Auxiliary Power Blues

Week of April 10^th

The mooring field was still pretty full, but there were several empty balls. We checked out the showers and such at the marina, and had asked at the office for a diver recommendation to check on our prop. They came by that afternoon and popped below the water. Two minutes later they were back with the news – nothing. No crab pot line or even signs that we had wrapped or even hit one on the prop. They did scrape off a few barnacles from where we had scrubbed off our bottom paint outside Sarasota. The engine had stopped abruptly twice, but apparently not for external reasons. Upstream on the power chain we go.

We asked the divers for a recommendation on a diesel mechanic. Both replied in unison “Diesel Don”. Good enough. We called Don who seemed very knowledgeable but not a fan of Westerbeke engines. He agreed to come over in the morning with another mechanic for a diagnostic.

We summarized what had happened and when to the best of our ability, and after a few moments of tinkering and muttering to each other in the secret diesel language they had me start the engine. I turned keys and pushed buttons but it wouldn’t turn over. I think there was a click from the solenoid, but even when they manually shorted out the starter it wouldn’t turn. This was new, and they couldn’t proceed further without being able to turn the engine over.

They removed the starter and discovered some corrosion on it, probably from the small coolant leak above it that had been present when we bought the boat. It had been noted in the survey and the leak was immediately fixed, but I guess the damage had been done. I had probably finished it off trying to restart it so many times after it died. We also made a list of engine things they didn’t like, whether or not they had anything to do with our current problems, and we decided to address those at the same time.

Out went the old starter and they ordered a new one, but Marathon is a pretty small, isolated town with only about 10,000 souls, so it had to come from farther north, and would take at least a day. Heather and I got settled in, exploring the harbor and surrounding areas by dinghy and on foot, then getting a car for a grocery provisioning run and such.

The starter came in, and despite the part number on the outside of the box, was clearly not a match upon inspection, and it wasn’t going to work. Back in the box it went, and a more expensive, sure to fit starter was ordered, but again would take a day or two to arrive, longer now that a weekend was again approaching. In the mean time the engine was turned over by hand to seen if any ominous clinking or clanking noises could be heard. None were observed and by Monday we had the second starter.

This one fit perfectly and within minutes we were turning over the engine, which promptly started, and ran fine for at least 20 minutes. So the question was what could cause the engine to intermittently stall abruptly then run fine later. The fuel filters looked good and fuel was being pumped, so suspicion soon fell to the rubber bulbs used to hand pump fuel into the filters after changing them. Diesels are very sensitive to contamination, and a small amount of air in the fuel lines can stop them dead. We had already planned to replace the bulbs (meant only for gas) with electric diesel pumps, so that was next.

When the engine bulb was removed it was clearly rotted out, and was probably leaking air into the fuel line. We replace it, ran the electric diesel fuel pump for about half an hour to try and clear the lines, then started up the engine again. It runs fine again.

We still had a few things on our list, including changing out the similar bulb on the generator. The alternator belt was tightened. An electrical gadget which trickle charges the starter battery only when it senses an excess being fed to the house batteries was added, cutting off the old charger which I had probably destroyed the old battery with by overusing. The gadget also isolates the starting battery so it it not drawn down by anything but the engine starter. It looked like our auxiliary power was back in business, and it was certainly one of the least expensive options. We were also lucky that these problems had not hit us at more inopportune times.

So we’re finally in the keys, our boat is (mostly) working again, and it’s tax day tomorrow.

Across Florida Bay

Soon after we passed Marco Island we lost cell service, so I texted Chelsea via the sat texter and pulled up an updated weather report, mostly just to see that I could. The waves started out about 3-4 foot, but as we got closer to sunset they built to 5-6 feet, with an occasional 8 footer rolling thru. Heather was down below taking a nap and pretty much slept thru all of it.

We actually got the sails up since we weren't really in a hurry. I really didn't want to start crossing near the shallower banks before sunrise in the morning. Before dark we put the second reef in both the main and jib, which turned out well because we got some significant wind and a few interesting gusts during the night.

