Toilet Fixed!

We pulled into La Conner Sunday, right to the AT dock – nice to know it’s at our disposal on a space available basis. It’s a little tricky, as you have to back all the way in, but nice to be away from the swift channel current.

Justin from AT, who we’ve met before, has done a lot of work on this particular boat and knows it very well. He spent Monday with us working on a few things, answering our many questions, and addressing our few concerns. Most importantly, Justin fixed the head!!! There really was something wrong with things – other than it not holding water. He figured it all out and came up with a fix that didn’t involve hanging a pipe on the wall – which is what we were prepared for. It’s all rather complicated and I won’t go into the details; suffice it to say that we now have a fully functioning toilet and we are very happy about it.

We got everything checked off our list. We have a few things to keep our eyes on, and we learned more about our boat’s systems and peculiarities. (All boats have them!) It was good to have Justin’s expert eyes on the boat and he helped us understand a lot of things. We’re both very pleased with the care and consideration from the AT team.

We had dinner at the tavern because Nick had a hankering for their delicious fish and chips. I, on the other hand, was not quite as satisfied with my meal. I really like clams so I thought I’d try the clam strips. I never order clam strips! To me clam strips are for those who don’t really like clams. Anyway, the server could not tell me what kind of clams they use but they were oddly shaped pieces in various sizes…chewy and flavorless. Definitely not minced, which may be a good thing, but just not very good. Should have ordered the steamers…

Oh, and before I forget…I lowered the dinghy without the drain plug. Just want to get that mention out of the way. Despite the label by the davit controls that says “** DRAIN PLUG! ** and the fact that the plug itself is zip tied to the davit hook…I still forgot it. I quickly realized I was hearing water when I shouldn’t be and reversed the davit. No harm, no foul. @%$#!

We pulled out of La Conner Tuesday morning, thinking we would go to Lopez. We changed our minds and are now at Rosario Resort on Orcas Island. There is hardly anyone here, which is nice. Every time we visit, we like it more and more, but it can get very busy. We hope to visit Eastsound today, either by dinghy or bike…it’s chilly, so biking might be best.

This fishing seal is quite the attraction. Notice the black mass of small fish along the rocks at the bottom of the screen, and the seal’s herding behavior before gobbling a mouthful!

[I'll add the video later - having technical difficulty.]

We have a tentative itinerary: Rosario again tonight, then Fisherman Bay for a night, Friday Harbor for the weekend (possible bad weather), a couple of nights at anchor in Garrison Bay, Stuart Island, maybe back to Lopez, then begin heading south with a stop in Port Townsend.