May 30th – Port McNeill

We crossed Queen Charlotte Strait this morning in very calm conditions. We stopped first at the fuel dock to top off then moved back to the “D” dock at the marina where we were previously (May 30 ).

Our fuel consumption has been pretty much in line with what we  expected. So far we’ve covered 424.8 nautical miles (488.8 statute miles) and operated the engine 72.2 hours. In addition we’ve run the generator 19.9 hours. We added 155 gallons of diesel to our tank. In round numbers, allowing 0.5 gallons per hour on the generator, we’re burning about 2 gallons per hour. This doesn’t even count the diesel burned by the furnace to heat the boat on the cool mornings.

After tying up at the dock, we retrieved at the marina office the part we had ordered last week. I installed it and a battery temperature sensor on our house bank. In the afternoon, we tackled the boat cleaning we so badly needed.

The exterior was salty from spray and dirty the from the mud dragged up with the anchor chains. While we love sticky mud for its holding power, it does drag a lot of mud on to the anchor rollers despite Marcia using the salt water wash down to spray it off as it comes up.

As far the interior, after nearly three weeks aboard, it was time for the scrubbing that Marcia gave the floors and other surfaces. Based on the cat fur she collected, it is hard to believe there are only two cats aboard.

Tomorrow will be laundry day. I’ll try to post some photos at the same time.