June 22, 2023
As the saying goes, “The eagle has landed,” as in our boat problems are solved. This morning the mechanic Tom came on board our boat to fix our Bow Thruster and he did exactly that. It took him less than two hours to figure out the problem was “sticky brushes.” Apparently as the brushes age, if you lean on them too heavily, which I did in Prince Rupert, the brushes can heat up and get sticky. The automatic turn off switch will engage to prevent over heating but the brushes can get stuck making it very difficult to get the battery to kick over the fused material. (Note to self, be gentle with the thruster and change the brushes regularly). I am trying to order a new set (there are 8) and if I can get them in time I’ll have them air expressed to us here in Ketchikan and have Tom return to install them. Otherwise, I’ll do it upon our return to Anacortes.
The rest of our adventure today was going to the grocery store for supplies and dodging cruise ship folks. There were four large cruise ships in today and literally “thousands” of people spilling out on to the streets. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.
The rest of the day will be spent doing general boat cleaning chores, maybe another stroll through town, and back to wind, weather, and cruise planning for our upcoming trip to the Misty Fjords on Saturday.
