Problems resolved on the boat. We will be heading north tomorrow morning.
We are sadden to learn of the passing of Ann Southern’s brother Austin. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.
We are anxious to see Ann and Jack on our arrival back in Virginia.
No electrician as expected at 7:30 AM so we waited a while then walked to the office for details on what was happening. You know the answer — the part is not here yet! The part arrived after lunch and the initial problem we came here to fix was fixed. The chart plotters work just fine now. The electricians did identify another issue that should be addressed on the starboard engine so we have decided to wait to install a new engine reset solenoid tomorrow morning. Once it arrives and is installed we’ll be underway. We’ve rearranged our schedule so we now only need 11 days of travel to make Virginia when we planned. We’ll stop first in Colonial Beach and then make it to Annapolis to see Lauren, Cynthia, and the grandkids by the 18th. Got some grandkids’ baseball and soccer we’ll get to watch and Lauren’s birthday will be celebrated. Really looking forward to those parts of our visit!
We again enjoyed The Cove Restaurant for lunch and then retired to the back deck of Apolonia for the afternoon.
No pictures today as we’re sitting in the same spot, but know we are enjoying being back around the boating community.
Up early to meet the electrician Josh. He arrived at 7:30 AM and after more investigation discovered the problem with 12V power to the chart plotters was a breaker. The good news is that a long time of cable pulling would not be required. The bad news is the breaker had to be ordered. It should arrive Wednesday and be installed early. While investigating an engine reset switch issue came up, but that should be no problem. I need to get out before something else happens.
Carey and I relaxed for the day while the electricians plugged away. We also started planning a couple of ways to gain back one of the two days we’ve spend here. It’s relaxing but we are anxious to get moving. At a long, relaxing lunch at The Cove Restaurant at the Marina we enjoyed the views and watched a big Hatteras Power Boat get hauled from the water. A couple of pictures follow of the day.
Sunday we moved aboard Apolonia, after having loaded the boat. Ready for the adventure — a boat trip to the Chesapeake Bay. We’ll been away from long boat trips too long — since 2017.
Easy under way from Fort Pierce, but chart plotters were not working. I figured I’d work on them a while, but just 10 miles later said, no way — must have help. Pulled into Harbor Town Marina, back in Fort Pierce, and asked for a bit of help. After some investigation, we determined plotters were fine but boat power to the helm station was the problem. Batteries ok, so it is a cable issue. Still working to determine which cable is not carrying the required 12Vs, but hopeful this will be fixed by tomorrow noon. This has cost us 1 of the 3 weather or mechanical down days we had planned for the trip. We’ll see what’s up as we move forward. Now planning a 12 May arrival in Colonial Beach, VA, well before our 14 May deadline.
Even with the issue, Carey had a great day. Several people stopped by and said, “nice boat,” then in conversation she discovered we had common friends and experiences with them in the long-range boating community, particularly in the Bahamas She was enjoying being back on the water, as was I. I determined our new dinghy was riding nicely on the new Hurley swim platform davits we chose to haul the dinghy. Looking forward to anchoring out…our favorite. We ended the day with dinner at The Cove Restaurant, located at Harbor Town Marina. Maddy loves being back on the boat and is snoozing as we end the evening watching Beverly Hills Cop and Operation Petticoat. So nice being old folk!
Tomorrow we hope to be off to Titusville. A few pictures below.
