New oarlock system on Watertender 9.4

Our dinghy is a Watertender 9.4 that we love because it is supremely stable (as in try as you might you can't get it to capsize) and virtually indestructible. Having two young sons has made the first invaluable, and gunkholing in the rocky NW makes the latter a real saving grace. The original oarlocks on the boat are fairly insubstantial for anyone, like us, who rows as their sole means of propulsion. There are supposed to be aluminum backing plates inside the plastic hull, but over some time, the screws strip through that and pull free. On ours the screws had pulled out and stripped on the starboard side and were no longer functional, despite my many efforts to keep them just snug, not to overtighten, and to even try some West System GFlex to help hold them in place. Time for a new and better solution.

Stock photo of a Watertender being rowed. You can see the oarlocks. They are only screwed into the plastic hull with an aluminum backing plate inside the hull that doesn't hold up to much use. It is not through bolted in any way.

Installed crankcase ventilation system, finally!

Hard to believe it took me this long to do it, but after years of putting up with a gaseous bilge and nasty oily residue, I finally got around to installing a positive crankcase ventilation system on Aeolus. One would have thought that this system, required on all vehicles since about 1863, would have been standard on the Universal 5432 aboard Aeolus, but alas, it was not. Seems that marine diesels were neither required nor was it common practice to do this back in the 80's.

There is no particular concern in doing this installation as again it has been common practice on all engines for many decades. Even my lovely 1978 Mercedes 300D, one of the finest machines ever built, has a positive crankcase ventilation system on it. Though one of the main reasons for this on cars is smog related, boats lack the fresh air around the engines of cars and thus we sailors have other pressing reasons for the system. 

The problem became very acute when I installed a cabin heater that drew air from the bilge area and it therefore blew out the oily air that the crankcase was venting into the bilge. I became really tired also of wiping oily residue off of all the surfaces, as the outlet for the old hose put it down near the bottom of the oil pan, but the suction of the intake manifold pulled a fair amount of that air up and around the engine. That is, besides hot air rising.

View of the crankcase ventilation system installed. Trace the hose from the air filter back to the crankcase.

8/5/11 Hardy Island to Lund, and goodbye to Bill and Banning

It is 28 miles from Musket Island Marine Park to Lund, and we motored the whole way as the wind was light and on the nose. Lund is a funny place, so small and touristy, but it has a distinct utility and cannot be avoided at all times. The marina is tight and you usually need to raft during the summer, and so we did.

In Lund after a week of amazing sailing

This trip with Bill and Banning was absolutely wonderful. Bill is a true sailor whose knowledge and happiness afloat makes for great company, and Banning is a typical bright 10 year old who played well with both of my boys. I think the trip meant a lot to them too and whetted his appetite for more exploring up in these northern waters.

Both of our wives were driving up from Bainbridge today to meet us in Lund. So soon enough, the boys were joined by the girls and we told many stories over a nice dinner at the Lund Hotel. It meant so much to Bill and I to hear the boys excitedly relate their adventures to the moms. What a lucky group of kids, and two very lucky dads.

8/4/11 Left Jedidiah to Musket Island Marine Park, Hardy Island

We were sad to leave Jedidiah as she is such a lovely and welcoming place, but we were anxious to feel the wind in the sails and see some new country as well. We left Deep Bay and turned into Sabine Channel to sail downwind in a NW 10-15 knot breeze. Texada is so beautiful here, steep and green. Our sails were full and happy all the way down to the southern tip of the island before we hit a large dead zone right at the point. We went from 5 knots to dead in the water about as fast as you can say "stop". We found some more wind a little further on and sailed in light breezes to Pender Harbor for a quick resupply of water and snacks.

A happy Bill Jones

My only previous time in Pender Harbor was in 1999 on my kayak trip as I had used the post office there as a resupply stop. There were two ladies in the office back then who were so thoroughly kind to me and my wife in the way they dealt with us and my food. Just angels. So I will always have fond associations with this place. It was only vaguely familiar to me as we pulled into the harbor, with the most striking feature being the "little Venice" feel of the complex shoreline.