Day 4 - ASA103 on-water and written test Today is my birthday, so happy birthday to me. Game level 58. Grateful to still be alive, reasonably healthy, and able to gift myself experiences such as this one. In the morning after eating breakfast (just Zone bars and coffee for me, but others cook bacon/eggs/toast) we untie from the buoy and head over to the dock. There are showers available which I take advantage of, then walk around to check out the historic Rosario mansion.
The mansion is very cool. Built in the early 1900s, it reminds me a lot of the interior of the Queen Mary that I just stayed on a week earlier (see page 9 of this blog section).
Sadly Steven is still miserable. The relative stillness of the overnight moorage and the short shore time didn't help. He decides to take the ferry back to Anacortes. We drop him off at the dock on Shaw Island just in time to catch it.
The rain has stopped, there is no wind and the sun is starting to peek through the clouds. There is not much point in trying to sail and tonight we have to take the 103 written test, so we pretty much motor directly to our next destination - Reid Harbor on Stuart Island.
Here we get to try another type of mooring - a side-tie. I take the helm while Rod and Scott secure the lines.
The test is fairly straightforward but I do miss a couple questions, scoring 96%. And, I now get Steven's stateroom.
Since there are now only two students for the two onboard kayaks, I don't bother setting up the inflatable and instead take one of the boat's kayaks for a paddle around the harbor. It's very cool and peaceful.
At some point I spot an otter swimming near shore (you can barely see the head in the first pic below). So I follow it for a while and snap more pix when it climbs out of the water.
There are a couple others there as well. Then I paddle on.
The selfie below is funny - I've looked younger, yes :) And I truly am smiling on the inside. Giggling really. The facade just doesn't reflect it. It's how I do.
Almost back to the boat, there is a very large splash just behind me. I turn to look what made it but only see the waves, and the water is dark. That makes me a bit uneasy so I paddle close to shore and wait if I can see what lurks below the surface. A seal, it turns out.
Then back on the boat for more conversation, an early dinner, and catching up on some emails since the phone has enough reception to make a hotspot.
The sunset is spectacular.
Even Rod and Christina, despite being the seasoned sailors that they are, can't resist a sunset selfie.
Captain Rod continues to educate throughout the day, and one of the final things we do today is review the engine systems. That will be on the next test, too. Of course given my current projects I keep thinking of how this could be turned into an electric. For a sailboat this is actually quite feasible because with a hull speed of only 7 knots or so, it seldom uses more than 20KW (which I calculated from fuel consumption of 0.7gph) and often closer to 10KW. So a reasonably sized 100KWh battery pack would give 5-10 hours runtime, with ability to recharge from the prop regen when under sail, or from solar/wind when moored. Would eliminate the annoying engine noise, clunky transmission, and give much more control while docking.
With all of these thoughts in my head, time to go to sleep. We'll see what tomorrow brings. This is roughly our track so far.
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