Monday, April 1, 2013

Joy and Despair...and Joy Again!

I had a terrible night's sleep worrying about marinas (and the lack of them). To make a longish story shorter, the marina where we were docked was up and running and fully functional by 9:00! We refueled, emptied the holding tank, filled up with water, and got ice. We were on our way a little late, 10:40.

I can't tell you how good I felt. Finally all our troubles were over and all we had to do was motor down the river and enjoy the view! And what a view! It was a gorgeous sunny day that got up to 68 degrees, although it was quite windy. Our route meandered through the canyons of the Raccon, Signal, and Lookout Mountains. Just the kind of day I was hoping to have every day.

We had decided to spend the night at Hales Bar Marina, at mile 431, which we did. When we arrived, we docked at a remote location because it hadn't been made clear where we were supposed to go. After I went to the office and clarified that I returned to the boat to move it. The engine wouldn't start! It wouldn't even turn over. All of our manual reading and calling made it sound like the starter was bad! So we were looking at having to find a new starter, get it here (thank goodness we were at a marina!), and find someone to install it (not from this marina..their guy won't start work for another couple of weeks). What a disaster. I was sure this was the end of our trip. in the process of inspecting the starter, Mike saw a dangling wire. This was potentially good news. If that wire was connected to the starter, or the solenoid, that might be our problem. And that's how it turned out. It took an hour of this and that, and eliminating a fuse, to get it reconnected, but the engine started right up! I'm am SO glad that Mike is here. This trip would have been over three times already except for him.

After all of that, a shower, make dinner (BBQ pork chops, fried potatoes [I dropped the first can in the river and it sank], and salad, with cheese and crackers for an appetizer), clean up, and now my blog entry. Mike seems to be coming down with a cold. I hope that's not the story for the rest of the trip.

Hoping for an UNEVENTFUL day tomorrow!















2 comments:

  1. Yeah for Mike! He's a real problem solver! And best of all, he knows boats! If I read my Alabama map correctly and you make good headway tomorrow, you might be able to use wind-power soon when the river seems to become a lake. Hope the wind works in your favor,
    Rich

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  2. Too bad your entry wasn't an April 1 joke! So glad that you were able to get underway again, and hope that things are smooth sailing (oops!) from now on!!

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