Day 6: March 31, 2014
We arose at about 6:30, prepared sausage and eggs for breakfast and hung around until a bit after 8:00 to call the motor shop. I talked to the shop foreman, Clint, and he said he would have a mechanic over at our place in a half an hour. We got everything ready for him and when he arrived, he decided that it would be too heavy to lift off of the boat over the water so we talked to the guy with the world’s biggest fork lift and asked if he would set the boat on a rack on shore to facilitate removing the motor. The fee for that was $100.00 out of the water and $100.00 back in.
The operator said that a buddy of his and he could lift it off, but after surveying the situation, he said that he could lift if off using his fork on his lift. We untied the boat, and motored over to the lift-out area where he wrapped a web strap around the motor and lifted it and laid it in the bed of the mechanic’s truck. We proceeded to wait It really isn’t that heavy just really awkward.
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| On Our Way on Waterway |
While we waited Janine did laundry to cleanse our relatively small accumulation of dirty duds. We weren’t sure where we would be able to do that down the road !
We piddled around for the next 4 hours wondering if and when we were going to get the call. While waiting, I contacted a lady to get a quote on polishing and waxing the boat and while we were negotiating, the fork lift driver was lifting a 35 foot fishing boat out of the water right next to our boat. He lifted it quite high and swung it around hitting the starboard shroud (the main wire that holds the mast up) making a lot of noise and rocking the boat quite violently. The lady with whom I was conversing had just gotten over a nervous breakdown and she went into melt down mode. The folks from the marina came over, consoled her and took her back to her office. I saw her later and although shaken, seemed to be fine. The boat was undamaged.
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| On of many |
We fixed lunch. I have been eating a soft taco that I concocted in place of my Spam. I have a stash of Spam hidden so that the female QC officer on board won’t find it. I will get my fix as the trip moves on. Janine had a PBJ.
At around 1:30, we got the call from Hinkley Yachts that the motor had been fixed. I drove the truck over there and parked it in their fenced lot and road back to the boat with the repair man. The forklift driver decided that he and his partner could set the motor without the use of the fork. And they did so without incident. I hooked the motor up, hit the starter and nothing. It was locked up. I had run into this problem in the past after transporting the motor. The mechanic must have either turned the motor upside down or carried it on the side that allows oil to drain into the lower cylinder. I pulled the spark plugs, turned the motor over, and pushed the oil out. I put new plugs in it and it finally fired blowing great clouds of blue smoke. BUT, it was running. The problem turned out to be, as we expected, a destroyed water pump impeller.
We paid the $300.00 maintenance bill and departed as quickly as we could. The sky was a bit overcast and the winds were blowing from the northeast at about 12 mph. We motored out Manatee Pocket and headed south down the Intercoastal Water Way (ICW). The wind was light and the ICW is quite narrow so we raised the sails but also ran the motor. This was the first time that we actually used the sails on this boat and all went well.
We motor sailed south past beautiful waterfront homes and through lonely mangrove swamps to Indian River. The guide book said it was a great place to anchor out but the entrance was quite shallow. We tried to enter the south side of the south fork of the river but ran aground. We raised the center board and tried at the north side of the south fork and were able to pass with inches under the centerboard. The tide was out so it would only get deeper as time passed. Back in the river about a quarter of a mile was a wide open area that was perfectly calm surrounded by mangrove. It was a truly lovely place to drop the anchor and spend the night.
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| Grilling burgers in Indian River |
We grilled some burgers, had garlic mashed potatoes, salad and a cold Black and Tan. This is what it is supposed to be like. After dinner, we hung the new to us Honda 2hp motor on the backside of Damn Dink and had a pleasant ride back through a narrow passage to Lake Frances. The lake is a small pond completely surrounded by mangrove. Back out of there, we crossed the ICW and entered a subdivision of huge homes with all sizes of large fishing yachts
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| Crusing in Dam Dink back from Lake Francis |
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| Second Wind at rest for the night |
Back at the boat, we spent the next hour or so reading before sleep overtook us.
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