Monday, April 1, 2013. April Fools Day. Our
generator is still non-functional.
Today, I called Winter Island Yacht Yard in Salem, MA and talked to
Peter and Diane Hayward. They have
taken care of our boats for 25 years now.
Peter thinks it may be a fuel issue and gave me some things to try to
narrow down the potential problem. I
also placed calls to Ace Marine in Vero Beach, Jaz Marine in Stewart and
Whiticar Marine in Stewart – all Kohler service shops. If we have to stop in Stewart to get this
fixed, then we will. I checked all the
electrical connections and replaced the High Water Sensor (I had a spare). Nothing seemed to help. Lisa and I went for a walk on this beautiful
beach. Nice. Later, we were invited over to Whale’s Way for cocktail hour. It was a pleasant visit. Then back to the boat for dinner on board
and finally to bed.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013. I talked to Adolf Ellert at Whiticar this morning. He seems to be in charge of their service
department. He went over the trouble
shooting guide in the Kohler Service Manual with me and then walked me through
how to test the 3 sensors which could be telling the generator’s brain (circuit
board) that there is an issue and shut down the machine. Based on what I can tell the sensors are
working as they should. The circuit
board looks OK and the proper LEDs light at the appropriate time, but I have no
way to really test this circuit board.
The engine throttle is controlled by a “fuel solenoid” which is closing
the throttle and that is what shuts down the engine – so that could also be
bad. I will test more later.
At
10am, I bend the messed-up pulpit out of the way enough so that we can get the
anchor locker open. We weigh anchor and
head north to Vero Beach. Sunny, 72°, wind NW @ 8. There is only one bridge today, and it is on
request. The City Marina at Vero Beach
is full and they are doubling up boats on the moorings. We raft up to Torla-O (home port San Francisco)
at 4:45pm. 34NM 42SM today. Vero Beach City Marina 27°
39.56’ N, 080° 22.28’ W Mile Marker 950.
Tonight, we met folks for Jubilee Yacht Club
in Beverly, MA at Mulligan’s On The Beach for dinner. George and Susan Barlow and George’s sister Jody (Precocious) and
Stan and Judy Hedlund (Rhumb Runner) who came by land – and Bob and Chesley
Logcher (Cygnet) who came by sea. A
good time was had by all.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013.
Stan and Judy now rent a house in Vero for the winter and volunteered
that we could have parts shipped to them.
Diane (at Winter Island) shipped us a new circuit board for the
generator and it will arrive tomorrow.
Adolf (at Whiticar) doesn’t know what else to check. Mike, from Jaz, says he can schedule a tech
here Monday is we have not fixed the problem by then. Peter Brocker lives at Vero Marine and came by to look at the
generator. He fixed our outboard for us
on our way south and knows quit a bit about diesels. He disconnected the fuel solenoid and started the engine and it
runs fine. We will have to double check
the oil and cooling as with the brain and fuel solenoid disconnected,
potentially it could overheat – but it runs fine and generated electricity the
way it is supposed to. So now we know
it is a sensor, circuit board, or the fuel solenoid.
We dingied over to Mr. Manatee’s for dinner with
Darrell and Ruth (Nite Cap). We are on a mooring at the other end of the
harbor).
Thursday, April, 4, 2013.
Every night we hear lots of “clicking” coming through the hull. Sometimes loud, sometimes not. We first thought it was the wind generator
on the boat we are rafted to. While
“regular”, it is not always the same and sometimes it is heard and other times
not. The locals tell us that is the local dolphin pod. Interestingly, they usually quiet down (or
leave?) about bedtime.
We met Stan and Judy, Bob and Chesley and
several other couples at Chef Lin’s Asia Buffet for lunch. Huge buffet. The food was good and plentiful.
After my “senior discount”, the total bill was $13.50 for both Lisa and
I. It would be twice that for
dinner. Needless to say, the place is
always mobbed!
