We Haven't Moved
13 February 2016 | Ft. Meyers Beach Mooring Field
Jill
We've been here on a mooring ball in Fort Meyers Beach for two weeks. There are worse places to be, but this wasn't our intention. So why haven't we moved?
To start out, this has been a lousy year weather-wise for this part of the world, and that includes the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. We've had a lot of days with a lot of wind, 30-knot gusts. We've had some rain and three cold fronts moving through in 4 days. That means all the folks in Marathon who are waiting to cross the Gulf Stream are still in Marathon. Last report is that all 250 or so mooring balls are full with a waiting list of 50+ boats anchored. No need to join that crowd until the weather clears some and people start to move. That may be happening as we speak as there is a brief crossing window today. Tomorrow the wind is supposed to be piping from the north over the Gulf Stream again. That means wind against the current and big waves. No more crossing.
Now if a bunch of people moved there might have been a chance for us to move along about Wednesday. I say might have been, because the latest fun aboard Earendil is that our generator will no longer charge our house batteries through our inverter/charger. The generator runs and looks like it's putting out plenty of voltage; but when you flip the switch to connect in to our Xantrex, the Xantrex shuts down. The very nice man at customer support walked me through trying to find the error. When he got to the part about now plugging in to shore power, I told him that wasn't possible where we are (on a mooring ball). Unfortunately, that's the next step in the troubleshooting and there are just two possibilities. 1. If shore power charges the batteries, the problem is the generator. It might be something inexpensive, like needing new brushes. We haven't had the heart to look at what we'd have to do to install brushes. It's probably involved and difficult, since this is a boat. 2. If even shore power won't charge the batteries, the problem is the inverter/charger and the bad news is they are not repairable. A new one is upwards of $1500 and a bear to install as I remember.
Our plan is to sit here on our mooring ball until Monday morning because it's already paid for and nothing will be open anyway. We can charge the batteries with the main engine, though it's inefficient. Monday we have a reservation at a nearby marina where will plug in and see what the immediate future holds for us.
Meanwhile, we're trying to enjoy ourselves. Yesterday Pete and Sharon came aboard and we had a fine visit and a nice lunch. I had them pose as they were "touring" the deck prior to departure. Last evening, while we were ashore with Matey, Pat came in to a small docking area with his McGregor. We met him, and then his wife Gay arrived and we had a drink and a chat before we headed back to the boat and they headed out to dinner. Gay drove home, but Pat spent the night in his boat, so we met him for breakfast this morning. Sure helps the attitude to have friends around.