Dead in the water...

 It had been such a lovely day. We had a wonderful morning, beautiful sky, frolicking dolphins as we re-entered the river and left the ocean near Jacksonville Florida Beach Florida. We made it…

Coming in from our 24 hour ocean passage, we docked at the Jacksonville city municipal dock, where there were no services except water. 

The couple from the sailboat that arrived ahead of us, came over to help us dock. We chatted a bit and arranged a 4pm socially distanced happy hour on the dock. By 4PM, there were four docked boats, and several folks fishing. We took a short walk, and then Roland washed down the boat. Happy hour was fun. Anne and Tom are PhD research scientists from Chicago, and the time passed quickly as we bemoaned the state of the union.

Returning to the boat at 5:30, Captain Roland, with building panic announced: “We are dead in the water!” I immediately realized that there was no need for me to experience the derivation of that phrase.

Neither the motor nor the generator would work. We were, as the Captain had announced, dead in the water. The fire drill commenced: text and call the near world, frantically read the manuals and research the internet. Fortunately, dinner was made, but no heat and the temperature was plummeting. It was Sunday night of Christmas weekend; help was on vacation!

Plan B, Monday morning, call a couple mechanics recommended by Boat US, and Plan C, being towed to a marina. Not thrilled, but at least a “plan”.

I was perplexed: both the engine and generator at the same time? What, I asked Roland, effects both the engine and the generator? It must be something! Something they have in common! Roland assured me, at least 7 times, that they are two separate systems and have nothing to do with each other. I knew better; I knew something had to “control” or “effect”, both systems; I was only frustrating him, and there was already too much stress relating to the situation, so I just waited. After all, mechanics are not my forte.

We spent a very cold night without heat. We wore lots of clothes and gathered all the blankets we could find. In the morning, I went for a run in the sun to warm up, and Roland texted Scott, our (inherited from our seller), KK guru. Scott set up the boat and knows everything! Thank goodness for Scott (and why didn't we call him Sunday at 5:30??).

After a few simple questions, he knew immediately what was the problem, and better yet, the simple solution. In all fairness, Roland had, the night before tested everything he could think of, so Scott was able to pinpoint our operator error (number 4 due to inexperience with the boat). He knew immediately if both the engine and the generator did not work, and everything else tested ok, it was the fire suppression system; it was off. Roland flipped two switches, and Eureka!, everything worked! (Roland later realized that he had switched off the breaker to the pilot house electronics, not knowing that the fire suppression system was therefore disengaged. No fire suppression, no generator and no engine. Who would have known? It wasn't marked clearly enough for a newbie). Interestingly enough, Terri had had a point!

Importantly, no problem, no expense, and no delay. We were able to get the motor running, the generator operating, and we started our voyage to St. Augustine.