Judy gave me the new circuit board that had
been delivered to their house. After
installing and testing the circuits, we try to start the genset. It immediately shuts down. Same symptoms. Aaaaargh!!!!
After placing more calls to Mike and Adolf and
Peter, Lisa and I go for a dingy ride up the creeks. We find a park where you can beach the dingy and then walk over
to the ocean beach. Nice.
At 5pm, it looks like the sky is going to open
up, so we duck into the boaters lounge.
There is supposed to be a meet and greet today, but with the weather, we
figures it would be cancelled. But no,
everyone shows up and the lounge is crammed.
A couple of guys Jim and Bentley) from the good ship “Salty Paws” pay
folk music until 7. Very
enjoyable.
Friday,
April 5, 2013. I spent the morning
going over the generator service manuals one more time. Is it possible everyone has missed
something. Of course, all this would be
easier if the tech were on board, with his tools, all the spares possible, test
equipment. I am certainly a novice and
it is very frustrating. There are two
relays, which could conceivable cause the engine to shut down (K20 and K25), or
it could be a bad fuel solenoid. I
called Diane and asked her to fedx those parts to me a Stan and Judy’s
address. She found the parts and they
are on the way. I spent a hour or two
trying to actually find the relays.
They are located on the control box (with the circuit board), but under
a gaggle of wires.
Lisa
and I took the free bus to the “Miracle (shopping) Mile. Met a neat couple on the bus (Jorn and Kat)
who had bought a boat in Venezuela and half way home the engine died, so they
sailed, were becalmed for 3 days, etc.
And we think we have stories to tell.
We had lunch with them at Panera Bread and then went to the craft store.
Saturday, April 6, 2013.
In the morning, we walked to the beach
area where there is a farmer’s market.
No large, but nice selection of fruits, veggies and homemade goods. We had a deli sandwich at Cravings for
lunch. This place originated in
Michigan, where they had one on Mackinaw Island as well as several other
waterfront towns. Now, just the one
here on Vero. Ice Cream, sandwiches,
baked goods, soups, candy. All the
necessary food groups.
Lisa and Kathy (from
Torla-O) work on some basket weaving in the afternoon. Stan and Judy delivered the (hopefully last)
parts for the generator and I get them installed and everything hooked up. IT WORKS!
I had ordered 2 relays and a new fuel solenoid. I replaced one relay (K25) and everything
seems to be working as it should. I
don’t know if that relay was THE PROBLEM or the LAST PROBLEM. I sent thank yous to all who helped and
received an email in return from Adolf at Whiticar saying he would refer future
Kohler issues to me.
We used the jerry cans to
fill the boat with fuel and had dinner on board.
Sunday, April 7, 2013.
This area of Florida still closes on
Sunday, so except for grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants and
entertainment, most places are closed.
Even some of the restaurants. We
walked to the beach and through town.
Cravings is open, so we bought a couple of loaves of bread
(vanilla/cherry and lemon) to take to Nite Cap for dinner this evening. Cocktails and dinner with Darrel and Ruth
and Judy and Tony aboard Nite Cap and then back to the boat.
Monday, April 8, 2013. Lazy day.
Another dingy ride and a walk into town were the highlights.
Tuesday, April 9, 2012. Peter Brocker shows up at 8am to clean the bottom
before we depart. Stan and Judy call
and would like to have dinner before we leave, but can’t get together until
tomorrow evening. Looks like we are
delayed one day. Dean Perry calls this
place “Velcro Beach” because there is so much to do, so many people to do it
with, and it is easy to get around. We
are understanding why he calls it “Velco Beach” – hard to tear yourself
away! We walk into town with our
rafting buddies Sterling and Kathy and have brunch at Cravings – yes, there are
other restaurants in town………………
Sterling and Kathy have a car here and Kathy gives us a ride
to Walmart to re-stock the larder.