After the sun went down the waves knocked down quite a bit, and by midnight we were down to 1-2 foot, but the wind was also getting pretty weak. About midnight I turned on the engine to give us a boost. This was an interesting exercise because the crab pots didn't go away just because it was dark. We had some close calls, then about 5a there was a bang and the engine stopped dead. I was sure we had wrapped a crab pot line around the prop.

I wasn't able to immediately start the engine, I think because there was still compression in the cylinders. After about 10 minutes I was able to start the engine in neutral. In case it was a crab pot line I went first into dead slow reverse, but everything seemed fine. I put it in forward  gingerly and slowly built up the rpms and everything seemed fine again.

This was reassuring, because although the gps said we were miles away, the red lights warning of shallow areas seemed awfully close in the dark. It would have been a good time for the radar, but that was not working again. Even though the lights seemed close, they never seemed to get closer, so I decided the gps's must be right.

There was a glorious sunrise. Our first overnighter with just the two of us.

All was good until another crab pot was spotted too late to avoid. I throttled back into neutral, but the rpms just kept dropping until the engine stopped. This time I couldn't start it again.

There was very little wind, but we really didn't have much of a choice, because we were still miles and miles from Marathon. We shook out the reefs and our speed zoomed up to about three knots, kind of a fast walk. We dodged the shallow banks and eventually got near the intercoastal on the gulf side of Marathon. We called the trusty TowBoat US again because sailing under the narrow bridge gap to get to the Atlantic side or into the harbor without running aground seemed like asking too much from our current skills, and the wind was dying.

After rescuing a jet-ski they were right over and dragged our sorry butts into the harbor. We connected onto a mooring ball. After taking the dinghy to the office and checking in we had some dinner, then went back to the boat to sleep for 10-12 hours. It wasn't all pretty, but we were here.

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Naples Last (Tip of the Hat to Mr. Sunshine)

Everything was fine when we got back to the boat, just as we had left it. Damn it. Once again, none of our little boat chores were done by the boat elves in our absence.

It always takes us a day or two to really get settled once we get back to the boat, and this time was no different.

Our month at dock was up on the 2nd of April, but the weather wasn't quite ready for our departure, and neither were we. We started watching the weather obsessively, and saw our chance coming. We got some of our departure day tasks done the day before, which was a first. We turned on the equipment, turned the key, and heard nothing.

After some highly technical troubleshooting I determined that the starting battery might be the problem, since the top was bubbled up about half an inch. It seemed to have a short that you could actually hear when we turned the key. We're lucky it didn't explode. Off to West Marine to buy another battery. We seem to be doing this every couple months, but it's better than replacing them all at once because they are about $300 apiece. They were all about 6 years old when we bought the boat. Two more house bank batteries to go.

By the time this was played out and another rental car returned our weather window was almost 24 hours shorter. We had planned to spend the night at Little Shark River, about half way to Marathon across Florida Bay, but we since the weather windows coming up were a little shorter, we started reconsidering an overnighter.

We had done this before, crossing the big bend from Panama City to Tarpon Springs, but we had help. This time we'd be on our own, just the two of us. I calculated that if f we left in the early afternoon we would arrive at the first of the banks a little after sunrise. Our sleep schedules are normally offset quite a bit, and an overnighter seemed to turn that into an advantage.

On the afternoon of April 8 we left the slip and headed over to the fuel dock to top off, and pump out. After this in with the good and out with the bad process we tossed the lines from the fuel dock and went back out the pass from Naples, headed for Marathon across Florida Bay.

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Back to the Desert for a Visit

We needed to do some things back in Arizona, and managed to schedule them around a handbook meeting I wanted to attend, and some appointments Heather had. We flew back in mid-March. It was the longest we had gone without seeing Chelsea ever, so it was great to be back.

The air was noticeably drier, and allergies seemed to be more severe, especially with the cats.

The handbook meeting was in Salt Lake. It was 30° cooler in SLUT than it was in Phoenix on the day I flew out. It was great to see handbook folks again. It seemed like it had been a lot longer, especially since I had gotten absolutely nothing done since the last meeting. While I was there I managed to bang out 6 pages of text and vote on an AMS spec, so hopefully I can get back in the swing. On the last day I was there this strange substance was falling from the sky.

