Sun, Wind, Sea Creatures, Dingy Motors and Crew Change

We've had incredible weather, in fact Tom and I made history.  In all the years we've fished and boated together, we've never been on a trip of more than one day that we did not have rain.  Temps in the mid to high 80's and lots of sun.  We did have a couple of pretty windy days and chose to stay on a mooring ball in St Augustine and again in Fernandina Beach.  You're likely aware of the damaging storms that went through the mid Atlantic states a couple of days ago and while we luckily missed those, we did get the wind.  On Saturday winds were over 25 mph with gusts over 40, but they were predominantly at our back, so the ICW wasn't rough going north.  It did get a little tricky catching the mooring ball when we got to Fernandina Beach, but we made it without anyone going overboard and even got compliments the next day from the audience of other boaters.

Fishing has been interesting with a few more catfish, an eel and two stingrays.  Tom caught all of them.

Previously I told you about the troublesome dingy motor, but when Tom came aboard he started it on the first try, so we didn't spend anymore time worrying about it.  With a down day at Fernandina Beach on a mooring ball, it was time to take the dingy to shore so we could go to the beach.  Before taking the motor from its rail stand, Tom started it again.  We put it on the dingy, but then couldn't restart it.  So back on the rail stand and Tom disassembled the carburateor and found some foreign substance.  The carburateor was cleaned, reassembled and was started again on the rail stand.  In fact, we each started it a few times, let it run, let it sit and start it again.  Confident, we put it back on the dingy and again it wouldn't start.  It was time to go to the beach, so we rowed ashore and asked about outboard motor sales, but the two dealers in town were closed (it was Sunday).  We walked the two miles to the beach, admired the Atlantic and walked back.  We had decided that the problem with the motor was bad gas.  It was old, being purchased before the Bahama trip in November.  The marina let us empty the tank and we refilled with new gas.  Again it wouldn't start, so we rowed back to Tranquility and put the motor back on the rail stand and prompty started it.  We were now convinced it would only run if not in the water.  I called the dealers today, ready to dump this motor, but neither had small motors in stock.  One of them convinced me that nothing could really go wrong with these little motors (Honda 2 HP) and that bad bas was probably the problem, so with the rental car I had obtained for airport transportation today I dropped it off. 

I took Tom to the Jacksonville airport and picked up Denise. 

Tom's time on Tranquility was a great time fishing and cruising and Tom was able to resolve several nagging issues, including troubleshooting the problem with one of the air conditioners.  Previously it was thought it needed a freon charge, but it turned out that only the pump had lost its prime.  We don't typically run with the airconditioning, but when at the dock for an extended period it can get pretty warm inside, so its good to know we can count on it if needed.

The outboard shop brought the dingy motor back and said it had been properly clean, tested and was running great.  I didn't bother to start it after putting it back on the rail stand because I know it usually runs in that position.  Can't wait to get it on the dingy and try my luck again.

First mate Denise is now back on board and after grocery shopping and returning the rental car in the morning, we are off to Georgia (4 miles north).  We are planning to be in Norfolk, VA in two weeks where we have plane reservations for a trip home.  Tomorrow is the start of Denise's real adventure, having so far only been aboard for two days before Tom and I went fishing.  Stay tuned.