Last time, we anchored overnight at Stuart Island and planned to head to Friday Harbor the next day. The boat still had a leak of unknown origin, so we decided to take a direct route to Friday Harbor (versus stopping to explore) to meet the technician early in the afternoon.
Around 11am, we pulled up the anchor. Luckily it only had a small amount of seaweed on it.
The weather was fantastic, with light winds coming from the south.
Our plan was to travel around 10 knots, stop after 15 minutes and let the mid and forward bilge pumps pump out the water. Interestingly, the high water alarm came on after going faster at 12 knots for about 10 minutes. Could there be a correlation? We wondered if going faster was putting more pressure or torque on something causing it to leak faster.
Kurt headed down to the engine room again and took off the cover over the dripless shafts. Then we put the boat into forward and sure enough, the port side seal on the shaft was leaking pretty badly. At least now we knew where the leak was coming from.
Arriving to Friday Harbor
We hobbled into Friday Harbor and they assigned us our slip on the inside of C Dock. There was literally one 60′ space between two boats and Scott had to parallel park the boat to dock (this is not a photo of our time in Friday Harbor). He did a fantastic job docking and everyone was impressed! Luckily the wind was coming towards the dock, so it pushed us right in.
I called Anacortes Yacht Charter to let them know we made it safely and that we found the source of the leak. The technician was supposed to meet us at 1pm, but he rescheduled for later in the afternoon. With that said, we headed into town to explore a bit.
Check out their dinghy dock!
Exploring downtown Friday Harbor
Downtown Friday Harbor is located steps away from the marina and there are quaint shops and a few restaurants. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, a lot of businesses were still closed or open with limited hours.
It was pretty warm, and soon we were all parched. Time to stop for a cold beverage. We stumbled into Herb’s Tavern, the oldest in town. This is a very cool bar, with a lot of character!
I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t find a great souvenir shop. I hadn’t liked anything I saw along the trip, so I was hoping Friday Harbor would have a gift store. They had one that sold a few things, but I didn’t like anything they had.
The gang then ventured back to boat to relax and get ready for dinner. On our way back, we ran into Susie’s Mopeds again! Definitely on my bucket list for next time.
We stopped by Downrigger’s restaurant to make dinner reservations; the earliest we could get in was 7pm. Glad we made them, because they were nearly full.
The technician finally arrived!
Though Scott told the tech where the leak was coming from, he still wanted to take the boat out for a sea trial that afternoon. I explained to him that there was no way, we were going back out to troubleshoot this.
We told the tech where it was leaking and he maneuvered the shaft seal hoses around and sure enough, a huge stream of water shot out!
Be sure to tune into our YouTube episode to see all of the footage! It was pretty shocking to all of us.
He then said we should be fine heading back to Anacortes, if we go slow and pump out. Here’s the catch – he forgot to bring a new aft bilge pump! I told him he needed to install the pump and he replied saying he didn’t think we needed one! WHAT?! Are you kidding me? We’re taking on 500 gallons of water with only two working bilge pumps. I insisted he go get the new pump to install.
Around 5pm, the tech headed back to the shop and returned with the new pump. Hallelujah! Time for cocktails and a nice dinner after all that!
Dinner in Friday Harbor
It was a beautiful warm night and we sat outside on the deck at Downriggers.
One note of advice is if you sit outside, they have no lighting. so by the time our dinner arrived, it was pitch dark. Tracey had to shine her phone flashlight on our food so we could see what we were eating! But we had an amazing dinner with great friends, so we couldn’t ask for a better night.
Heading back to Anacortes
Before heading back to Anacortes, we walked back into town to grab breakfast. We found the Rocky Bay Cafe and the food was great! The portions were so huge, they could feed two people!
Anacortes is just under 20 miles from Friday Harbor and we figured it would take us about two hours. Unlike our trip leaving Anacortes, the boat ride was comfortable and enjoyable.
Returning the Boat
One of the requirements of the charter company is you have to fill the boat up with fuel. We all debated on doing this, as we wanted an option should they not refund our money. But I told the group that we need to do our part of the agreement to show good faith. Luckily, there was only one boat waiting to fuel up and we got in about 10 minutes later.
Once we finished fueling up, we notified Anacortes Yacht Charter that we were heading to the dock. When we arrived, they had a dock hand ready to help us. He even brought down carts. The only other requirement the charter company has is you have to remove your trash and strip the linens. They do everything else. The charter company does do a walk through to ensure there is no damage.
We loaded the truck back up (how did we have more than we had coming here?) and headed to the office to talk to the GM.
Turns out that the GM wasn’t in when stopped by. We ended up talking to the senior service manager, showed him our video and he assured us they would take care of us. The next day, Scott and I had a lengthy call with the GM about the situation. I told the GM that the charter company was very lucky that we were experienced boaters. We probably preventing the boat from sinking. He said he needed to talk to the owner of the boat and his boss to see what they could do for us.
Stay tuned for our next blog and video to find out what they ended up doing for us. We’ll also give you a tour of the boat and breakdown our costs of the charter. Please be sure to subscribe to our channel to see future episodes. Link at the bottom of this blog.
As always, thank you for following our journey! Follow us on social media @BoatingJourney. Cheers, Scott & Ally