After returning to Mesa the task at hand was to move out of the bedroom we had moved into in January, and get everything into the garage. It was stressful but at the same time a relief to organize and purge. It all actually fit in one parking space in the garage. Soon after finishing it was back to the airport to head back to the boat. I was so flustered I forgot one of my bags, but Chelsea retrieved it and saved the day. 

Naples 3

While the wind was blowing like stink (origin?), one morning we noticed a lot of dust drifting in thru the hatches and the smell of wood smoke. We popped up into the cockpit only to choke on all the smoke which was drifting west across our location. Several fires were burning in and near the Everglades, driven rapidly by the high winds. This went on for days, although the smoke eventually drifted north of us.

At the end of the dock are a few restaurants, but then it is neighborhood for several blocks north to downtown, or east to the pier. The downtown is very nice, and apparently the kind of place you can park your convertible Rolls (or Bentley) without fear or embarrassment.

The pier is also very nice, with houses on either side, and a small shopping and restaurant area a few blocks in from the beach.

All in all, a very pleasant place to be stuck for a while. We've been working on little boat projects, reading a lot, and every week or so renting a car for errands farther afield. We're heading back to Arizona soon for some appointments, visits and meetings. Upon our return, we'll resume our trip south.

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Naples 2

The docking was so much fun we decided to stay for a second day at the slip. Although the rate was very reasonable we needed to do something different eventually, so after that we pumped out (you don't want to know) and then headed over to the mooring (permanent anchor) field, which is a steal at $10 a day. To avoid having people overstay their welcome you are limited to four days in a row, and no more than eight days a month on their moorings.

There are a number of fishing charter boats that operate from the docks. When they bring back their catch they clean the fish at the pier. The pelicans seem to be onto this.

We spent four days on a mooring, and so to stay we needed to come into a slip for at least a day. Again, we ended up staying two, and then headed back to the moorings for a maximum of four days.

Over the last several days we had been actively tracking the weather. Marco Island about 10 miles south was the last of civilization until we crossed Florida Bay and hit the Keys. It is an overnighter or a couple long days, and we wanted a weather window at least a day longer than it should take. In addition, the Keys, continuing up to Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, then all the way up past Palm Beach are very expensive places to leave a boat, which we needed to do in a few weeks. While we could make it to the Keys no problem, as several of our neighbors were doing, it didn't look good to make it all the way north before we had to leave the boat.

After days of obsessive weather watching we finally, reluctantly decided to stay put. A month at a slip here was less than a third of what it could be below Palm Beach. In addition, bad weather looked like it was going to hit in about three days. After two days at the mooring we scooted back to a slip for a month.

After three days the wind started blowing, gusting above 40 knots, and it didn't stop for days. We may not have even made it to the Keys. Even if we had, we would have been stuck there, and not having much fun, since the wind was blowing even harder down there.

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Naples 1

We went back out Matanzas pass and into the gulf on the 19th of February. We cruised down the coast for a few hours to Gordon Pass, which was small but seemed pretty deep. We called TowBoat US before for the latest in local knowledge and it seemed OK.

Other than the traffic going in and out of such a narrow pass it was fine. We has some very large power boats passing us both ways. Between the million dollar power boats, and the multi-million dollars houses on the shore were had clearly entered an even higher tier of big money. Which makes the Naples City Dock that much more unusual. It is a decades old fixed wooden dock surrounded by money. In addition they have a small mooring field that it seemed we could get into.

After a quick trip to the fuel dock we headed over to a slip across a narrow entrance. What made it even more fun was a patio kind of area packed with folks with nothing better to do than watch someone screw up docking.

We were trying to back in, which got a raised eyebrow and a "good luck" from the dockmaster. In we went, past a boat sticking well outside the end of their slip, and a dinghy hanging off the end even further out. We went in and made the turn a little too late. Finally on the third try Heather nailed it, scooting back into the slip. No applause from the peanut gallery, but we were in.

Just saw on the news that the plan to completely tear down the docks and rebuild them had finally been approved, and demo begins May 1. Parts of the dock are supposed to reopen by the end of the year. It will lose a lot of character, but many parts of the old dock are closed and look less than safe.

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