So we set out for a day of sailing with our latest crew, tasty sandwiches and snacks and no wind. The water was like glass and with the warm sunny weather we weren't really expecting any real wind soon. With no wind we motored our way down toward Seattle and Elliott Bay to see some of the sights from the water.
After about a hour of powering South, we passed Shilshole Marina then West Point and entered Elliott Bay to get a great view of Seattle from the water. On the way down, we all enjoyed many great conversations about life in Seattle, favorite restaurants and our mutual love of our dogs. To my great disappointment, soon after entering Elliott Bay I heard the motor hiccup for a moment and few moments later the engine actually died. Once again the engine died conveniently - this just in time for us to sail in the wind we found just south of West Point. So we unfurled the jib and handed the helm over to Joel, gave him a few pointers and he was off and sailing us back toward Edmonds.
After troubleshooting the fuel system and trying to bleed the system, which didn't solve the issue. I did one thing I should have done early on, especially when I replaced all the fuel lines - I pulled the fuel pickup. When I blew on the pickup to clear it out several little chunks of gunk just big enough to be one big chunk came out. Perhaps building a small damn in the fuel pickup with crud isn't the best plan for supplying a consistent amount of fuel to the engine. When I reinstalled the pickup, I chanted a good wish for happy engine performance and hoped for the best. Turns out that the engine worked well for the rest of the day. Okay... enough boat drama for the day back to the good stuff.
On the sail back from Elliott Bay, we played musical helm. Joel handed off to Will who handed off to Amber. They all did wonderful jobs with sailing in the widely varying and shifty winds. It was fun to see everyone get accustomed to warm-cold-warm-cold cycle as the wind builds and dies. Trish was bundled up for most of the sail home looking like a fashionable pink Eskimo dressed for California weather. Wish I would have taken a picture.
We all enjoyed great lunches sharing chips, snacks and even some wonderful fancy chocolate caramels topped with sea salt which were great.
Sarah did a great job matching up our couple friends - they both got along so well and seemed to enjoy each other and sailing. We're looking forward to having them out again real soon.
Finished off the day with what I hope is a Andiamo tradition - a crew picture!
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