So that's the story behind the $10. bike, which became my bike.
After breakfast Peter wanted to add some diesel as we were getting low and Linda had made plans to have a fuel truck deliver to the dock in St. Augustine for a very reasonable price. He made 2 trips to the fuel pumps, getting 10 gals each time. Should be good. So off we go. We are still running on one engine only. The plan is to anchor at Flagler Beach canal.
The trip up is uneventful. Beautiful day, dolphins and manatee, and lots of wind that builds as the day progresses. Skipper Bob reports that boaters don't use the Flagler Canal anchorage any longer due to shoaling, but when looking on Active Captain satelite view it looks like we can make it in.
There is shoaling on the north and some on the south side of the entrance. Yesterday's Dream slowly makes the "S" shaped entry and are in the canal. The plan is for us to come in and anchor, and then they will anchor in the opposite direction and tie back to us and this unique anchoring will keep us straight in the canal.
Picture this .... I am driving the boat, and Peter is on the bow ready to drop the anchor. I am making our way in slowly, (Peter told me to go faster)but I was cautious and ran aground. So I back up to make another try. Guess what, I run aground again. Peter comes and takes over for me. He asks the water depth? 3'4". We draw 3.5". We know there is 7' of water on the other side of the shoaling. Peter alters our coarse, and tries another direction. Aground again. Peter backs up, and this time throttles through. We made it. Steve, who has been guiding us over the radio says ..... "well thats another way you can do it" Linda said she could see the bow wake and knew exactly what Peter was going to do.
We're through the shoaling and all we need to do is turn the boat around in the very narrow canal and anchor. Remember we only have one engine. The boat would turn, but would not stay straight in the canal long enough for Peter to get the anchor down. Peter's comment was that the boat will go anywhere ..... as long as it is left. He had control of the back of the boat, but the front would go wherever the wind blew it. After a long period of time, Steve offered to drop their anchor and we could tie to them and then drop our anchor. Whew! glad thats done. I need a drink.
Another lesson learned ..... "What happens when the boat draft exceeds the water depth ...... when mud and fiberglass come into contact." Peter's solution .... you have to either plane or barge your way thru. " And we know what his choice is.
8:00 am and we are off to St. Augustine. Steve and Linda have arranged a dockage at Riversedge Marina, a fuel truck for 1:30 pm and a car rental so we can go back to Daytona and pick up the new water pump and on to Fort Pierce to move our car forward.
Steve and Linda have some overheating problems along the way. The first stop they cleaned the strainer. A little further along it was still overheating and they had to anchor along the side of the ICW, wait for the engine to cool and replace a belt. We continued towards St. Augustine as we had to pick up the water pump before 5:00 pm closing time, and it was Friday so to miss it meant a 3 day layover the weekend. The Franko's were only about 30 to 45 minutes before they had the belt replaced and were on their way.
It was 11:00 pm before we got back with the water pump and car.
Saturday, breakfast out, return rental cars, install water pump. How hard can it be. Well Peter spent about 5 hours and about 6:30 Linda came over and suggested that perhaps she could help. By 11:30, Steve can't understand why it will not go in and he too crawls into the engine room. By 12:30 am, no luck and all decide to continue the next day.
A new day, a new strategy. Take off all of the old gasket material, put on a thin layer of permatex. And voila, installed. Linda got out of engine room by 12:30pm; pump installed. Now lets start this puppy up. It was not to be. The starter had died. But we have a spare one on board. Off with the old starter and on with the spare. It sounded good to begin with, but then an awful sound. Another lesson learned ..... "you cannot put the stbd starter on the port engine.", because it turns backwards. The label on starter said "CCW" turns counter clockwise.
While other boaters get off their boats and enjoy the tourist activities at each port, we seem to be working on the boat. In response to the question "what did you do at St. Augustine?" We respond that we replaced a water pump, and a starter. We also got a new element for the water heater, a new 12 volt light for the galley, had a starter rebuilt and installed. Every port has a different part replacement.
Monday morning, Steve and Linda had to leave for Jacksonville. They couldn't stay any longer. We said our goodbyes. Once again we have had a great time with them. Mid February we went to spend a couple of days with them, while the work was being done on Surona. We stayed 3 weeks on their boat, bought a trawler, and they have been helping us put this boat in shape for the trip. They have been our life support boat for 2 months now. Thanks for all of the help, we have had a blast!
Monday we found a starter repair shop and they said they could have it done by the afternoon. It sure looks pretty. A fresh coat of paint. When Peter asked what they had done .... the sharp mechanic said they only painted it to make it look good, and that will be $200. They had done a lot more in fact. Returned to the boat and installed it. And the test??? The starter works, but a horrible belt screeching sound. Back to the water pump. Peter took off the pulley and put on the old pulley and for some reason the water pump worked. Now the starter and the water pump are working. And it is only 9:00 pm. Where has another day gone?
Time for a drink, some cheese and crackers in our nice bright salon and galley. For tomorrow is another day. Get rental car and move our car to Edisto Island, South Carolina.
No comments:
Post a Comment