Fairfhope Alabama
Ambler Isle
V and S
Thu 16 Jun 2011 15:42
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June 14, 2011
30 32 550N
87 54 201W
The generator stalled. This never happened
before. Valt went to the engine room to inspect. He'd already gone
underneath the boat to make sure the intake was not clogged. And checked
the strainers for debris. No, something was wrong with the engine.
After careful diagnosis, he found the electric fuel pump was not working.
We found a replacement part online at Summit Racing website. We
made a quick phone call to them and they agreed to overnight it to us at
the Fairhope Yacht Club, about 45 miles from us. We raised the anchor,
closed up the port lights, and were soon going west on the ICW. We passed
our previously planned stop at Pirate's Cove. Without the generator, we
could not anchor out overnight. We passed the Wharf Marina with the big
ferris wheel. We passed Lulu's Marina. Lulu is Jimmy Buffett's
sister. Soon we were in Bon Secours Bay, at the lower part of Mobile
Bay. We followed the shallow shoaled east shore of the Bay 20 miles north
to the skinny entrance to Fly Creek, home of the Fairhope Yacht Club. It
was nearly dark. We'd called Pat, the office manager while in route to
make sure they had a spot for us. Once inside, we turned the boat around
and came along side the transient dock on our port side. A young
man holding a toddler offered to take our lines. Soon we were
snug. We retied the lines, ran the electric cord, and tucked in for the
evening.
As promised, the generator pump was waiting for us in
the morning. Valt got busy installing the part and Sandy got busy washing
the boat. This is a favorite spot to really get the salt off the boat,
Mobile Bay is already brackish. The temperature was a concern, however,
with the heat indexes at 109 degrees. We started with the top and
worked down; soon the boat was shining brightly. Several folks
stopped by to chat. We continue to have problems with our
Verizon broadband card since returning to the US and taking it off
suspension. Somehow it doesn't seem to recognize the card. So it
refuses to connect until several attempts, then drops the connection after only
2-5 minutes. Very annoying. So today was the day to call again to
try to get it fixed. I dreaded the call, knowing I'd spend hours with the
technician. After several hours of diagnosis, the card still could not
hold a connection. The technician agreed to call back in the morning to
see if there was any improvement. After we'd cleaned up from our
tasks, we went to the Yacht Club for dinner and social time. We were
amazed to see so many people there on a Wednesday night. As usual, members
greeted us warmly, buying us drinks. We met a man planning to do the Loop
Trip, around the eastern US. We saw Jackie, wife of a fellow we'd met on
our fist visit to the yacht club. She wanted to say hi and tell us her
husband was out of town. Still others came over to introduce
themselves. We almost missed last call on dinner. But still they fed
us shrimp, oysters, and fish dinners. We'd had a busy, satisfying
day.
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