Ocean Sail Issue 28 - Saturday, August 26, 2000

Location: Skagway

For the past several weeks we have been reading Jack London stories to each other before we go to sleep. The last one was “Burning Daylight.” It is about how the Yukon Gold rush was started and particular about how a probably fictional character called Burning Daylight figured in this part of the world. But what got our attention this week was on the road to Skagway we crossed the Famous White Pass, which was one of the original routes to the Yukon from the port city of Skagway. On the roadside information signs we came across a quote from London’s book “Tales of the Yukon” The quote went on to describe the section of pass call “Dead Horse Trail” – “The horses died like mosquitoes in the first frost, and from Skaguay to Bennett they rotted in heaps. They died at the Rocks, they fell off the trail, what there was of it, or they went through it; in the river they drowned under their loads, or were smashed to pieces against the boulders; they snapped their legs in the crevices and broke their back falling backwards with their pack; in the slough they sank from sight or smothered in the slime, and they were disemboweled in the bogs where the corduroy logs turned end up in the mud; men shot them, worked them to death, and when they were gone, went back to the beach and bought more. Some did not bother to shoot them, -- stripping the saddles off and the shoes and leaving them where they fell. Their hearts turned to stone – those which did not break – and they became beasts, the men on Dead Horse trail” In all, over 3,000 horses lost there lives so 5,000 men could cross this pass.

On the way down the pass road, we noticed the coolant light again – so we stopped at road side stream filled the coolant surge tank with almost a gallon of water. We rolled into Skagway without further problems and parked downtown for several hours before heading 5 miles out of town on a one lane dirt to camp for the night. As we parked in the camping spot I was amazed by the amount of water vapor coming out of the exhaust pipe, but since the dew point was low I brushed it off at the time. But as I lay awake in our roof top tent I came to the realization that coolant loss plus exhaust vapor had a familiar ring to it. I thought that it was a head gasket leak.

Next morning I topped the coolant surge tank with another gallon of water before heading back to town. Once in town, the engine temperature started to climb and fall, usually an indicator of low coolant but the low coolant light was not on. Our plans are changing now. We know there is a problem, but we are not quite sure what the problem is. So we find a yellow pages and make some new plans. First we find a GM dealer in Juneau, AK which is just a short ferry ride away, second we call the Hummer service manager in Washington, again. He greets us cheerily and I explain what I think the problem is, and he almost interrupts me in mid sentence and says “you have a blown engine.” Then he goes on to explain that the #8 cylinder on this year is known to have problems. Though we are not quite sure, so I agree to take the Hummer to the GM dealer in Juneau for evaluation, and at that point they will either fix the problem if it minor, ship an engine up there or I can ship the Hummer back.

Sounds like a great plan. We book a ferry for Juneau for that afternoon We park the Hummer at the head of our assigned ferry line after topping of the cooling system. I don’t want to overheat while loading on the ferry. We spend the rest of day feeling relatively good about having a plan and knowing the problem is known and the dealership will back it. Back at the Hummer at 3:30 to load we wait patiently, not running the engine till the last moment. After we wait for 3 other lanes to load we are waved on the ferry. I turn the key and the engine makes a partial turn and stops dead. The batteries are ok, the engine can not turn over because water has leaked into the cylinder on the compression stroke and since water can not compress the engine can not run. Well if nothing else the problem is confirmed to be cracked block.

The load master is understanding and compassionate, but there is nothing I can do in the next 15 minutes to make the Hummer run. I fancy that if could remove the fuel injector that it would allow the water to exit the cylinder and it could run on the remaining 7. But the engine is so tightly pack I can’t even see the injectors. The line of traffic behind us pulls around and loads into the ferry. While the Hummer sits there in a pool of it’s own coolant. At the Alaska Marine Line office in Skagway we arrange barge transport for the Hummer to Seattle.

The Hummer gave its life crossing the White Pass, but of all the places it could have left us stranded in the last 9,000 miles this was probably one of the best. Skagway is a deep water port with regular ferry and barge service to Seattle. It could have been 40 miles into “only a hummer can get here land”, and recovery would have been impossible. We extract and unpack our home for the past 30 days from within Hummer and hand the key to the AML clerk. If felt as if we were leave an old friend alone. Later that afternoon, they have loaded it on a freight pallet – ending its trip on a barge headed toward Seattle.