We all had a great night’s sleep and got underway around 8:30.  Justin, once again masterfully backed out of the slip and got us underway.

We headed north past beautiful scenery.

A very peaceful cruise.

Suddenly an alarm sounded.  The temperature gauge shot up.  Chris slowed the engine down.  Then the gps shut down and the depth sounder shut down.  Soon we had no electrical power at all.  Daaa Dum  (Not to worry, we were not in any danger.)

Meanwhile the 1940 Gardner Diesel engine kept chugging along.  Justin shut down all power sources on the boat and we slowed way down.

As we thought about our next steps, a voice came on the radio.  It was Diane, the owner of Marian II, our neighbor at Stimson Marina in Seattle saying she was right behind us – What?  She saw we had slowed way down.  J told her we were having issues and needed to get to a marina.  She was very supportive and stayed with us for a little while.  

As we slowly continued onward more things crept up and eventually even the radio shut down.  Quickly Justin programmed his phone to be able to use it in Canada.  With no electronics Justin and Chris were able to navigate with charts – old school style and as things deteriorated J found a marina much closer than the one we were headed for. (Still, we are really not in any danger.)  He was able to contact them on the phone to ensure they had room for a 73 foot boat and as soon as he said we were the Argonaut II we were home free.

We are now resting peacefully at Thetis Marina on Vancouver Island,

a very funky place but great folks who’ve been around a long time.

Everyone seems to remember the Argonaut as it used to live very near here in Boat Harbor back in the day. The marina operator is getting us in touch with electrical and mechanical folks nearby.  The operator and Thetis Marina are great by the way, the best customer service anyone could ask for.  The marina deckhand, Tucker, is pretty amazing too helping to dock incoming boats.

As soon as we were settled Chris and Justin were down in the engine room troubleshooting the issues that had arisen.

After a lot of brainstorming, it was time for a beer and thinking through the options.

The deck hand gave Justin the name of a guy who’d been around a long time and would be a great resource.  Justin was able to contact Norm and did a lot of troubleshooting over the phone.   C & J were back in the engine room running through all the checks Norm suggested.  Tomorrow we will see how things go.

Now, back to the marina, not only is this place great but the flowers are amazing

as are the local sites

and there’s a Pub Restaurant right up on shore.  Tonight’s special is a smoked salmon pizza

which we brought back to the boat for dinner.

A little side story:  Julian Matson owned the Argonaut from 1970 – 2002.  Everyone knew Julian.  He must have been quite a guy.  During his ownership, he restored this boat to it’s original beauty.  His boatworks partner, Ulrich Briner, lives near here and we’re hoping he’ll be able to stop by for a short visit.  It would be amazing to hear his stories.

And speaking of Ulrich, there’s an inlaid Compass Ross in the floor of the pub that was made (freehand) by Ulrich.

Just behind the restaurant are the showers.  Can you believe the flowers?

And one last bit of beauty silently slipping by our boat.

Life’s an Adventure!