When Peter cleaned our bottom, he also checked the
sacrificial zincs (one on the prop (a MaxProp) and one on the prop shaft). These get eaten up by electrolysis, which is
ever present with boats, marinas and salt water. The 80 degree water makes this
worse. The one on the prop is already in trouble although it has only been on
the boat a few weeks. Peter told us to
paint around the edges and the screw holes with nail polish as these are the
thinnest parts and get corroded away first, then the remaining 90% of the zinc
just falls off. Also, if you drill a
small hole in the middle of these zincs, that will expose more of the actual
zinc to the water. See the
picture! Seems to me I remember an
email from Dean Perry discussing painting the zincs. If you have a MaxProp take notice (that is where the zinc I
described is located).
Wednesday, April 10, 2013. Lisa and I take the bus over toward Publix (grocery). She wants to go to the craft store and I
want to go to West Marine. Although
this is one of the smallest West Marine stores, the people in it see to know
what they are doing and I always seem to find what I need. We also visit the Fresh Market for some sea
food, lunch at Panera Bread, and buy a couple of things at TJ Max to replace
clothes we have ripped, torn or gotten greasy.
I also bought Lisa a shell necklace and earrings. Back to the boat and Lisa and Kathy are off
to the beach and I am working on this blog.
Tonight we have dinner at Bobbie’s (a locals’ favorite) with Stan and
Judy and then get the boat ready to depart in the morning.
Jeff calls with disturbing news. Our Lab has (the doggie equivalent of) a torn ACL. He has been limping and Jeff took him to the
vet today. The dog will need
surgery. Not a good way to end the day.
Thursday, April 11, 2013. Instead of getting off the mooring at 7am, as was our plan, we
call the vet to find out options. He
can’t schedule the surgery for a week or two, so we will try to get the boat to
Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach by the end of April, then fly home for a
couple of weeks to deal with the dog issue and the empty rental apartment
(which needs work). Then we will return
to the boat and try to get it to Norfolk by June 1, as our insurance requires.
We
are off the mooring at 9:15am, stop by Nite Cap on the way out and say we hope
to see them in St. Augustine. The wind
is South at 8 knots and it is beautiful.
At 10am the wind is SE @ 15. At
11am it is SE @ 20-25. At 3pm, it is SE
@ 25-30+. On our stern all the way to
Cocoa. There were 3 foot rollers in the
ICW. What a sleigh ride! We arrive at Cocoa Village Marina, snugged
down out of the wind, tied to a dock at 5PM.
53 SM 46.6 NM today. No bridges that had to be opened. 28°
21.44’ N 080° 43.45’ W Mile Marker 898.
Friday, April 12, 2013.
Instead of leaving this morning to head to New Smyrna Beach, we opted
another day in Cocoa, The weather
forecast is for a repeat of yesterday with a few thunderstorms thrown in. Lisa called George and Bev Major (George was
in the Air Force with Lisa’s Dad and is more like an uncle) and she called her
Uncle Franny – both live in the Cocoa Area.
We had lunch at Olive Garden with George and Bev and then went shopping
at the Ron John Surf Shop – a must do if in Cocoa Beach. Uncle Franny and his wife Virginia came by
the boat for a visit this evening. A
very nice day. Franny brought Jeff a
replica of the hat worn by Chief Oceola of the Seminoles and we promised to get
it to him. Franny is part Abenaki and
is really into the Native American history.
He and Bev were both disappointed that Jeff had gone home.
The boat in the slip next door is a 50+ foot
steel hull sailboat that someone is rehabilitating. An osprey has decided that the top of the mizzen mast is a great
spot for a nest! See picture. Glad it’s not my boat!
Lisa and I walked over to Cocoa Village (like
a mini Coconut Grove) and had an ice cream and then back to the boat. Maybe next trip we will have more time to
explore some of the neat shops and restaurants. We will leave for New Smyrna in the morning weather
permitting.
Stay tuned for more!
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