towed all the way from Klemtu, as Shearwater is the only game around when it comes to marine repairs on the Central Coast of BC.

tug to the rescue

Karen later chatted with the captain of the sailboat, who said the tow took about 13 hours. Despite the stress, he said the tug captain and crew were awesome and he and his wife were able to relax and enjoy the scenery during the journey.

We decided to try the pizza at the Shearwater restaurant for dinner, as we have seen many pizzas being delivered to Bella Bella on the water taxi. It was just OK but at least I did not have to cook after a long day of boat repairs.

We had another quiet night on the docks.