Easter Departure

 

Stocked with supplies from Costco and with spare parts from Fisheries Marine, we were ready to depart on Easter Sunday.  Our good friend, Rob, joined us for coffee and pastries before seeing us off; we so much appreciated his thoughtful gesture and we will miss his company.  We headed out in nice weather, saying goodbye to the Seattle skyline and arrived at Anacortes, Washington around 6:30pm.  It had been 200 hours since an oil change and Leonard wanted to change the oil after the engines had been running - the oil is thinner and easier to pump out while still warm.  

Pump with Hose Coiled and Tied

A small hose mounted in the engine room with an “on-off switch” is used to pump oil from both engines as well as from the generator.  The process is fairly simple, Leonard holds the hose inside an empty jug and turns on the switch, then turns the switch off when the jug is full - a sequence used to fill up each empty jug.  Unfortunately, when Leonard moved his arm back slightly to get the second jug ready, the curved hose bumped the switch, turning it to the on-position!  Oil came gushing out, Leonard quickly put his thumb over the end of the hose which only caused the oil to splatter further. 

Note Hose proximity to On-Off Switch

He then quickly turned the switch off and spent the next hour cleaning up the mess.  He was so discussed with himself he didn’t even ask me to come help cleanup.  Too bad, because now I have no pictures to share of Leonard engrossed in his mess.  I should have been suspicious when I heard rumblings in the engine room and it was taking him longer than usual to change the oil.  Ironically, Rob had called us during the day’s cruise to ask how things were going, Leonard mentioned he was planning to change the oil once we got to Anacortes and bragged about having the routine down so well that he barely spills a drop; oops, guess he spoke too soon. 

Pumping Oil into a Container (note switch location)

The next day was spent researching and finalizing our options for phone and internet connection, verifying procedures for customs, and obtaining charts of Northern Alaska for our Raymarine plotter.  Charts had already been loaded on our computers but not yet for the boat’s plotter.  And, oh yes, Leonard fessed up to his fiasco in the engine room. 

Anthony's Restaurant at Cap Sante Marina

He even repeated the story for our good friends Susan and Chris whom we met for dinner at Anthony’s restaurant.  We always enjoy their company and have so much in common that there’s never a dull moment.  It was so nice to see our friends and it was a great way to end the day.