Sailing Vessel Karma

Many a chore has been accomplished the last few days. We even had time to procrastinate! After many a scrub on day 3, we still had more cleaning to do so day 4 we scrubbed until we had only nubs. It seems the more we clean the more dirty the boat gets. Stuff absolutely everywhere with minimal seating. We only eat meals next to each other if we have energy sufficient to clear a wide enough spot.

Day 4: 8 hours

• Scrubbin’
• Panquacks consumed

Needing a break from all those panquacks, we went to shore to find the lighthouse on Day 5 after light scrubbin’. Going to shore lately has been extra awesome because it means getting rid of trash on the boat, like only hydraulic lines that should’ve been gone long ago. The Ucluelet Small Craft Harbour has great waste facilities and a very kind manager: oil dump, various recycling, etc. On shore, I snagged some new road rollerblades via a local trade group so I was able to try those out while Liam had his trusty scooter, as always. We found the stubby lighthouse along a lovely trail and reflected on the mood we had rounding it days before; the transmission had been dying so we decided to limp to Mexico on it if we couldn’t find a fix for it in Ucluelet. It was just a matter of time as it was getting worse so plans for Mexico seemed a little shaky but we were still determined to make it south before the nasty weather occurs along the coast.

People love to fish just off the coast here by the lighthouse so we saw many a boat, including our anchor neighbors in their one off Finot sloop, aluminum and French built. They looked a bit out of place however and we watched until they surely had moved away from shore. I guess they went out day fishing because they were back “home” when we returned. So was another boat – SV Manna! Tangent had introduced us in the Crease Islands back in the Broughtons. We dinked over to their lovely boat to say hello, and in all honesty to shorten our time aboard messy Karma. It’s annoying to cook in a messy Karma so we procrastinated earlier by justifying a pizza at the local pizzeria aptly named Shipwreck. Super tasty.

Stuffing the Stuffing Box

Early in the day, we picked up some packing for the propeller shaft. The Gore Tex GFO fiber material which apparently seals better than the older flax style packing. For $4 CAN we bought 3 feet. We measured and used box cutters to cut 4 strips around the 1 1/4″ shaft. Gathering an assortment of picking tools, channel locks, and a bandana to slow the water infiltration, we set to work. The hook pick on my multitool worked the best for us and we pulled out one continuous piece of old, worn flax. It was wrapped 4 times. Our bilge pump did not fair so well in this situation…at some point it bust a small hole in the side the same time it just decided to pump water into our scrubbed bilge. Eventually it started going the other way and did fine but we will be addressing that system before we leave. The packing went in fine, guided by a flat head. We put 3 wraps, staggering the seams, then backed the locking nut off and hand tightened the packing nut. Water was dripping fairly quickly so we added the fourth wrap and hand tight had the water sealed out just fine.

Day 5: 2 hours

• Glorious organization of wiring
• Lighthouse spotted
• Gore Tex packing packed

Painting with Bilgecoat

The next day had us on top of things again. We painted our hearts out with Interlux’s Bilgecoat. Ensured a dry bilge, chipped cracked old paint off, and rolled on our new favorite paint. It is stinky. We used a brush for the small sections. In the really small weird corner sections we just poured the paint. It dries in 16 hours. Liam went to shore and followed through on some plans to get the new engine in the boat. When we first arrived in Ucluelet we chatted with a long-time boat engine replacer and magician, 52 years in Ucluelet!, and he had offered use of his dock and suggested getting the fish packers next door to hoist our engine off the dock. Liam found the owners of the fish packing place and confirmed the plan and price yada yada. The dock owner also said we can leave our old, beloved, 2qm with him as he is hauling off many engines to the dump. We might muscle the new engine down the ramp and the old one up, with the help of a local automotive mechanic, or we’ll pay cash dollars and go the easy route.

Liam brought back celebratory beers we enjoyed as I finished up with painting and we chatted through the many ways the 2GM20F will go in the boat. Part of the celebration was due to the confirmation that Liam’s most lovely family friends have room in their car to haul our new engine to Ucluelet as they head to Tofino for a fun trip. The most massive of thanks to Janet and Amos for making this happen. Later we trekked to shore to paint wood supports that are in the engine room and hauled more hydraulic lines and old wiring to the dump.

A very satisfying day. We are super well set up now to install the new engine when Janet and Amos arrive Thursday, or likely the next day after a nice dinner and some sighs of relief.

Day 6: 10 hours

• Painted the engine “room”
• Painted all pieces that go in the engine “room”
• Confirmed transportation of engine Sidney > Ucluelet
• Confirmed use of fish packing crane if we want
• Confirmed use of Larson’s dock if we want
• Confirmed use of Larson’s means to haul away old engine

Next steps are figuring out how to align and set an engine! And scrub.