My wife and I enjoyed a wonderful six week cruise last summer. We have sailed our very comfortable 43-foot Pearson sloop, Alethea, all around the Puget Sound and the Salish Sea.

It was a warm summer day in early August as we departed Friday Harbor and headed north to the Gulf Islands as far north as Naniamo. Buchart Gardens was also a favorite port-of-call for a leisurely stroll. After enjoying Naniamo for a couple of days, we began the return trip south. Keeping to the outside of Gabriola Island, we spent the first night in Silva Bay. It was delightful.

We kayaked around the anchorage identifying a boat from our home town, Williams Oregon (population 300). We knocked on the hull of the beautiful motor sailor, only to find out that one of our crew lived in the exact same house as this couple now lived, quite a surprise.

The next day we renewed our cruise south with a wonderful port beam reach with a 10 to 15 knot breeze. We were hoping for this in the open waters of the Georgia Straight. We opted earlier to not navigate Dodd’s Narrows so that kept us to the east of Gabriola and Valdez Islands. Piloting Dodds narrows on the way north will be the subject of another note. Just know that is very narrow, can be very swift, and everyone needs to use channel 16 to alert others that you are passing through so there are no collisions.

It was late in the day when we rounded Valdez Island heading for another pass, Porlier Pass. It is also known for its swift waters on ebb tides and even faster currents in flood tides. We had been through this pass before and held no uneasiness for this passage, but we should have.

Our strategist had worked out an early afternoon slack passage. We arrived a bit late. The tide had turned to a flood, so we met a bit of a current, almost a set of rapids against us. As we lined up to take the pass midstream we noticed a bit of rough water ahead of us. We had experience with whirlpools and rapids, so these were to be expected. After sailing all afternoon, the wind now began to drop off so we needed a bit of an assist from our trusty 49 horsepower marinized Kubota diesel. We smiled as we made headway through the standing waves and into the pass.

But our smiles were not to last. The cabin and cockpit began to smell like burnt rubber and the smell turned to noxious white smoke, especially noxious to the skipper, mechanic, owner. The engine high temperature alarm signaled an end to the boost provided by the engine and it was shut down. We had just made it through the pass but were not making headway out of it without the engine.

Hoping for a return to sailing, the anxious crew felt for the wind and watched for the sails to refill. It was not to be. Oh sure, we may have looked like we were sailing, but the current had the stronger hand and Alethea was headed north instead of south. Our position now was just north of Thetis Island, still a location of some current. Directly north of us were a set of rocky reefs, and we were headed in that direction.

Opening the engine compartment, it was immediately obvious that we were without a fan belt. Of course we have no fan either, but the engine coolant pump is operated by a belt that connects the engine crank shaft to the pump and to the alternator. Oh did I mention that earlier in June we had installed a new, high output alternator with a new longer fan belt. Apparently this new fan belt was slipping over the crankshaft pulley, held tightly by the new alternator, and fried. Hoping to replace the fried fan belt, it was discovered that our spare fan belts were a bit short and there is no way to get a short fan belt to fit over the three pulleys. So with the problem diagnosed, the skipper, mechanic, owner, came up for air to notice our southward heading actually taking Alethea north toward the aforementioned rocky reefs. That’s when the phone calls began.

The first call was to a Ladysmith Marina, we were hoping to get there later in the afternoon. It was about 4:30 PM now. Nice people, but could not help us with a fan belt today, maybe tomorrow after you arrive, they did have a boat that could come out to us if needed, oh, and, here is a mechanic’s phone number you might try. Calling the mechanic, and two more, returned two answering machines and a “I don’t have a boat, but I have the fan belt you need.”

In a stroke of brilliance the skipper, mechanic, owner remembered he had towing insurance through BoatUS. A quick call to the 1-800 phone number brought the happy tones of a gal with a bit of a southern drawl on the line. Of course, the first question was, where are you. My answer was north of Thetis Island in the Gulf Islands. She replied, where’s that? I said, do you know where Vancouver Island is? She said, oh I found it. And actually in moments I was on the phone with both her, the BoatUS operator and a local Vessel Assist skipper. That was actually very comforting.

Within minutes the Vessel Assist skipper knew what I needed, had called his wife to get to the auto supply before they closed. He told us that he was a bit north, out of his normal zone, but better for us. He told us that he could be with us in twenty minutes, really comforting news.

But as we again returned to the issue of safety of the boat and crew, the rocky reefs north of Thetis Island came into sharp focus and were getting sharper every minute. How do we get away from these reefs without the use of the wind or the engine? Well we actually could use the engine for a few minutes without doing it harm, so the engine was restarted and put in all ahead medium. We motored for several minutes as we watched the engine temperature gauge climb. With the reefs much more distant, we shut the engine down for the second time and hoped the afternoon winds would carry us around the west side of Thetis Island and toward Ladysmith harbor. But there was to be no help from this sailor’s best friend.

But look, is that a fast orange boat approaching from the south? Hooray it’s the BoatUS Vessel Assist boat. We made preparations for starboard quarter tie. The operator approached cautiously and tied up expertly. He reached down and handed over several fan belts including one that fit. The skipper, mechanic, owner immediately took these below the test their fit. WaLa, one fit perfectly, after a little straining and muscle work. We tensioned the belt and tightened all the bolts.

Before starting the engine, which would have been the easy thing to do, the BoatUS skipper went over other items to check first, including the raw water seacock, filter, coolant level, and others. Nicely done, and obviously, he didn’t want to return in the next hour to help us again.

The skipper, mechanic, owner pulled his wallet out to pay the half price of the Vessel Assist visit, about $200. That is the most expensive fan belt he ever purchased. When asked if he had any more difficult assignments recently, the BoatUS skipper mentioned several grounding each week in the area of Portlier Pass, oh boy.

We bid Vessel Assist skipper good-bye and fair seas as the new fan belt returned the engine to full duty. Off to Ladysmith harbor and a search for a couple more appropriately sized fan belts.

The day ended with a wonderful dinner in a Greek Restaurant just up from our lovely overnight berth at Ladysmith Marina. One last note, the skipper, mechanic, owner was happy to learn that in Ladysmith there is a bakery that produces a dozen different types of cinnamon rolls, making for a great breakfast the next morning.

John Salinas, Alethea