The Delivery Trip Home
Tourmaline was purchased new by Mr. Williams of Surrey, BC in Sept. 1999. The boat was documented in Canada as Tourmaline II. In Canada documented vessels cannot have the same name, so apparently there was another documented boat named Tourmaline. I liked the name, but erased the II after it because in the US it does not matter how many documented vessels bear the same name. Tourmaline is a gem stone, typically purple or pink, but green tourmaline comes only from Afghanistan. All of the canvas (dodger and bimini) and upholstery as well as the sheer stripe and name are in forest green.
I liked the color and the boat, which was well equipped with electronics when purchased in March 2003. The prior owner had added a third 4 D battery to the electrical system, which comes with just two 4 Ds as standard equipment. The boat passed its survey, but March winds were too strong to allow a test ride in the boat prior to taking possession. We had not unfurled the sails and had only run the motor at the dock.
On March 26, 2003, my wife took me and two friends to Blaine, Washington, to take delivery of the boat. Again the wind was blowing about 25 knots. My friend DeVere Lindh was recruited because he owns a Catalina 34 and was familiar with Catalina boats. Jim Sola owns a Grand Banks 42, and is familiar with mechanical matters that might be handy to know. We spent the night on the boat so that we could get an early start in the morning. Our destination was Tacoma, Washington, about 120 miles from Blaine. The days are short in March, so we left the dock at dawn in a howling wind.
Jim commented how well Tourmaline took the big waves. He indicated that he would not take his Grand Banks 42 out in this stuff. The first two hours the motor purred along beautifully and we were all impressed. We did not raise the sail because the wind was too strong to witness the unfurled sails for the first time. At the two hour mark the engine began to sputter. We had plenty of fuel but it continued to sputter and then it quit. We were able to start it again but it would not run very long before it quit again. Half way between Blaine and Bellingham, where the dealer was located, we called the dealer for help. He suggested we might change the primary fuel filter, which was a 90% chance to be the culprit. The boat had been idle for several months and sediment in the fuel may have been shaken loose by the wave action.
There were no spare parts aboard. We suggested the possibility of the dealer towing us in to Bellingham. He said we should sail it in, so with some apprehension we raised the main sail only, and motor sailed into Bellingham. Just as we prepared to do so a large Coast Guard boat approached us from our stern with the blue lights flashing. They requested permission to board us.
The CG officials separated the three of us and interrogated each of us apart from the others to make sure we all told the same story. With Vancouver, BC painted on our stern, they were concerned that we may have been in Canada and not checked into the US properly. We had not crossed the border from Blaine, but had headed straight south. The officers proceeded to inspect the vessel, probably looking for drugs, but we passed with no major violations except for lack of a plaque regarding oil spillage, and a plaque for not dumping plastics overboard. We located all the fire extinguishers but could not locate these required plaques. This mandated an order to purchase and display these plaques immediately. Two hours later we docked in Bellingham and purchased the plaques. We asked the CG if they could tow us into Bellingham, but they informed us that they are not in the towing business.
We finally located the last Racor filter our size in Bellingham and the dealer helped us install it – “a simple task” that required at least an hour for the dealer to do. The old one was full of sludge, which it was designed to filter out of our fuel. The CG boarding at least added a touch of excitement to the day and the stalling engine a touch of apprehension. BUT as we approached Anacortes Cap Sante Marina, a strange odor emanated from the cabin. Jim went below to check it out and WOW! The retrofitted third 4D battery was smoking and bulging, near ready to put a hole in our boat and explode. Jim pulled the negative power cord from the battery and we noticed that the depth sounder quit working. We arrived at Cap Sante Marina after dark and spent the night.
Next morning we headed down the LaConnor channel. The Raytheon GPS continued working, but we had to watch the chart for depth and stayed in the center of the channel without a depth sounder. At LaConnor we filled with fuel and one of the guys had to use the head. Suddenly raw sewage was pouring down the coaming. It was coming out of the head’s air vent. We quickly hosed off the deck before anyone saw the mess, which was caused by an overflowing holding tank, apparently left open for many months and filled with sea water primarily. The Coast Guard personnel had noted that the Y valve was open to permit raw sewage to flow directly into the bay (which was legal in Canada), but for fear of breaking the handle on our trip home they left it that way with our promise to seal it shut as soon as we arrived home. This left the head available for emergency use only.
As we continued down the canal we met a log boom being towed as we approached the 90 degree bend in the channel. Thought for sure we would run aground as we moved to the edge of this dredged waterway. We survived the rest of the trip without a depth sounder and the third battery, which had turned its white compartment into a black compartment and smelled awful all the way home. We finally arrived home at my new moorage slip in utter darkness at 2130 and my wife was there with a flashlight to guide us to the new slip.
The three of us are still friends and have enjoyed several cruises together over the years. But this tale has been told numerous times, sometimes embellished a bit. We all remember it as our trip from Hell.
Left to right: Jim Sola, DeVere Lindh, Lowell Anderson March 26, 2003
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