Brunswick Landing Marina - Georgia
Magic Friday
Phil, Di and Annelise
Wed 1 Feb 2017 18:40
Up and ready - a little (unexpected) fog - so waited for the sun to burn it off. Unplugged and about to set lines for slipping - tried the engine - no life in the starter battery. Similar to yesterday. Although reading over 12v - obviously not enough charge to turn the diesel over. Not going to risk recharging with shore-power, starting the engine, leaving the dock and anchor overnight in St Mary's inlet (the plan for the first day south) and find no engine start in the morning!
A more careful inspection of the battery - some signs of casing damage (through overheating) - clearly not in a good shape. Similar to our experience a few years back with the service batteries - having been over discharged in our absence from the boat. Not clear what has caused the starter battery problems as yet - but the first priority was to find a supplier, get one ordered (done) and wait on the ground shipment (probably several days). Such a pity as the weather window for sailing south was perfect (light winds, no swells).
C'est la vie - we are "wob" (waiting-on-battery) for now! A "super-human" (for me) effort to extricate the battery from its enclosure above the engine (it weighs 27kg) and of course nothing is accessible on a boat! A mini-crowbar and first some champagne corks to "roll" the battery towards the pre-cut opening - no success, despite the 1st Mate (Di) offering to open a bottle for another cork! Eventually, the mini-crowbar and a screwdriver handle did the trick - the offending battery was maneuvered out of its enclosure, over the engine and out!
Resigned to the marina for a few more days - another job to take of the list - replaced the jaws on a cleat for the jib halyard - done! The a quiet evening in, a delightful stir-fry dinner and three episodes of "Are You being Served"!!
Phil and Di
