Fury Cove to Shearwater via Namu

Spirit in Namu Harbor
Huddled around the fire pit before dinner

We understand this ship is a real bargain!

The buildings look good until you get close
The further building is inaccessible due to a rotting boardwalk

The managers house with a pool table

May 8, 2011

After a peaceful night at anchor rafted next to Sea Jay, Miriam and I got up and began Mother's Day with breakfast and then launched the tender and took a photo tour of Fury Cove in the sunshine. During the very early morning hours most of the boats anchored overnight had departed, leaving only the two of us and two other boats also rafted together.

After photos and re-stowing the tender, we have figured out that we have one or more failed house batteries that will have to be addressed when we get to either Shearwater or Ketchikan. However, with the generator, we can minimize the impact for a while.

Departing Fury Cove shortly after 1100, we motored out into Fitzhugh Sound and headed for Namu. Sea Jay followed us about one hour later. Namu is an abandoned cannery town, slowly fading back into ruins like Butedale, but they still have overnight moorage and a tour of the ruins. There is still a lot that is left, including the abandoned store, the pool table in the manager's house and lots of buildings slowly crumbling under the weight of winter snows and no maintenance. It will not be long before stops will be impossible due to the deterioration.

The caretakers, Pete and Teresa are really nice, and are working hard to keep enough going to attract visiting boats for a day or two. They built a fire in the shelter on the dock where we had dinner and drinks as the sun set. Even with the fire it was cold, winter is still here. There was one other sailboat from Sweden tied up to the dock.

Morning brought a departure for Shearwater where we hope to find an electrician to look at the battery situation.

The log now reads 368 nautical miles.

May 9, 2011

We said our goodbye's to the staff at Namu and headed for Shearwater, a run of only 26 nautical miles. Arriving shortly before noon we found the dock in sad shape, no power, no water and broken beams due to a 110 mph hurricane that devastated Shearwater in March. The entire guest dock broke free!

It is definitely early in the season. While waiting for a mechanic to arrive to check the battery bank we discovered loose and corroded terminals on the house batteries. The mechanic confirmed that was likely the problem, so two hours with emery cloth, contact cleaner and wrenches tightening all connections (all of them were loose to some degree!) has solved the immediate problem. The rain is falling again, but we are having fun and relieved we do not have a serious house battery bank issue!

A valuable lesson in the importance of keeping all bolted connections tight!

The log now reads 394 nautical miles.