No boat travel.
When we first met Pam and Jim on the Kadey Krogan Evermore, they invited us to join them some Tuesday morning to attend the Kadey Krogan weekly breakfast at Sunset Grille in Marathon. Today we decided to take them up on their offer. They have a car, so we had a quick trip to the restaurant.
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| Sunset Grille in Marathon, Florida |
When we arrived, Pam mentioned that it looked like some storm clouds off in the distance, so Clark took his camera and ran over to take a closer look.
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| Scene on the Atlantic Ocean side of Marathon at Sunset Grille Restaurant (signs on trees say "Danger Construction Area Keep Out") |
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| 7-Mile Bridge in background |
Although we arrived at the restaurant at the designated start time of 8:30, we were the last to arrive and all others had already ordered their food. We had two tables of attendees with somewhere close to 40 people seated. The portions were huge and came out quickly and hot. The event only lasted about one hour. We met some new people and then we were back at the boat for the rest of the day.
Overnight, the winds picked up again, and the temperatures dropped. I missed my last chance at swimming in the pool this month yesterday when I decided to be lazy instead of taking a dip. Tomorrow is predicted to be similar to today - cold and windy. My only exercise today was the walk I took up to the hotel to look in the window at the Fitness Center. Maybe next time I will actually open the door and step in.
Clark had a few items on his punch list that he thought he might try to get to today. He just changed into his okay-to-get-dirty clothes when we had a knock on the boat. Mel from Morning Star II came over to see if Clark could help troubleshoot his camera display issues. After his preliminary testing, Clark thought it was a dirty contact, but through further investigation he discovered it to be a bad ground on a BNC connector. Clark put a temporary fix in place for Mel using a hose clamp and gave him advice on what he needs to purchase to put a permanent fix in place.
Afterwards, Clark and I took a look at a problem with the port engine. When we went out for our run yesterday, the port engine would not start. To get around the problem, Clark plugged the boat into the power pedestal. Voila! The engine turned right over, and we were on our way.
We performed several tests to diagnose the engine start issue. Test one failed. I was instructed to push the on switch for the port engine, wait until it stopped beeping, and then push the button the rest of the way to start the engine. We expected the engine would either start or not. Instead, a "Power Reduction" alarm sounded. The alarm would not stop beeping until I went through the menus to exit the alarm.
We repeated the test and received the same results. At which point Clark called a halt to the testing and told me he had to read manuals, so I might as well make lunch. Suddenly, the light bulb in his head lit, and he went to check the status of the battery switch and found it turned to the off position. No wonder we had power reduction alarms. Cancel lunch! Back to testing!
Clark had turned off the battery switch because he planned on messing around with the battery and did not want to "get fried". He just forgot to turn it back on when he changed his approach of investigation.
When we ran the same test scenario with the battery switch turned to the on position, we got a "fail" condition, but at least it was one that we expected to have. The engine tried to start but just sputtered instead. Clark had me start the starboard engine so we could compare volt meter readings from the port to the working starboard side. Interestingly, they appeared to read similar voltages.
Trying to prove conclusively that a failing battery caused the engine start issue, Clark came up with the idea of using jumper cables to see if the port engine would start from the starboard battery. Running this test case, he found that the engine started right up as it should. Conclusion, we need yet another new battery. That probably means renting a car and taking a road trip to Miami like we did last year when we replaced the generator battery.
With the testing done, Clark cleaned up tools and wires while I made lunch. Over lunch Clark checked his list and decided that we could next look into the weak signal on the flybridge VHF radio. The test plan he concocted would send me down Route 1 with a handheld VHF radio until I got far enough away that he could no longer hear me. Maybe he is just trying to get rid of me?
Anyway, playing the game "Can you hear me now" did not happen as we found ourselves the recipient of several surprise visitors. Truthfully, none of them came to see me. They all came to talk to Clark.
Our first visitor was John from Nuclear Fishin whom we know from traveling on the Great Loop together. He rode to Faro Blanco from Blackfin Marina on his bicycle to visit folks here. Clark gave John a tour of our boat, and then they talked for a very long time. Having seen the boat and being rather tired of technical boat talk, I went out on the cockpit with a novel to read.
While John was still visiting, Mitch from Fat-n-Sassy stopped by. Clark had told him about the boating application called Active Captain, so Mitch came over to learn more about it. While Mitch talked to Clark and John, I chatted with Jen, the sassy part of Fat-n-Sassy. She told me that they were on their way to the bank and then the Hurricane restaurant for beer and wings. Eventually she hurried Mitch along and they headed out for, based on the time of day, either a very late lunch or a very early dinner. Jen told me that their boat was rocking so much from the wind that they decided to go to a restaurant for a reprieve.
With Clark still occupied with John, I decided to go join a conversation being held between Mel and Jim from Hour Plan. As we talked, Jim suddenly decided he had to leave. He has been waiting several days for a guy to show up from a local marine electronics store. He noticed that the man had just arrived, and Jim did not want him to get away.
As he walked away, Jim yelled back to me to tell Clark "He's here!" because Clark also wanted to talk to him about an error message we see on our boat related to Direct TV. By the time Clark finished his discussion with the electronics rep, John had left on his bicycle to head back to his marina, and Mel had disappeared onto his boat.
The long and short of the afternoon is that we never did get to look into the VHF radio situation. I got to read a lot more of my novel than originally planned, and through an accident, Clark managed to create more work for himself. We have snack tables attached to our recliners that swivel around. Clark stepped away from the chair, and when he went to sit back down, he sat on the edge of the table.
We heard a big crack as plastic broke and the table fell to the floor. Of course he claimed the table was at fault as it should not have spun around to get in his way. Perhaps he should look where he is sitting? He used epoxy to glue the table pieces together. We will have to see if it holds up to a tall glass of water after the glue dries.
Tonight the chill came back with the strong, gusty winds. We asked our neighbor, Mel, about docktails, and he said no one would be going. Hours later and the wind is blowing harder than ever, and the temps continue to drop.
The sky contained a brilliant show of colors for sunset tonight. As usual, Clark took a picture. He also caught the moon shining brightly. Tomorrow is a "once in a blue moon" event including a lunar eclipse. I have marked my calendar and hope we have skies that allow us to get a view.
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| Sunset at Faro Blanco |
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| Almost Full Moon over Marathon, Florida |
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| Getting ready for the "blue moon" event |
This evening we listened to the State of the Union address and the SOTU Response from Joe Kennedy. During the SOTU address we saw some excitement out the window of the boat. An ambulance pulled up to the marina. Lights were flashing and the EMS folks pushed a gurney up and down the docks looking for the slip number they had been given. In the dark we could not see much of what was happening, but when they finally left the marina, they left without their lights on. We sincerely hope that everyone is okay here.
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