Return to WhimSea's Home Port. Where WhimSea Takes Us - May 2005

Archives for: May 2005

05/28/05

Permalink 10:46:11 pm, Categories: Adventures, 750 words   English (US)

May 28-31, 2005 – Apostle Islands

Posted by Karen A. Brown

The weekend forecast predicted cloudy, overcast skies. No wind, some rain and the possibility of thunderstorms. Remembering last year’s shut out, we packed with trepidation, not knowing if we would be sent home early or spending all of the time below decks.

We awoke early on Saturday, planning on leaving the marina shortly after our arrival. After hauling our provisions aboard, I began to stow them while Troy brought WhimC alongside. We intended to bring along the dinghy in case an opportunity to go island exploring arose.

WhimSea started up and pulled away from the dock as pretty as you please. We got a couple of miles out, just past the island and an alarm went off on the engine. There are only a few things that alarm could be for – engine heat or oil pressure. We checked them both with no luck. They looked good, but we topped everything off. We had been drifting during this time. We started the engine back up, thinking the alarm would stop, but it didn’t. Since we had had WhimSea out last weekend without issue, we couldn’t figure out what the problem could be, so we came about and went back to the marina.

After letting the engine cool for a bit, we checked the fluid levels again and thought we’d try again. A small fishing boat was out by the islands when we left the piers behind. What was remarkable about that was the fact that they were being boarded by the Coast Guard. Though we’re not certain, we’re assuming they were checking for safety equipment. Right about this time, the alarm went off again. Since we’d done everything we could think of, we headed back to the marina. We’d have to ask Dave for ideas. At the same time, the fishing vessel started heading in, they must have failed their inspection. The Coast Guard then came our way with all speed. Since we were already between the piers it wouldn’t be tough to catch up with us. They followed us in to the marina, but when we docked they turned around and went back out. It was weird because it, of course looked like they chased us in.

By this time Dave was at lunch, so we visited with our marina-mates while we waited for his return. Once he got back, it was pretty clear he couldn’t do anything for us. But another guy who works there, Jeremy, offered to come and take a look.

While Troy and Jeremy poked at the engine, I received a visit from Donna of Shangri-La. They were up for the weekend replacing a leaky window and hoping to put the sails up. Michael, her husband also came up while we were waiting for the alarm to sound. He mentioned that his alarm sensor sometimes shorted out while under way if the wire moved. This got Jeremy thinking and we finally determined the problem… the alarm sensor itself had gone bad! Since all the engine gauges work and everything else looked good, he disconnected the alarm sensor s we could head out. He’ll order us a new one.

With that problem fixed, we tossed off the dock lines once more and pointed towards the islands. We said goodbye to the marina-mates and wished them a good time at the evening’s pizza party and promised not to return until Monday.

Though we had no wind to speak of, we did have plenty of sun the whole way out. We saw lots of shipping traffic and got some photos of the lighthouse with our new camera.

We anchored at York for the evening’s southwest breezes, had a light dinner and hit the sack. What a long day.

Sunday so far was bright, sunny and the skies were clear. We were told today would be overcast and rainy so it’s a pleasant surprise. We plan to move to Raspberry sometime today for tonight’s northeast breezes.

Heading to the next anchorage we decided to raise the sails. That went OK. It was in rolling them back in where we had a problem. They didn’t want to go. The roller-furling just would not wind up. I ended up hoisting Troy aloft to seagull height so he could see if he might be able to fix it. No dice. On Monday, we motored home with the sail stowed in the V-Berth.

05/20/05

Permalink 10:26:54 pm, Categories: Adventures, 230 words   English (US)

May 20, 2005

Posted by Karen A. Brown

WhimSea is in the water! We headed up after work to make sure we could bend on the sails during the relative calm of the evening. Though the forecast called for rain, we hope they’re wrong and plan to head out in the morning, weather permitting.

We got a visit from Mark of Screaming Eagle. He dropped Screaming Eagle in as well and is spending the weekend on his boat.

The sails were bent on without issue before sitting down to a visit. It was nice to catch up and hear how everyone’s doing.

Saturday morning dawned gray, dreary and cold. The prediction is for rain which arrived around 12:30, 1:00. We waited to see if it would clear, but Saturday was spent listening to the intermittent rain, reading and napping. In late afternoon we saw Michelle and Al from Draggin’ Fly and visited with them for a while.

Sunday morning began at an all calm. There was barely a hint of breeze on the water. We went out for breakfast at Judy’s and decided that we’d at least start up the engine and go out for a drive. While we were out both the fog and the rain hit so we came back in. Another afternoon of reading and listening to the rain and wind gusts. Hopefully next weekend will be better!

05/07/05

Permalink 10:21:37 pm, Categories: Adventures, 28 words   English (US)

May 7, 2005 – Knife River Marina

Posted by Karen A. Brown

Today we brought the batteries up to the marina and prepared WhimSea for the water. We expect her to be in this week!

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