Water where it wasn’t wanted

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

After we loaded ourselves and our food and our gear onto Braesail, Walt’s first task was replacing the boat’s Yanmar engine’s radiator cap to see if that would stop a leak that Walt had discovered on his last workday on the boat. He’d found that the current cap was not seating well, and he had purchased a second one in Everett. I sat in the cockpit while Walt worked in the engine room, starting and stopping the engine on command. Walt screwed on the new cap. I turned on the engine. Water spurted out. I turned the engine off. A second try with the new cap. Same result. Walt called the Yanmar shop in Bellingham about the availability of a cap designed specifically for our engine. They put one on hold for us, and we drove to Bellingham, picked up the cap, enjoyed lunch outside at a brew pub (their homemade potato chips were terrific!), drove back to the boat, and tried the second new radiator cap with its gasket. Engine on. Water spraying out AGAIN. Engine off. A second try. More water. More frustration! Walt drove off to find some material out of which to cut another gasket, returned after a short time, and carved a new gasket out of the material he’d purchased. Back to the cockpit I went, and Walt tried the gasket we’d bought in Bellingham with the gasket he’d made. Engine on. More water from the radiator. Aaargh! Engine off. More adjusting of the gasket. Engine on—and SUCCESS at last, with the gasket that Walt had made added to the one Walt had just purchased forming a sufficiently tight seal! WHEW! Then came engine room clean-up, and a decision to motor for about 2.5 hours on a beautiful evening to wide, lovely Blind Bay on Shaw Island.

We arrived a little after 8 pm following a problem-free journey: the engine water temperature was normal and the engine room had remained dry—hooray! Noisy Canada geese inhabiting a small island welcomed us to the bay, our new anchor windlass let out the anchor chain easily and smoothly, and the new, heavier anchor Walt had purchased and installed after our frightening anchor-dragging “adventure” in December (his shoulder STILL aches after lifting that anchor into position in its “cradle” in Braesail’s bow) dug itself quickly and firmly into the bay’s muddy bottom—very reassuring! After the final Washington State Ferry of the evening had left its terminal at the edge of the bay at around 10:30 pm, we enjoyed a quiet night, and we were happy to be out on Braesail again!