One step forward, two steps back.

Dear oh dear... major problems with the holding tank system. Effluent leaking everywhere. From the piping in the lazarette, from the vented loop in the stack and down into the engine room, and when we opened the cap, the tank was obviously extremely pressurized because...Yuck, you don't want to know! The crazy thing is that I've been here before, and have had the system overhauled because of it. With hindsight, it's now easy to see what went wrong both times. A faulty sensor said the tank was empty when in fact it was so full that the man from Marine Sanitation of Seattle said that I was lucky it had not literally exploded!

LaConner Maritime have been very good about this and are happy to rectify all the problems, at a greatly reduced cost. I suppose we are all at fault for believing the sensor, because I knew it wasn't empty, I just thought the tank must be extra huge.

So It's back to LaConner on Thursday, where they have no space at the dock, and so Lone Wolf will be hauled out again, which they are not going to charge for. I'll take the opportunity while she's out of the water to replace the incessantly dripping wing shaft stuffing box with a PSS (pack-less shaft seal) by PYI. I have one on the main shaft, and by all accounts they are marvelous. They will also put in a Floscan meter for accurate real-time fuel consumption readings. (important on long trips) I've also had an SSB radio installed.

I saw the man from ABT. He knew everything about hydraulics that is known, and then some. I couldn't understand much of what he said, but I think Oleg did. He reset the stabilizer parameters, so they should be ok now.

One day, this blog will live up to its name, and there will be a voyage, but not today, Captain; or tomorrow for that matter. My family motto is 'Le jour viendra' (the day will come)

I hope it viendras soon, verily I do.