This weekend was to have been the very first "real" kayaking trip that the muthah-ship was going to take me on. I got to Oak Harbor's marina on Friday night to discover that this was the beginning of "Race Week" with over 100 boats (and their crews) from all over the west coast. I snagged a parking spot and a cart and trundled all my gear to the Carver, then went back and got the F-1 (an SOF "Coaster" work-a-like) and carried that down to the boat. Thank god it only weighs 28 pounds (with floatation and the paddle inside). I had found some flat bungee cords at Home Depot and used them to secure the F-1 to the port side of the flying bridge. I was happy to discover that it didn't impact handling of the 25-foot-long Carver at all and didn't interfere with visibility either. Saturday morning I was off and headed to the San Juan Islands. My plan was to catch the ebb-to-flood slack tide at Deception Pass and then decide where to go depending upon whatever wind was outside the Pass. My preference was to go to Deer Harbor on Orcas Island and anchor close to their store and restaurant - and within easy paddling of the Wasp Islets where I could fiddle about in the currents and rocks and perhaps spot some wildlife. Alas, about 2/3 of the way to Deception Pass the engine just died. No sputter, no burps, just quit. But then it started right back up again so I continued on only to have the engine die again 5 minutes later. I got it started up and headed in to a small bay where I anchored and tried to figure out what was up. I never did get the main engine started again so I had to fire up the 9.9hp Mercury "get home" outboard. By then the current was running about 3kts and pulling the anchor up was a real job even with the Merc putting away at the stern. Some 6 hours later I was back in the outer harbor of Oak Harbor (having been passed by one Vessel Assist towing a sailboat). Unlike the sailboater I don't have "towing" insurance and the Merc saved me a few hundred bucks. But putting the 25-foot Carver back into its slip with an extra 100 sailboaters around (and in the 10kt breeze) using only the outboard seemed like a bad idea so once again I anchored. I was in good company because several of the marina residents had volunteered to decamp to the anchorage for Race Week. Once I was secure I unloaded the F-1 (sob!) and towed it into the marina with the Zodiac so I could put it back on the truck's rack. I simply could not see around it while standing at the stern and running the outboard and felt that it might be nice not to hit any of those expensive visiting racing boats. Turned out that anchoring outside the marina was a good idea since the racers - who did not have to get up early to race the next morning - spent a lot of time making noise. Lots of noise. I could hear some of it from my snug bunk when the fireworks they set off woke me up at 3am. Up at 0530 and started the outboard, hauled in the anchor and wound my way through the anchored fleet headed towards the marina breakwater. It's a LOT easier to dock a 5,000 pound boat than I remembered docking a 20,000 pound boat. With the muthah-ship I could just ease down the fairway and aim it at a piling near my slip and then catch the piling as we drifted by. At that point it was easy to just swing the Carver around and into the slip. By 0630 I was back in bed. Turns out the engine was some problem with drawing fuel from the fuel tank. I managed to get it all working but it's not at all what it should be. This does explain the dying at 2500rpm that I had experienced before. I got it so that the engine will run nicely, the boat will plane well at 15kts, and then we packed up (Sue had joined me to help) and drove home. Next time we will get to the Islands. I'm pretty sure. But on the bright side I did get to paddle the Zodiac. Anyway, all adventures you survive are fun and this was no exception. Sue's arrival on Sunday to bbq a salmon dinner made it a lot easier to take. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, Wa www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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