Troup Narrows to Shearwater

It’s a short cruise over to Shearwater. We have a particular plan for timing our arrival. We target getting to the dock no later than 11am  because 10am to 11am is a popular departure time for cruisers. Then we add in an hour on the fuel docks for taking on diesel. We will not need all that time as we are only taking on 250 gallons. But that timing gives us a buffer in case we must wait for access to the pumps.

We both wore wide grins as there was no one at the fuel docks when we arrived. Even better, by the time it was time to tie up on the guest dock, nearly all the cruising boats had left. Mollie and Geoff assigned us a great spot with good 50-amp power and near the potable water hose. They were also there to greet us and catch our lines. Geoff was particularly pleased that we arrived on the early side, as the 2nd Waggoner Alaska multi-boat flotilla was about an hour behind us, also headed for the Shearwater docks.

shearwater marine center an boart yard

Karen had been watching the flotilla on Marine Traffic, and we knew they would be heading for Shearwater from Ocean Falls. As Troup Narrows was much closer, we were confident our arrival time would work to get fuel and moorage before they arrived.

This flotilla was well organized, and each boat arrived nicely in sequence, with ample time between so that the prior boat could be greeted and tied up by Mollie and Geoff without rush.

Oceanflyer happy on the shearwater main dock

Our primary mission on this visit was to replace the sea water pump on the 20kW generator. As soon as we were secure, I went up to the marine store to pick up the pump which was scheduled to arrive yesterday. Pump in hand, I went up to the Boatyard office to track down Mike, the boatyard manager, and confirm that we were still on for the installation tomorrow morning.

Mike suggested that he would come to the boat at 4pm today, as tomorrow looked quite busy. So back to OceanFlyer I went, to clear access to the generator and begin the process of cooling the engine room so Mike’s working condition would be more pleasant. That’s why I had originally suggested we do the work the next day in a cool engine room. But if Mike wants to do it today, great.

Karen and I had a nice lunch at Fisherman’s Grill and wandered the docks a bit in the drizzle.

welcome to shearwater

Well, 4pm came and went and no Mike. Turns out his attention was consumed by the Shearwater/Bella Bella Water Taxi which developed a problem. That’s why we always build time into our planning, so things like that do not place undo pressure on us. Back to our originally scheduled program!